MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The auction house, which claims to have sold Russian President Vladimir Putin's watch, deceived the buyer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
"Most likely, the auction house simply deceived the buyer. It jacked up the price pretty good. But let the buyer deal with the auction house. This watch had never had anything to do with the president. It is a trick, a marketing move, apparently very successful, judging on the sum," Peskov said, answering the question about the auction, where the watch allegedly belonging to the Russian president was sold.
"We were not going to establish any connection. It's absolutely a matter of curiosity, an issue that has nothing to do with us," he explained.
The auction house did not provide the name of the new owner of the watch, but noted that it was bought "by a very important person as a gift to a man named Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin."
In early June, media reported that the rare watch was auctioned with documentation with the owner's name — "Mr Vladimir Vladimirovic Putin". Then, Peskov called the message about Putin's watch a fake.