He couldn’t wear a regular wristwatch. It had to be a Rolex. That's just a little awkward for Brian Flynn.

The top Democrat running in New York’s 19th Congressional District took out a full page ad in the Albany Times Union slamming the “billionaires” and the “corporations” who “have rigged the system against us.” It is a pretty typical political ad. He looks stern with his arms crossed and his sleeves rolled up on his blue dress shirt — literally a blue collar! And then, there's the $8,950 timepiece on his wrist.



Connoisseurs looking at his social media will recognize the watch as the Rolex GMT Master-II. The choice of fighter pilots and frat boys with large trust funds, it makes a statement but not the kind a progressive politician might want to make.



Rolex watches offer “performance and prestige,” and the Rolex GMT Master-II does not disappoint. The Swiss company makes the watch case and band from oystersteel, fashions the hour-markers from 18 carat gold, and brings the piece alive with a self-winding mechanism at its heart.

First introduced in 1955 for international aviators, the Rolex GMT Master-II can tell the time in three time zones simultaneously. And so, it was fitting that when English and French test pilots climbed aboard the Concord, they were wearing the Rolex GMT Master-II. To this day, the brochure advertises the watch as “supersonic luxury.”

Flynn looks like the kind of guy who can appreciate the finer qualities of the Rolex GMT Master-II. Before entering politics as a candidate, he worked as an executive at Citibank, and later, he went on to become president of a large medical manufacturing company.

No one should begrudge him his wealth, of course. No one can question his taste either (as we’ve established, the Rolex GMT Master-II is exquisite). The Rolex GMT Master-II definitely fits that aesthetic of Flynn the businessman. Unfortunately, it clashes with the style of Flynn the progressive warrior.

Flynn is running for the chance to challenge Rep. Jason Faso, R-N.Y., in a district that flipped back and forth between Obama in 2012 and Trump in 2016. He is hard charging to the left, calling for tuition-free college, pro-labor policies, and Medicare-for-all. That progressive platform has made him the front-runner so far. The Rolex GMT Master-II might make him late.

While time is money, voters might doubt the sincerity of an anti-millionaire candidate with a timepiece that costs more than the median household in his district earns in a month and half. Then again, the watch could be a knock-off. We might never know for certain. Flynn was shy about his ostentatious timepiece and didn’t return multiple calls and emails for comment.

