Politician Joe Biden spotted wearing a Apple

During what appears to be an official meeting — likely in the White House State Dining Room or East Room based on the architectural molding visible in the background — President Joe Biden was photographed wearing an Apple Watch on his left wrist, paired with a dark Sport Band in space gray aluminum. The watch sits quietly beneath his suit cuff, a deliberately low-key choice for a man whose every accessory is subject to public scrutiny.

The Apple Watch Series 3, introduced in September 2017, was a watershed moment for Apple's wearable division. It was the first Apple Watch to incorporate an LTE cellular chip, allowing independent connectivity from an iPhone. Powered by the dual-core S3 processor, it offered GPS, altimeter, heart rate sensor, and watchOS compatibility up to version 8. The space gray aluminum case — likely 42mm given the proportions visible — pairs with a black fluoroelastomer Sport Band, the most workaday configuration in Apple's lineup. Water resistance is rated to 50 meters under ISO 22810:2010.

From a collector's standpoint, the Series 3 occupies no meaningful space in the horological canon. It is not a grail piece. Apple discontinued it in 2022, and its grey-market value has collapsed accordingly. Yet that is precisely what makes its presence on a presidential wrist interesting: it is a conscious rejection of watch-as-status-symbol in favor of watch-as-tool. Biden is not signaling wealth or connoisseurship. He is signaling accessibility.

Presidential watch choices carry symbolic weight. Eisenhower wore an Omega. Nixon a Longines. Obama famously rotated between a Jorg Gray 6500 and a Rolex GMT-Master II. The shift to a mass-market smartwatch under Biden represents a studied informality — one that aligns with his broader political brand of working-class relatability, even while seated at the levers of global power.

On the secondary market, used Apple Watch Series 3 units trade for as little as $40–$80 depending on condition, making this arguably the least expensive watch ever regularly worn by a sitting American president. Whether that reads as refreshingly unpretentious or as a missed opportunity for meaningful horological diplomacy depends entirely on your perspective.