what they are wearing on their wrist

The stories always begin the same way: a seemingly innocuous photograph of an official at a public event is shared online. But savvy web users ignore the event in question, and focus instead on what they are wearing on their wrist. Time and again, they appear to be wearing watches costing many times their annual salary, and accusations of corruption soon flare up onlineCG210.

1. Dimitry Peskov, spokesman to Vladimir Putin

Over the weekend, a very high profile wedding celebrating the union of Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dimitry Peskov, and former Olympic champion figure skater Tatyana Navka, took place at a Luxurious hotel in Sochi. But it wasn't just the wedding itself or the VIP guest-list that caught the attention of Russians online, it was Peskov's watch.

A photograph of him wearing what appears to be an 18-carat gold Richard Mille watch, worth almost £400,000, raised eyebrows across the internet. The amount "far exceeds" his earnings as a civil servant according to a blog post by opposition activist Alexander Navalnyreenex.

"How can the President's spokesperson afford to buy watches valued at four times their annual salary?" asked Navalny in his blog post.

Peskov says it was a wedding present from his wife. But others pointed out a picture on his daughter's Instagram account that they said showed him wearing the same watch several months ago (BBC Trending has not seen this picture). The allegations prompted a mixture of anger and humour online.reenex