Vladimir Putin has a history of truly bizarre spontaneous gestures, such as kissing a terrified boy on his stomach or stealing Superbowl rings from visiting dignitaries. So what was so odd about him giving a passing factory worker his $10000 Swiss watch as a memento yesterday?

For a start, writes Luke Harding, “Putin’s penchant for expensive watches has raised questions about how he can afford them, given his relatively modest official salary. In 2007, Russia’s GQ magazine noted that the then president was sporting a yellow gold Patek Philippe watch, worth an estimated £51,000″.

This might be a serious question for an English journalist, whose country’s political system nearly collapsed over some MPs mowing their lawns at taxpayer expense, but not for ordinary Russians accustomed to the daily venality of their leaders.

No, what makes this story interesting is that in his watch-giving, Putin is clearly sending a cryptic message.

After all, this is the second time in a month that he has given away a watch: “Last month, in a moment captured by Kremlin photographers, Putin gave away another watch to the small son of a shepherd”.

Is it a coincidence that Putin’s largesse comes in the same week as Medvedev’s announcement that “has refused to rule out running for a second term as Russia’s president“?

Could Putin, who also “hinted that he was thinking of coming back in 2012″, be sending a Nabokovian message to his increasingly assertive protege?

Something like  “Your time is running out”, or “You are President on borrowed time”, or “I am watching you”?

Indeed, the BBC’s Bridget Kendall notes that Medvedev “pointedly did not endorse Mr Putin’s view that they would work [the succession] out between them” and “seemed to try to distance himself from his benefactor, as if to assert his right to hold an independent view”.

And while she goes on to conclude that Medvedev remains “the junior partner in a dance where his mentor calls the tune”, Putin has not been taking any chances:  alongside the watch he gave to the young shepherd was also a knife.