Watch Paparazzi

Politician Emmanuel Macron spotted wearing Awake

When Emmanuel Macron appeared on camera wearing a watch that wasn't a Bell & Ross or a Swiss luxury piece, watch enthusiasts took notice. The French President was spotted on the wrist with the Awake G7 La Bleue, a timepiece developed in close collaboration with the Élysée Palace specifically for France's 2019 G7 presidency held in Biarritz. It wasn't an accident — Macron used the watch as a soft-power accessory, reinforcing France's message that environmental responsibility belongs even on the world leader's wrist.

Awake is a Paris-based independent brand founded in 2018 by Romain Romain Barbier, built around one core conviction: luxury watchmaking can be sustainable. The G7 La Bleue features a case constructed from bio-sourced carbon composite — a material derived partly from flax fiber — making it exceptionally light at under 40 grams on the wrist. The deep blue dial features a debossed topographic ocean-floor map, a visual nod to marine conservation. Indices and hands are treated with luminescent material for legibility, and the movement is a reliable Swiss quartz, keeping the focus on material innovation rather than mechanical complexity.

The tricolor strap — woven in red, white, and blue with an X-pattern — was designed in France and made from recycled ocean-collected plastic bottles, reinforcing the watch's environmental narrative at every touchpoint. The black DLC-treated carbon case measures approximately 40mm, sitting comfortably on the wrist without ostentation.

For collectors, the Awake G7 La Bleue occupies a genuinely rare space: it is a limited-edition diplomatic artifact with a credible sustainability provenance, not a greenwashed marketing exercise. Its association with a sitting head of state at one of the world's most consequential summits gives it historical weight that most limited editions simply cannot claim.

Macron has been known to favor understated, French-made choices on his wrist — a deliberate contrast to the Swiss watch diplomacy common among world leaders. Choosing Awake over Cartier or Patek Philippe was a conscious political act as much as a horological one. At a retail price accessible to upper-middle-class buyers, the G7 La Bleue punches well above its price in terms of cultural resonance and story.