Archer’s Spy-Watch, John Travolta’s Sketchy Aerospace, A G-Shock in Speed, & The Kingsman Bremont Despite the massive delta between the on-screen antics of fictional spies and real-life intelligence officers, the link between watches, espionage, and film is strong and only getting stronger. It is often difficult to differentiate between fiction influencing reality and vice versa, but watches often play a significant role in the intersection of spycraft and Hollywood. From James Bond to Bodhi in Point Break to Jack Ryan to Sacha Baron Cohen’s Oscar-worthy portrayal of General Aladeen in The Dictator, the watches worn in popular films inspire members of the W.O.E. community as much as they do the broader public. We’ve explored watches in films before (read part one HERE and part two HERE), and  this is a topic that never gets old. In this Dispatch, we’ll share seven more examples of Hollywood Watches of Espionage, discussing the legitimacy or lack thereof in each watch selection. In watches and espionage, details matter. Archer - Omicron Spymaster We can’t vouch for all of the tradecraft displayed on Archer, the cartoon series showcasing fictional secret agent Sterling Malory Archer’s adventures working for the also fictional International Secret Intelligence Service, but he does wear an interesting watch. No doubt inspired by the Omega Seamaster used by James Bond since 1995’s GoldenEye, in Archer, the hard-drinking, womanizing secret agent trusts his life to the Omicron Spymaster, a gift from his mother, which offers not only basic timekeeping functions but also knockout gas, a garrote, and the occasional laser. Archer’s watch is also sometimes shown with a bracelet. Maybe Archer is a watch guy with a few strap options? Archer’s character is a comedic interpretation of how ridiculous “spies” in film and television have become over the years, so it’s only appropriate for the show to playfully poke at the role of wristwatches as “spy gadgets”. Given that Archer’s watch has also enjoyed several onscreen closeups, we can’t help but wonder if someone involved in the show is also a little bit of a watch nerd. If any capable microbrands are listening, we’d also love to see the Omicron Spymaster become a real thing. You’d be surprised how many real-life intelligence professionals enjoy an episode or two of Archer after a long day, and I think there could be a market. I know I’ll buy one. Broken Arrow - Breitling Aerospace In another example of a self-fulfilling prophecy, John Travolta wears a Breitling Aerospace in 1996’s Broken Arrow, a particularly important watch for the W.O.E. community. It’s also the model that set me on the watch-collecting path when King Abdullah of Jordan gifted me an Aerospace with a gold Royal Crown of Jordan on the dial. Getting back to the film, which was directed by 90s action movie legend John Woo, Travolta’s character is a double-crossing Air Force pilot and closeted terrorist who attempts to steal a pair of nuclear warheads he is carrying from Christian Slater’s character, the film’s hero. In at least one full-screen shot where the watch’s digital timer counts down to an explosion, we see Travolta’s two-tone titanium and gold Aerospace worn on a leather strap. The Breitling Aerospace in Broken Arrow counts down to a big explosion. Travolta is a known Breitling fan and official ambassador, but even so, the Aerospace is a perfect choice for his character in Broken Arrow, with the Aerospace having been among the top watches favored by military pilots of the era as well as today for its suite of digital timekeeping functions paired with a legible analog display. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Breitling made several custom unit watches for US pilot squadrons and was a leader in this space. Once again, we don’t make the rules. Kingsman - Bremont ALT-1B In 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service, virtually every character in the film wears a Bremont watch, with the brand also producing a limited edition trio of special edition versions of the ALT-1B chronograph. Despite looking like the world’s most obvious paid product placement, the brand’s cameos in the film allegedly came at the request of director Matthew Vaughn, who said: “Kingsmen are first and foremost British, which made Bremont watches the perfect fit. Apart from making fantastic mechanical watches, Bremont has links to the military and their special forces around the world, making them the perfect timepieces for the modern spy.” While we are generally not inspired by paid product placement, this really does make sense. It’s difficult to argue with Bremont’s rapid rise in the W.O.E. community, especially in Britain. Bremont’s Military and Special Projects Division has produced over 500 customized unit watches for various military and government organizations, including several UK Intelligence Services (Maybe all of them?). In 2025, Bremont is admittedly in a tough spot after its 2023 investment from American billionaire Bill Ackman and the ensuing exit of the founders, Nick and Giles English. In the second installment of the Kingsman series, 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the horological focus shifted (or was sold) to TAG Heuer. A Working Man - Sangin Kinetic II In the vast majority of cases, when a watch is featured in a major film, it is because a large, well-known watch brand paid for the honor, making it truly rare for a watch from a “microbrand” to get its fifteen minutes of fame. However, that’s exactly what happens in 2025’s A Working Man, in which Jason Statham’s character wears a Kinetic II from Sangin Instruments, a brand founded by a Marine Raider. In the film, Statham’s character is a former British Royal Marine, so going with a Sangin makes a ton of sense, but it’s still surprising to see. The answer here is likely that the film’s director, David Ayer, is a watch nerd, but Sangin is still a deep cut despite having legions of fans among the military and law enforcement. That said, for a brand founded by a GWOT SpecOps veteran to get its moment in a major Hollywood motion picture without hundreds of thousands of dollars changing hands for product placement’s sake is a beautiful thing. Check out our profile of Sangin Instruments HERE. Body of Lies - Breitling Emergency Body of Lies is a 2008 CIA thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe in which Crowe’s character, Ed Hoffman, wears a Breitling Emergency. More than just an analog-digital watch, the Emergency contained an emergency position indicating radio beacon or EPIRB that can be deployed in case of an emergency, broadcasting a radio signal that can be picked up by aircraft to effect a rescue. For Crowe’s character, Chief of CIA's Near East Division, and DiCaprio’s character’s boss, the Emergency is a perfect fit for someone who would have undoubtedly had a great deal of field experience. We’ve spoken at length about the Emergency when discussing the custom unit version produced by Breitling for Blackwater, the notorious private military contractor. While the characters in Body of Lies are on the Agency side as opposed to the private sector, suffice it to say that for practitioners within SpecOps and Intelligence of the era, the Emergency was a trusted option with a potentially life-saving party trick. Of note, the film is based on an incredible book by the same name, written by Washington insider David Ignatius. Speed - G-Shock DW-5600C-1V Another 1990s classic is the cinematic masterpiece that is Speed. While I might be dating myself here, this was the first R-rated movie I saw in the theater. Long before Keanu Reeves became the Hollywood good guy who bought Rolex Submariners for his entire John Wick stunt team, the actor had one of his biggest early roles in 1994’s Speed, the unlikely tale of a city bus rigged to explode if it drops under 50 MPH. Throughout the film, Reeves, who portrayed an LAPD SWAT officer, wears a G-Shock DW-5600C-1V, a nail-on-the-head pick for a police officer during the era. There’s nothing like a full-screen wrist shot. As we discussed in our history of the Casio G-Shock, unveiled in 1983, G-Shock presented an incredibly durable and inexpensive digital option that quickly found favor among law enforcement and the military, in many ways signaling the beginning of the end for analog watches in military circulation. The descendant of the watch worn by Reeves in Speed, the DW5600-1V, is one of four G-Shocks to have earned an NSN or NATO Stock Number, making the watches readily available for purchase by and issue to military units. Now and then, Hollywood nails it, and Reeves’s G-Shock in Speed is a great example of getting a character’s watch exactly right. – As always, if you have other Hollywood Watches of Espionage you’d like us to mention in a future edition of this series, be sure to share them with us in the comments. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Hollywood Watches of Espionage, Part II

Look back at pictures of conflicts from the past six decades, and you are bound to see one thing: Seiko watches on the wrists of military personnel, often on both sides. For the same reasons that the Toyota Hilux and Land Cruisers are commonly spotted in war zones—relatively low cost and legendary reliability—Seiko watches have adorned the wrists of hard men in hard places for decades. But it wasn’t always this way. In our new episode on the W.O.E. YouTube Channel, we discuss Seiko’s rise among the military and special operations while also identifying key models with close ties to our community. Enjoy episode eighteen of W.O.E. TV. Happy Hunting, -W.O.E.

I love Rolex, but after buying my first new Rolex GMT from an AD, I am not sure modern Rolex is the brand for me. The Crown’s customer experience may be an existential threat. I’m a simple man. Give me an old steel Rolex—Submariner or GMT—with drilled lug holes and an aluminum bezel, and I am happy. That's all I need. While I wouldn’t describe myself as a “Rolex man,” as that sounds a little fanboyish, I admire the brand for all the right reasons. Over the past century, Rolex has established itself as arguably the world's most iconic brand, and not just in horology.   Rolex is a universal sign of accomplishment, and the Swiss brand has deep and decades-long ties to the W.O.E. community. While it's easy to forget this fact when walking into the brand’s luxurious boutiques today, the brand's DNA is in tool watches for adventurers, explorers, and warfighters. For generations, Rolex was the watch of choice for those who have made real and meaningful contributions to society. I fear that that is no longer the case today. Rolex GMT-Master II “Bruce Wayne” - Reference 126710GRNR The Call - “We Have Your GMT Available For Pickup” A few months ago, I got “the call” from a local authorized dealer saying they had a new Rolex GMT-Master II reference 126710 with a black and grey bezel, dubbed the “Bruce Wayne” by watch nerds. I was excited.  While I own more than a few Rolex sports models, this would be my first modern steel Rolex.   I have long believed that the Rolex GMT, any reference, is the ultimate CIA Case Officer’s watch—a classy and refined tool that signals to others you are a man of culture, yet don’t mind getting your hands dirty. The watch for the proverbial “Ph.D who can win a bar fight.” I own two older references, and the GMT-Master is unequivocally my favorite watch. When the call came, I said yes without hesitation. Rolex GMT on Billy Waugh’s wrist, legendary Army Special Forces turned CIA Paramilitary Officer. (Photo Credit, Recoil Magazine & Tom Marshall) Buying A Rolex In 2025 I had “expressed interest” eight months prior, shortly after the announcement of the new color scheme, and I was added to the dreaded “waiting list.” I had a significant relationship with the dealer and was confident I would eventually be allocated one, but didn’t push the issue. I had all but forgotten about the watch, and the strong desire I felt from the hype during Watches and Wonders had faded, but I was still excited. It sounds messed up, but I was lucky that the sales associate deemed me worthy enough to spend $11,000 on a timepiece. Picking up the watch was a special and curated experience, it always is.  Escorted to a VIP room, you are offered champagne and time is taken to explain the functions and to size the bracelet. Despite what the haters will say, the quality and craftsmanship of modern Rolex are phenomenal. In contrast to the older references I treasured, the tolerances, wearability, and aesthetics are unmatched. The black/gray GMT is arguably the most subtle GMT reference of the past 10 years. To the casual observer, it appears to be closer to a Submariner than a bicolor GMT.  Rolex GMT-Master II “Bruce Wayne” - Reference 126710GRNR Buyer’s Remorse? Leaving the store, I glanced down at my wrist and was caught off guard by the shiny, polished center links. The new watch was in stark contrast to the older references I was used to wearing. I felt something that I had never felt before with a watch—was it buyer's remorse? While the aesthetics of the modern “tool watch” felt off, it was something else that nagged me. Why did I buy this watch? It wasn't to mark a specific achievement or a significant life milestone, the reality is I bought it because the sales associate called me and told me I could. I’ve worn the watch on and off over the subsequent months, and while I appreciate the watch for what it is, I've come to realize that it isn’t the watch itself that I question. It is the process of buying a Rolex that is disenchanting, it sours the experience.  Vintage Rolex GMTs hit different (Photo Credit: Rupley / W.O.E.) The Myth Of The Rolex Waitlist Aspiring “Rolex men” have two options: you can visit the authorized dealer (AD) regularly to build "rapport" (ass kiss) with the salesperson in hopes of one day being granted an allocation, or pay the absurd grey market prices to a second-hand dealer. Both are equally disheartening and damaging to brand equity, even for an icon like Rolex. Visit any Rolex boutique and you will quickly learn that they don’t actually have watches for sale, at least not for you. The watches on display are for "exhibition only,” meaning you can try them on but can’t buy them even if you have the cash. Instead, prospective customers are encouraged to provide their contact details to “express interest” in a specific watch, which theoretically adds their name to the notorious and misunderstood “waitlist”. But this whole concept is bullshit. I know this because I have cut the “list” many times. I said this was my first modern Rolex, which is only partially true. Over the past few years, I have used my connections to buy several new Rolexes for friends, those who were waiting on the “list” but couldn’t get an allocation themselves. Most, if not all, boutiques have several coveted steel sports models for sale in a safe in the back; they just don’t want to sell them to you. Rolex headquarters in Geneva (Photo Credit: Rolex SA) The reality is that Rolex in Geneva does not dictate how and who boutiques sell watches to, and each store has their own process. This results in inconsistencies, and while some stores may maintain lists and allocate watches in sequential order, most simply sell them to clients with significant sales history or, in many cases, people they simply like. The most sought-after pieces, like the Daytona and Titanium Yacht-Masters, go to friends of the store owner, and individual sales associates get whatever’s left over. In my experience, even simple sports models like the steel Submariner and GMT will go to long-time clients over those looking for their first real watch, an approach I would argue is fundamentally flawed (Photo Credit: Rupley/W.O.E.) Rolex - The Existential Threat According to Morgan Stanley’s annual Swiss watch industry report, Rolex controls over 30% of the retail market share, with the runner-up being Cartier with a mere 8%. But nothing lasts forever, and I would go as far as to say the current customer experience represents an existential threat for Rolex. If I am disenchanted with the Rolex customer experience, how does the prospective buyer feel? The increase in demand and inability to quickly scale production to meet demand is not Rolex's fault, but the disappointing customer experience is, or at least it should be.  According to most estimates, there are approximately 1,800 authorized dealers or “retail partners,” with the largest segment in the United States at over 300. Every day, thousands of people walk into these stores eager to learn about the brand and maybe even buy a watch to commemorate an accomplishment or milestone. Newcomers' dreams are immediately deflated. Rolex Store Locations in North America (Credit: Rolex SA) Rolex Prospective Customer Experience Online reviews will often report the sales associates as aloof, disinterested, and even arrogant. Some will even suggest that the customer buy other watches or jewelry to “build a relationship” with the store. I have met some great sales associates and think that many/most of them are good, honest, hard-working people. But I have also experienced this dismissive attitude firsthand, at Betteridge in Vail and Tourneau in Pentagon City, to name a couple. For my generation, Rolex was known as something luxurious but, eventually, and with hard work, obtainable. But I fear that this is no longer the case. Each year, millions of potential customers leave one of the boutiques demoralized, promised that their name is on a list (it's not), and never hear anything. Play this out over decades, it is bound to have a real impact on one of history's greatest brands. Rolex may lay claim to hearts and minds for now, but what about the next generation when they become wealthy enough to play in this arena, having come up in an age where they weren’t “good enough” to “deserve” a Rolex, whether they had the money or not? Vintage Rolex sign, Tawila District in Aden, Yemen (Photo Credit: Unknown) Would Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex, be pleased with the brand positioning, attainability, and waitlist of 2025? For a man who was inspired by accounts of the Second Boer War in South Africa, where warfighters used wristwatches to coordinate operations and dreamed of putting a watch on every wrist in the world, I don’t think so. Those potential customers walk next door to another brand and are welcomed with open arms and often recruited as lifetime customers. No one has sold more Omega watches than Rolex, and Omega stores are often within walking distance of Rolex. This is no accident.   (Photo Credit: Rupley/W.O.E.) The Solution - Rolex Must Control The Customer Experience & Allocation The cynical take is that this scarcity is contrived by Rolex to drive value.  While this is undoubtedly true with limited pieces, I speculate that with “regular” watches like Datejust and the Submariner, Rolex leadership would prefer to produce an amount that is just below demand. It is important to note that it takes time to build production capacity, and the skyrocketing demand since the pandemic could not have been foreseen. By most estimates, Rolex produces and sells approximately 1.2 million watches per year at an average price of $13,000. Rolex is set to open another production facility in 2029, which should increase annual output, which in theory should make these more obtainable. But is that what’s really going to happen? Rolex mockup of its new production facility, slated to open in Bulle, Switzerland in 2029. (Photo Credit: Rolex SA) Rolex SA Must Control The Customer Relationship But the real crux of the issue is that Rolex delegates the customer interaction and, more importantly, how to allocate specific watches to specific clients, to the “official Rolex retailers.” While Rolex does carefully curate and dictate the store layout, design, and presentation of the watches, Geneva is still disconnected from the customer. For a luxury brand, the customer experience, or even prospective customer experience, is arguably the most important part of the sales cycle. This results in people like me being escorted to the front of the line, while people like you aren't even on “the list.” Allocations become lopsided and inevitably, “flippers”—those who purchase watches to immediately sell for a profit—receive allocations. Of course, this cycle inevitably perpetuates the grey market. While I would never “flip” a watch for profit based on principle, it is easy to empathize with those who do. That GMT that I was allocated could be sold on the grey market for approximately $17,800, netting a $6k profit after taxes. That’s real money, enough to buy a brand new Omega Seamaster Diver 300 just with the proceeds from a single flip. A second-hand dealer's display of Rolex and other luxury watches. (Photo Credit: Reddit) To combat this and preserve the integrity of its product and reputation, corporate Rolex must ensure that a significant portion of its watches are allocated to new customers. In short, a young professional looking to commemorate his promotion with his first real watch, a new Rolex GMT, should be prioritized over someone like me, at least some of the time In 2023, Rolex acquired Bucherer, one of the largest points of sale with over 100 retail locations and the largest brand presence in the United States. This acquisition offers a unique opportunity to pilot these programs and refine the customer experience. Titanium Yachtmaster prototype “leaked” on the wrist of the helmsman of the Great Britain SailGP Team, Sir Ben Ainslie (Photo Credit: Ineos Britannia Team/C. Gregory) Final Thoughts - The Rolex Dichotomy Despite everything I said above and in contradiction, I still officially “expressed interest” in the Titanium Yacht-Master. Released in 2024, it is a stark contrast to the more polished trend at Rolex but is also one of the hardest watches to get in the catalog. The muted titanium and black indices on the bezel have the look and feel of a true modern tool watch. If I do get the call for a Titanium Yachtmaster, I will be ecstatic that the sales associate deemed me worthy enough to spend $14,800 on a watch.  If that sounds like sarcasm, I can assure you it's not. If that sounds like a fucked up way to live your life, trust your instincts. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Watches as Tools of Money Laundering and Illicit Finance

Pen, Flashlight, Knife, Watch - The Essentials “If you didn’t write it down, it didn't happen” is a common saying in the intelligence business. In an era of digitalization, there is something satisfying about staying old school, and a custom pen, built to last a lifetime, is a must. Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen 2.0 TENTATIVE RELEASE DATE 29 APRIL 2025 Sign Up For Notifications HERE When I worked as a CIA Case Officer, a quality pen and 3x5 cards were essential aspects of my everyday carry and are still items I carry religiously to this day. Despite rapid advancements in note-taking devices, I still defer to a pen and paper regularly. As a part of our ongoing effort to produce the best possible custom tools, we set out to design a purpose-built writing instrument fit for our community. Enter the Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen 2.0 - Desert Night Camouflage. Milled from a solid block of titanium in the United States, our pen is lightweight and durable. For a premium feel, we opted for Tactile Turn’s Bolt Action construction, which extends or retracts the refill with one smooth, spring-loaded motion, more satisfying than the hollow click from your drugstore ten-pack of pens. For the new 2.0, the clip is coated in OD green Cerakote that is then laser-marked to accomplish a two-color Desert Night Camouflage (DNC) pattern, with the inside revealing subtle engraved “Tactile Turn X WOE” text. Perhaps most importantly, the PVD black bolt is operated by way of a unique watch-style crown that is also PVD coated and complete with a W.O.E. spearhead engraving. Details matter. It is so often the little things that have the greatest impact. To be clear, this is by no means a “tactical pen”. Our titanium pen is a TSA-approved item primarily intended for writing, though we admit it may have other uses. We’ll leave it at that. Far from inexpensive, perishable pens, our Bolt Action Pen is designed to last a lifetime and utilizes readily available Pilot G2 0.7mm refills. For the complete specifications, read HERE. Product Development At W.O.E. At Watches of Espionage, our product development model is to partner with true professionals—masters of their craft—to develop distinct and highly functional products that honor our community and our core belief that you should “use your tools.” In creating our ideal Everyday Carry (EDC) pen, we reached out to Tactile Turn because they are the best in the business at creating high-quality writing tools, hand-machined in Texas, right here in the United States. As a company, we seek to partner with US manufacturers and use our platform to promote their craftsmanship. Working with Tactile Turn has been a pleasure, and it is no surprise that there is a significant crossover between the watch and EDC communities. The good people at Tactile Turn are industry leaders for a reason, doing incredibly detailed and consistent work. They are also true innovators and were able to prototype the watch-style crown to produce a unique product for our community. Further, they stand behind their work with a lifetime warranty for all of their products, including our W.O.E. Bolt Action Pen. About Tactile Turn Tactile Turn was founded in 2012 by Will Hodges who happens to be a watch guy with Tudor, Sinn, and OMEGA in the collection. Frustrated by the disconnect between the things we buy and how they’re made, Will took things into his own hands, purchasing a WWII-era lathe and producing his first 1000 pens completely by hand. Things have taken off since then, and Tactile Turn now operates a serious 48,000-square-foot production facility in Dallas, Texas, where a small team of machinists produces every single pen by hand. Will is still at the helm and still obsessed with producing quality pens in the United States that will probably outlive their owners. At W.O.E., we only work with suppliers who understand the Use Your Tools ethos, and Tactile Turn is an excellent example. The first version of our Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen had an all black, PVD-coated bolt, crown, and clip. Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen 1.0: Now a coveted collector’s item, the original Titanium Turn X W.O.E. collaboration launched in 2024 and differed from the new 2.0 with an all black PVD-coated bolt, crown, and clip. Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen 2.0 - Desert Night Camouflage TENTATIVE RELEASE DATE 29 APRIL 2025 Learn more HERE  

Unfiltered Conversations With America’s Elite Warriors Offer Unique Insight Into Military Watch Culture The Shawn Ryan Show has exploded in popularity in recent years and grown into a media platform amassing some 16M views per month. Shawn, a former SEAL and CIA GRS contractor, is known for diving deep into politics, but the podcast started almost solely focused on interviewing practitioners from the SpecOps and Intel community. The guests of over 200 episodes are a who’s who of the tactical and veteran media personality world, which has no shortage of drama. That said, the episodes are more than just war stories and often touch on important issues including the mental tolls of combat, addiction, and PTSD.  But what really interests us is the unique insight the show offers as it relates to the watches worn by individuals from our community, both during and after service. Like much of the content on W.O.E., this is about culture as much as anything else.   Shawn himself is also at least something of a watch nerd, owning several Rolex references and a Blackwater Breitling (He was a former BW contractor). He’s discussed what constitutes a solid watch for escape and evasion purposes and also commonly asks guests about the watches on their wrists. Dallas Alexander - Tudor Unit Watch - Episode 047 Dallas Alexander was a member of Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2), Canada’s tier-one special operations unit. Dallas is now known for his involvement in a world-record sniper shot conducted in Mosul, Iraq in 2017 at an astonishing 3,540 meters. Throughout his Shawn Ryan interview, Alexander wears a Tudor unit watch version of the Pelagos customized with JTF 2’s insignia on the caseback as well as a maple leaf and “Facta Non Verba”, Latin for “Deeds Not Words”, on the dial. Alexander’s JTF 2 Tudor Pelagos. We reached out to Dallas after seeing him and his watch on the podcast, and the 14-year veteran of JTF 2 was quick to say that he was “not much of a watch guy,” but found the timepiece meaningful. Dallas has since left the unit, finding a second career in country music, and the watch can be seen on his wrist regularly as he performs, a constant reminder of his past service. Dale Stark - Breitling - Episode 142 Proof that Shawn doesn’t only interview current and former SOF dudes is Dale Stark, a former enlisted Air Force mechanic who later earned his commission to become an A-10 Warthog pilot, and later deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, 2010, and 2014. During the podcast, Stark wears a timepiece from Wassan Watch Co., but it is his Breitling Aerospace that really steals the show. (Photo Credit: Dale Stark) Further proof of Breitling’s resonance within the military, Start also owns a custom unit Breitling Aerospace made for A-10 pilots, complete with “WARTHOG” on the dial. It seems to have cooled in recent years, but Breitling was once one of the primary sources for custom unit watches produced for a broad range of government and military organizations including Blackwater, as mentioned above, but also numerous aviation squadrons and SpecOps units. Chris Craighead - Panerai - Episode 092 Another friend of the page is Chris Craighead, sometimes affectionately known as Obi-wan Nairobi for his response to a 2019 al-Shabaab attack in Nairobi. In his episode with Shawn, Craighead wears a 47mm Panerai Submersible Marina Militare Carbotech PAM0097. During the podcast, Chris explains that an automatic watch is an essential part of his everyday carry and a lesson he learned during the operation in Nairobi. During the event in Nairobi, he wore a smartwatch and was concerned the battery would run out given the extended time on target. Like many current and former members of UK Special Forces, Craighead is also something of a watch guy and owns several pieces including Rolex, Seiko, and Panerai watches in addition to releasing a collaboration with CWC, a brand that famously supplied the Special Boat Service (SBS). DJ Shipley - Panerai - Episode 015 A well-known watch nerd in our community is DJ Shipley, a former member of SEAL Team Six and a co-founder of GBRS Group, which has its own prominent online following. In DJ’s interview with Shawn, he intriguingly wears the exact same watch as Chris Craighead, the Panerai Submersible Marina Militare Carbotech, again demonstrating the powerful link Panerai has within SpecOps despite having at-times challenging branding relating to SEALs in particular. Shipley and Craighead’s matching Panerais in a double wrist shot. Even among Team Guys, Shipley is deep into watches. In a GBRS video about the importance of watches in SEAL culture, Shipley said: “It’s (a watch) a part of the culture and tells a lot about the wearer of that particular piece. The cost isn’t as important as the backstory or the sentimental value of a piece and the story you both share together.” Along with his Panerai, Shipley also owns a Tudor FXD, Rolex Submariner, a rose gold Yacht-Master II, yet another Panerai, and various G-Shock models. Kash Patel - Bremont S500 - Episode 128 Kash Patel took over as the director of the FBI on 25 February 2025.  When we covered Patel in his new role, we focused on his White House 46mm titanium Breitling Cockpit B50, one of several custom “unit watches” produced for White House staff during President Trump’s first term. In his appearance on Shawn’s podcast, however, Patel wears a Bremont S500, a dive watch from a brand with close ties to the W.O.E. community. Patel wearing a Bremont S500 in 2024. While Breitling’s unit watch program appears to have waned in recent years, Bremont has been prolific in pairing with military and government organizations, having produced as many as 500 unit projects since 2009. It’s unclear whether Patel’s Bremont S500, the brand’s professional dive watch, is a unit-specific version related to any of his prior positions in NatSec and Intelligence, but in any case, it’s clear Patel is at least a little bit of a watch guy, further proof of the phenomenon of Watches of Espionage at the highest levels of government. Kyle Morgan - TAG Heuer - Episode 041 Kyle Morgan is another decorated veteran of US Army Special Forces who served with a Special Mission Unit for over ten years, earning the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during the Radisson Blu hotel attack in Mali in 2015. Despite the aforementioned mention of the relationship between Rolex and Special Forces, Morgan opts for a quartz TAG Heuer Formula 1 chronograph. No offense to TAG Heuer, which often takes some shade from snooty watch nerds, but it is an unusual selection that is not necessarily related to Morgan’s extensive military background. With that being said, we’re big fans of buying the watch you like even if some influencer didn’t tell you to have to. Morgan’s podcast also indicates the former SMU operator also owns a watch that at first appeared to be a Tudor Black Bay, potentially sterling silver 925, but given the lack of a snowflake hour hand, I think it must be some kind of an homage. Do any of you guys know what this thing is? Update: an eagle-eyed reader let us know this is likely a Nomadic Marai 401.  Cody Alford - Sangin Instruments - Episode 034 Cody Alford was a Marine Raider and sniper who was also the youngest person in Marine Corps history to be promoted to E8 or Master Sergeant. Today, Alford works as a motivational speaker, podcaster, and mental health advocate. On his episode with Shawn, Alford wore a Sangin Neptune, a watch from a microbrand founded by Jacob Servantes, a fellow Marine Raider that has become a go-to option not only for current and former Marines but also the broader tactical community. Read our profile on Sangin Instruments HERE. Alford wearing a Timex Ironman during his military service and a Rolex Submariner later in life. (Photo Credit: The Veterans Project & CodyAlford.com) Photographs of Alford from his USMC days show him wearing a Timex Ironman while more recent images show he also has a Rolex Submariner in his collection. It’s hard to see whether or not he is a “watch nerd” as such, but clearly Alford has an appreciation for the link between watches and the SpecOps and Intelligence community. Eddie Penney - Apple Watch - Episode 043 Despite the importance of analog watches in the W.O.E. community, the reality is that digital watches have broad adoption among the vast majority of military and SpecOps practitioners today. In episode 043 of Shawn’s podcast, former SEAL Team Six member Eddie Penney wears what appears to be an Apple Watch. We’ve explained the counterintelligence risks of wearing smartwatches and other connected devices at length at this point, but it is safe to assume that in Penney’s new life as an author, the smartwatch presents little to no legitimate risk. It is important to note that while yes, watch culture is strong in the SpecOps community, not every (former) SEAL is running around with a Rolex as a daily beater. For many, the lifestyle benefits of smartwatches are significant and for a community that prioritizes physical fitness, this can be a great tool. Tu Lam - Rolex - Episode 110 Most SOF guys are far from experts on watches. By and large, they’re not on the forums, not hawking Reddit Watchexchange for hot deals, and not waking up early to see the newest Rolex releases at Watches and Wonders. With that being said, the link between US Army Special Forces and Rolex, in particular, is strong. Tu Lam, a Vietnamese-born member of US Army Special Forces, wears a Rolex Submariner in his interview with Shawn. A screen capture from 2004’s Kill Bill 2 showing what Lam describes as a “Submariner Daytona”. In a YouTube Short containing additional material not from the long-form interview, Lam describes the relationship between Special Forces and Rolex, saying that the watches were sometimes used as currency by operators trying to escape bad situations. This all checks out, but Lam goes on to recall a favorite scene in 2004’s Kill Bill 2 in which Uma Thurman’s character, Beatrix Kiddo, wears what Lam calls a “Submariner Daytona”. Again, not everyone can be a true watch nerd, and that’s probably a good thing. Erik Prince - Blackwater Breitling - Episode 029 In episode 029, Erik Prince’s first appearance on the podcast, Blackwater founder and CEO Erik Prince wears his custom Blackwater Breitling Emergency, a watch we have discussed in great detail. More than just a custom unit watch with an insignia on the dial, Prince chose the Emergency because of its built-in emergency position indicating radio beacon, a promise from Prince to his employees that he would come for them if they were in trouble. While there are no known instances of the Blackwater Breitling Emergency being used to emit an emergency signal in an operation situation, the watch is coveted by the operators to whom they were given. Shawn Ryan, himself a former contractor for Blackwater, owns one of the watches, with Prince’s and Ryan’s amounting to two of the 150 examples in existence. Chris VanSant - Omega Planet Ocean - Episode 051 Chris VanSant is another veteran of the US Army’s Special Mission Unit, having been involved in over 600 combat missions. In his episode with Shawn, VanSant wears an Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean. It’s unclear whether or not VanSant’s watch is a standard model or potentially a watch from Omega’s unit watch program, but in any case, the Seamaster has been closely associated with SpecOps and the Intelligence Community for decades, at least in part because of its relationship to James Bond. A high point in VanSant’s career was being involved in the raid that ultimately led to the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003. The Planet Ocean was not released until 2005, and the likelihood is that VanSant utilized a Digital Tool Watch (D.T.W.) during the mission. Brad Geary - Tudor - Episode 177 Brad Geary is a former SEAL Team Six troop commander and operations officer whose lengthy SpecOps career was imperiled after the 2022 death of a trainee named Kyle Mullen in a BUD/S training class while Captain Geary was in command of Naval Special Warfare Basic Training. Ultimately, the US Navy dismissed the case in late 2024, and in Geary’s appearance with Shawn, he wears a Tudor Pelagos FXD that appears to be a special unit-specific version made for SEAL Team Six’s Gold Squadron, hence the gold stripe on the hook-and-loop strap. The SEAL Team Six FXD is the worst-kept secret in the W.O.E. space, but this is the first time we have seen one photographed in public. The reality is that as guys move on from service, these pieces will ultimately become known. We are aware of several custom unit Tudor Pelagos FXD watches in circulation with tier one and other special operations units, further evidence that the phenomenon of Tudors of Espionage (T.O.E.) is alive and well within our community. Final Thoughts Whether you agree with him or not, Shawn Ryan has carved out a unique niche, using his experience in the SEAL Teams and as a CIA contractor to connect with a wide range of guests from the military and national security communities. For people like us, the podcast also provides some of the best opportunities to observe and discuss Watches of Espionage in action. Certain brands, like Tudor, Rolex, and Omega, are here—as is so often the case—but it’s also interesting to see brands like TAG Heuer, Apple, and Sangin gracing the wrists of Shawn’s guests. W.O.E. does not discriminate. We’re here for all of it. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: From NASA To SpaceX - The Watches Of SpecOps Astronaut Recovery Teams

After over three decades of wearing Rolex watches in some of history’s favorite spy films, James Bond made an unexpected leap to Omega starting in 1995’s GoldenEye. What might have appeared like a genius marketing coup for Omega was actually the work of a single savvy designer helping to guide Bond’s character into a new era of 007 films. In our new episode on the W.O.E. YouTube Channel, we share the complete story of how James Bond became an Omega man before providing a play-by-play of every Omega watch worn by Bond over the past thirty years. Enjoy episode seventeen of W.O.E. TV. Happy Hunting, -W.O.E.

As The Industry Trends Toward Luxury, Tudor Embraces Its Tool Watch Heritage With Watches and Wonders 2025 Releases Last year, we compiled a list of Watches and Wonders releases for the W.O.E. community (Read Here), and we planned to do the same thing this year, but the reality is that there aren't many releases that embrace our “Use Your Tools” ethos. In 2025, whether we like it or not, the watch industry has trended toward luxury, precious metals, horologically intriguing complications, and smaller case diameters. Said differently; jewelry. However, even as much of the industry leans away from the utilitarian ethos that serves as an integral part of the culture of our community, one brand continues to carry the proverbial torch: Tudor. This is still the way. While big brother Rolex was unveiling the Land-Dweller, an integrated bracelet “sports” watch starting at $13,900 that feels infinitely more jewel than tool, Tudor’s 2025 collection remained true to the brand’s modern ethos, producing luxurious yet utilitarian watches informed by the brand’s impressive heritage in diving and the military. To be clear, other brands are striking the balance between utility and luxury with certain models situated within broader collections. However, no brand in its price tier is as dedicated to the tool watch as Tudor in 2025. While a horologically significant development and overall cool watch, the Rolex Land-Dweller probably isn’t going to be the next watch trend among the military elite. (Photo Credit: Rolex) This position is no accident. Tudor’s 70-plus-year relationship with the military and adventurers, secure spot within the Rolex organization, thriving modern unit watch program, and willingness to experiment in both design and technology all contribute to making Tudor the tool watch leader of today. Perhaps the best encapsulating demonstration of this is Tudor’s collection of 2025 releases, unveiled last week at Watches and Wonders in Geneva. Tudor’s 2025 New Releases   Tudor’s novelties weren’t what anyone expected, but they do speak to the brand’s tool watch focus. (Photo Credit: Tudor Watch) Where IWC led with an expanded Ingenieur offering including a perpetual calendar, Rolex provided the Land-Dweller as well as a green dial for the Sprite GMT, and A. Lange & Söhne unveiled a full “Honeygold” Odysseus, Tudor continued to do what it does, leaning into more adventurous use cases with watches like the Tudor Pelagos Ultra, a 1000-meter-rated diver, a suite of new Black Bays including the new 43mm Black Bay 68, and a white (“opaline”) dial for the Black Bay Pro. Tudor Pelagos Ultra - Because We Can A 1000-meter dive watch isn’t a tool everyone needs, but it feels like a tool. (Photo Credit: Tudor Watch) In our previous look at Tudors of Espionage, we argued that the standard 42mm Pelagos is the apex predator of Tudor’s collection (credit to Jason Heaton for coining the term), which makes the new Pelagos Ultra the apex predator of apex predators. No one needs 1,000 meters of water resistance. Even the deepest diving commercial saturation divers rarely approach 1,000 feet or approximately 300 meters. The Ultra is large by any standard at 43mm and contains a helium escape valve which allows expanding helium atoms to safely escape during a saturation dive’s days-long decompression process without making the watch explode. (Read more about this process HERE.) The blue Pelagos text might not be to everyone’s taste, but we dig it. (Photo Credit: Tudor Watch) Why make a larger, 1000-meter member of the already dense Pelagos family? Because such a tool didn’t already exist in the collection, and Tudor still values the idea of having different tools for specific jobs. Will anyone actually use the Pelagos Ultra for extreme deep-sea diving? Probably not. But the Pelagos Ultra fulfills this use case, whether real or theoretical, like no watch in Tudor’s history, and that's cool. Other features include luminescent material in two colors, a METAS-certified Master Chronometer caliber, and a grade two titanium case and bracelet with a fancy diving extension system complete with a lume plot. While this may be a niche watch that no one asked for, we expect it to resonate with members of our community. Black Bay 68 The larger 43mm Black Bay 68. (Photo Credit: Tudor Watch) Another interesting release from Tudor I never would have predicted was the Black Bay 68, a larger 43mm addition to the pre-existing 37, 39, and 41mm options. Speaking generally, the Black Bay is Tudor’s modern recreation of its earliest “Big Crown” diving watches, but the range has expanded massively since its 2012 introduction to include a chronograph, multiple GMT models, and numerous colors. Why did Tudor go bigger when the entire industry seems to be going smaller? It’s possible Tudor saw a need for a Black Bay for large wrists or simply wanted people to have the option, but the more likely answer is: because Tudor can. In any case, the Black Bay is still one of the best “heritage-inspired” dive watches in its class, and the addition of the larger 68 will only make that argument stronger across a wider range of wrists. The new “Opaline” dial Tudor Black Bay Pro. (Photo Credit: Tudor Watch) There were, of course, several other updates from Tudor, including the addition of a five-link bracelet for the Black Bay Chrono, a new burgundy version of the Black Bay 58 that calls back to a prototype Tudor Submariner, and the welcome addition of a white-ish dial for the Black Bay Pro. I’m not sure any of these watches represented an answer to a specific consumer request, but they do speak to what Tudor is all about, real tool watches at the “entry to luxury” tier. Tudors Of Espionage (T.O.E.) Tudor tool dive watches new and old. (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) As we described in our detailed look at Tudors of Espionage, part of what forms modern Tudor’s DNA is its longstanding associations with militaries including the French Navy or Marine Nationale, the United States Navy, and numerous other military and government organizations. Perhaps the best example of this reverence for the military is the Tudor Pelagos FXD, a watch that was released in 2021 after being developed in close collaboration with the Commando Hubert Combat Swimmers, the French equivalent of the US Navy SEALs. A US Navy EOD Technician wears a Tudor Pelagos FXD during training operations in 2025. (Photo Credit: US Navy) More than slapping a unit logo on an existing watch for marketing’s sake à la Panerai, the FXD wouldn’t exist were a development process for a fixed lug dive watch not put forth by an elite maritime SpecOps unit. Several rounds of prototyping, extensive testing, and real money went into crafting a $4k dive watch that can only be worn on pull-through straps including the hook-and-loop strap that accompanies the FXD. The French Commando Hubert collaborated with Tudor in the development of the Pelagos FXD. An oddity in a world possessed by Submariners and Seamasters, the FXD has become successful in our community because it is two things: a legitimate diving tool watch and a respectable timepiece, powered by an in-house caliber and manufactured in Switzerland with a luxurious level of attention to detail that even watch dorks can get behind. The Shield Protects The Crown (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) Another aspect that allows Tudor to continue to provide more utilitarian options compared to many “luxury” brands is its secure position within the Rolex organization. Tudor’s growth since its global relaunch in 2009 and the release of the Pelagos and Black Bay in 2012 has been explosive, but it’s important to contextualize Tudor within the greater Swiss watch industry. According to the recent report from Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult, Tudor accounted for only 1% of the Swiss industry’s implied retail market share. Further, from 2023 to 2024, Tudor reportedly recorded a massive 34% decrease in sales, so does this mean Tudor is screwed? While Tudor execs are no doubt concerned, Tudor is also Rolex, the brand claiming the top spot in the Swiss industry and a staggering 34% market share based on turnover eclipsing CHF 10.5B. Tudor exists in the shadows of Rolex in some respects, but that also comes with the security of knowing money ain’t a thing. A down year is a down year, but it’s hard to imagine Tudor pivoting from its core competency, which continues to be utilitarian watches. (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) As we’ve described before, an internal adage within the Rolex organization is that the “Shield Protects the Crown”, but it’s important to remember the Crown is the thing with the gold and the jewels and is ultimately responsible for the bottom line. Tudor’s Modern Unit Watch Program US Secret Service CAT Tudor Pelagos (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) Another aspect demonstrating Tudor’s position on tool watches and celebrating its military associations is the brand’s modern unit watch program, which has grown steadily since its inception several years ago. Tudor’s involvement in unit watches, customized versions of the brand’s standard models produced in small numbers for military units or government organizations, is significant because these programs are almost certainly not a key driver of revenue for a brand Tudor’s size. While other brands have expanded their unit watch programs, we would argue that Tudor is still the leader in this space, having completed unit-specific watches for some of the most elite forces in the United States and Europe, many of which have not been seen in the public. Many of these unit watches would have serious marketing value for Tudor, but the fact that the brand does not advertise or even acknowledge the existence of the program is clear evidence that Tudor is in this space for the right reasons. Tudor & Tool Watches A Tudor unit watch produced for the Diplomatic Security Service. (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) We acknowledge that for most, watches with prices starting around $4,500 (for the standard Black Bay 58) aren’t going to be pushed to the limit in operational settings for either military or intelligence professionals. However, within the context of our community, many do exactly that, balancing the utility presented by their timepieces with a genuine appreciation for horology. For practitioners embodying the Use Your Tools ethos, modern Tudor presents an excellent option, being less expensive than big brother Rolex as well as competitors like Omega while also offering more watchmaking intrigue compared to less expensive brands like Seiko. No matter where the watch industry goes in the future, we believe and hope Tudor will continue to produce tool watches as it has done for the past seven decades. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: The Dive Watch - Everything You Need To Know

When it comes to Watches of Espionage, dive watches reign supreme. The history of watches like the Rolex Submariner and the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is well-known and backed by celebrated connections to amphibious SpecOps, including the French Commando Hubert and the US Navy SEALs. But over a decade before these watches were introduced, a pioneering dive watch was developed for and utilized by some of America’s earliest frogmen, many of whom served with the OSS or Office of Strategic Services’ lesser-known MU or Maritime Unit. The predecessor of virtually all modern maritime SOF units today, the MU’s history is extraordinary and overlooked. To shine a light on these operators and operations, some of which helped to win the Second World War, we asked our friend Jacob Van Buren, a passionate scuba diver and nautical historian, to share not only a brief history of the OSS MU but also the story behind one of history’s least-understood dive watches, the so-called “Canteen” produced by Elgin, Bulova, and Hamilton. The pioneering “Canteen” wristwatch with its screw-down crown cover. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens/Ed Hicks, Warpath Military Collectables) How The Birth Of US Maritime SpecOps Inspired A Pioneering Dive Watch By Jacob Van Buren The PBY Catalinas amphibious aircraft flew in low, touching down gently in a quiet cove at Chance Island. The long flight from Ceylon to the Arakan Coast of Burma—roughly 1,300 miles from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Maritime Unit’s base of operations across the harbor at Trincomalee—proved more amenable to the amphibious aircraft’s occupants than the troublesome British submarines that had a nasty habit of breaking down. US Navy Reserve Lieutenant Kenneth Pier, the Maritime Unit’s acting commanding officer in the theater and accompanying this mission, ordered two of his men and “Chee Chee”, the Chinese radio operator, to begin unloading the rubber boats. We can’t be sure, but there’s a strong chance these early maritime operators were equipped with a novel “Canteen” wristwatch that served as the United States’ earliest military dive watch. A declassified photo from an OSS MU manual appears to show the BUSHIPS Canteen watch in action. (Photo Credit: CIA) The Catalina’s crew—detached from British Special Duty Squadron 628—looked out from positions along its wings, submachine guns scanning the shore for threats. While transferring one of the automatic weapons, 2LT Fine accidentally caught its trigger. A burst of automatic fire roared. Every beating heart in the cove stopped. Was it five shots or six? Crewmembers anxiously examined the Catalina; none of the bullets had made contact with the airframe. In an instant, the Office of Strategic Services Maritime Unit’s mission—covert reconnaissance of the Burmese coast as part of the British 15th Corps’ Second Arakan Campaign—was jeopardized. A PBY Catalina pictured during the Second World War. In stories that are all but untold today, the China-Burma-India Theater marked just one area of operations for one of the foremost progenitors of modern special operations. Before CIA, there was the OSS. With American intelligence deficiencies plainly and painfully obvious at the start of the Second World War, William J. Donovan—a New York lawyer who won the Medal of Honor leading infantry in France during the First World War—was tasked with organizing a plan for a modern American intelligence service. Inspired by the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and Special Operations Executive (SOE), the eventual Office of Strategic Services—a rather innocuous name for an organization that was anything but—was born. Nominally a civilian organization, the OSS was organized under the Joint Chiefs of Staff and composed of both civilian and military personnel from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The LARU or Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit was a pioneering underwater breathing apparatus. Much like the nautical capabilities of CIA’s modern Maritime Branch, the OSS saw the need to be able to conduct amphibious operations and created the Maritime Unit to handle these missions in June 1943. The Maritime Unit, referred to internally as the MU, proved more than ready to meet its charter. Its members were recruited from a diverse range of backgrounds, including Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard personnel. All were volunteers. Its eventual five operational units were deployed to the European, Mediterranean, China-Burma-India, and Pacific theaters. Considered one of the forerunners of the modern SEAL Teams, the MU also developed and fielded specialized equipment that would revolutionize naval special warfare. Dr. Christian Lambertsen, a Captain in the United States Army Medical Corps attached to the OSS, developed a series of rebreathers he named the Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit (LARU). The LARU proved revolutionary—providing a diver the ability to swim to a maximum depth of 50 feet for up to 90 minutes, creating the foundation for the modern combat diver. In 1952, Lambertsen settled on a new name for his invention—Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, or SCUBA. Pages from an early OSS manual showing an operational swimmer’s equipment. (Photo Credit: CIA) Lambertsen trained MU personnel in Burma on the use of the LARU with swim fins, an innovation that the MU introduced to the US Navy’s Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs), as well as on the British submersible Sleeping Beauty. This precursor to the modern SDV (SEAL Delivery Vehicle) was pioneered by the Royal Navy and MU combat swimmers. Though it was never deployed in combat operations, this “submersible canoe” highlighted the potential military applications of the technology. Sleeping Beauty was an underwater vehicle built by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and later used by the OSS MU. MU Swimmers were deployed using innovative new techniques, like kayaks, inflatable rubber rafts, PBY Catalinas, and submarines, to conduct vital survey missions ahead of landings. The disastrous landings during the 1943 invasion of Tarawa, during which almost 1,000 Marines were killed and another 2,000 were injured in part due to a lack of tidal data from hydrographic reconnaissance, showed the need for accurate intelligence leading up to these crucial battles, directly leading to the creation of the Navy’s Underwater Demolition Teams. MU members assigned to UDT-10—comprising the majority of the team’s swimmers—took part in a secret submarine mission in 1944 to survey potential beachheads before the 1944 invasion of Peleliu in the Palau archipelago. An OSS Operational Swimmer training with the Lambsertsen breathing apparatus. Five men of UDT-10—two of whom were MU personnel—set out on the night of 18 August 1944 from USS BURRFISH, paddling their rubber raft towards the beach on Gagil Tomil in the Palau archipelago. It should have been a routine mission. Weather conditions that night proved rough. One of the swimmers lost his fins while deploying the raft. Once they began the slow, deliberate journey to the beachhead, they discovered an additional problem: an offshore barrier reef. The last thing the frogmen needed was for the boat to be carried to shore by the breakers. Making a quick decision, the raft was anchored with one man left aboard. Fifteen minutes later, two swimmers returned: one exhausted from the formidable breakers. The other man then swam back to the beach in search of the other two frogmen. The three were never seen again. Japanese communications later revealed that they had been captured and were supposedly transported to Palau, though the primary theory is that they were executed by their captors. Their remains have not been located. Largely unheralded today, the exploits and heroism of the OSS Maritime Unit altered the course of US SpecOps forever, backed by a combination of bravery, cunning, and novel equipment. The US Military’s First Underwater Wristwatch An Elgin BUSHIPS Canteen watch. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens/Ed Hicks, Warpath Military Collectables) Timekeeping is crucial to successful underwater operational scenarios. As the US Military experimented with maritime special operations, a need arose for sturdy, waterproof wristwatches. Enter the Bureau of Ships. Responsible for the procurement, design, construction, repair, and management of ships and shipyards, the Bureau of Ships (BUSHIPS) functioned as a catch-all organization that led the control of naval supplies. It exists as the Naval Sea Systems Command, or NAVSEA, today. Faced with the growing need for a wristwatch capable of handling the intense conditions faced by the Naval Combat Demolition Units, Underwater Demolition Teams, and the OSS Maritime Unit, the groups that would eventually morph into the modern SEAL Teams, they issued the FSX-797 specification—the Navy’s first specification for a submersible wristwatch. An early OSS document detailing the required equipment for OSS MU boat crewmen. The result was a marvel of wartime ingenuity. The dial and case are essentially that of an A-11, the U.S. military’s high-grade pilot’s watch during the war. Featuring large, luminous numerals and hands, the watch was designed for legibility. From there, watchmakers soldered on the crystal to help prevent water intrusion and modified the case’s right side to accommodate a second, larger crown that locks over the setting crown. This additional crown was attached via a tiny length of chain, resulting in the watch’s enduring nickname: the “Canteen.” Produced primarily by Elgin, with other examples known from Hamilton and Bulova, the total production figures of the BUSHIPS Canteen are unknown. With accurate movements and a simple khaki canvas strap, these tiny 32mm watches went off to war, blending into the uniform (or lack thereof) of a swimmer. Divers from a Naval Combat Demolition Unit. Several Canteen watches are visible. The large Panerai watches fielded by the Axis powers may have had more enduring appeal in the hearts and minds of watch enthusiasts; this did not stop the BUSHIPS Canteen from seeing service through the end of the Second World War and into the Korean War before being rendered obsolete by its successors. Its now-meager 50 ft of water resistance proved adequate for the Navy’s needs, allowing combat swimmers to embark on some of the earliest maritime Special Operations missions. Following the Korean War’s stalemate in 1953, the Canteen’s nearly decade-long service history ended with the introduction of the timepieces that have defined the dive watch—the Rolex Submariner and the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Water-resistant to more than three times the Canteen’s upper limit, they blazed a path forward for the next generation of special operations personnel. The Canteen has remained an affordable alternative to these military-issued Rolex, Tudor, Blancpain, and Benrus dive watches issued to divers and special operators, with provenance to match any of them. In its small way, it proved crucial to the success of the war effort as the intrepid frogmen wearing them scouted beaches, planted explosives, and cleared harbors that helped turn the tide of the war. Early Underwater Demolition Team members wearing the BUSHIPS Canteen watch. The Office of Strategic Services was promptly dissolved following the end of the Second World War. Its legacy in intelligence and special operations, however, lives on. Alumni of the OSS—from Julia Child to members of the Studies and Observations Group to Directors of CIA—went on to shape the outcome of the twentieth century. From an early underwater breathing apparatus in the Lambertsen rebreather to pioneering underwater diver-delivery vehicles to a humble wristwatch adapted to amphibious use, the OSS Maritime Unit’s pioneering innovations set the stage for the maritime operations of modern special forces as well as the contemporary diving industry. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: The Dive Watch - How The Military Helped To Shape History’s Greatest Tool Watch About The Author: Jacob Van Buren is a diver, writer, and photographer currently based in North Carolina. He combines his passions for history and diving on his Instagram page, @sea_vue, which documents vintage scuba diving and watches.  

At the intersection of W.O.E. and Breitling watches is Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL turned CEO of Blackwater, history’s most notorious military contractor. After losing members of his team in a plane crash in Afghanistan, Prince commissioned a custom Breitling Emergency with Blackwater’s logo on the dial. More than just a watch, the Blackwater Breitling Emergency contained a potentially life-saving radio beacon. To quote Prince: “Companies give loyalty gifts; this is a loyalty gift that could save their life.” In our new episode on the W.O.E. YouTube Channel, we share the untold story behind the Blackwater Breitling Emergency while discussing the rise of private military contractors during the Global War on Terror. Enjoy episode sixteen of W.O.E. TV. Happy Hunting, -W.O.E.

Signal Chats Gone Wild, Stranded Astronauts Return To Earth, FBI Deputy Director Has Expensive Watch Taste, Kristi Noem LARPs Wearing A Daytona, & Jonny Kim Wears A Rolex To Space (Maybe) By Benjamin Lowry Let’s face it, no matter what side of the aisle you land on, the regular news cycle can be challenging. Even so, at W.O.E., we believe in staying informed about current events, especially those current events related to watches, espionage, national security, and more. In our monthly Watch Industry SITREP (Situation Report), we do the hard work for you, taking in as much information as our mental health can tolerate from traditional news media, the watch world, social channels, and sketchy alternative platforms, and refine it all into a concise amalgamation of only those stories we think you’ll find interesting and informative. Before delving into the maelstrom that is Watches and Wonders next week, we reflect on an action-packed month of March including not only a leak via a Signal group chat, but also the safe return of two stranded US astronauts, a $100k watch on the FBI’s new Deputy Director, astronaut/former Navy SEAL Jonny Kim having great watch taste, and a whole lot more. As a reminder, W.O.E. is an apolitical platform. Watches are the lens through which we view history and current events, and this past month provided no shortage of material for analysis and discussion. Let’s dive into the SITREP. Signalgate: The Counterintelligence Risks Of Technology US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, a former Army Special Forces member and known Rolex GMT-Master II wearer, has taken full responsibility for the leaked Signat chat. You probably don’t need us to tell you this, but Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal chat containing top U.S. national security leaders. The topic of discussion? The White House’s plans for targeted strikes on Houthi targets across Yemen. As any editor-in-chief will do, Goldberg broke the story, and officials including SECDEF Pete Hegseth have been facing no small amount of ire ever since. According to The Associated Press, a day before the bombs fell, the Department of Defense issued a warning about the vulnerability of Signal, saying that Russia in particular is working to compromise the popular messaging application. A leak of this magnitude underlines the importance of operational security or OPSEC, a matter W.O.E. recently commented on in an open letter to Vice President JD Vance questioning his use of an Apple Watch, an exploitable connected device: “As Vice President, nearly everything you say and do is of interest to foreign intelligence services (FIS). This includes not only strategic-level discussions with the President and National Security officials but also conversations with your wife, political donors, and college friends. While the Apple Watch has security features in place, you must operate under the assumption that it can be compromised and exploited." Unfortunately, there is no timepiece at the center of this particular story, but the leak does once enforce the age-old nautical adage that “loose lips sink ships”. Let’s keep Signal confined to NSFW memes and Rolex Watches and Wonders release speculation like the good old days. Jonny Kim - Navy SEAL, Medical Doctor, Astronaut, & Watch Collector? If you’re unaware of our pick for the real Captain America, Jonny Kim is a current NASA astronaut, former Navy SEAL, and a Harvard-trained physician. Born in 1984, Kim served with SEAL Team 3 as a medic, earning both a Silver Star and a Bronze Star (with a combat “V”) for valorous actions in Iraq. After his military service, he earned a degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego and later an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. In 2017, he was selected as a NASA astronaut and is currently training for Expedition 73, a long-duration mission to the International Space Station set to launch on 20 April. Kim’s career is a remarkable blend of military, medical, and space exploration achievements. But more importantly, he’s a watch nerd. In addition to having been photographed wearing a Rolex GMT-Master II, he has also been seen wearing the Omega Seamaster SEAL unit watch. I can’t think of anyone who embodies “Use Your Tools” more than Kim, and here’s hoping that one or both of these watches make their way into space on Kim’s wrist. If anyone knows how to get in touch with Jonny, let us know. We’d love to do a Dispatch about his life and watches. Finland’s PM Gives Volodymyr Zelensky A Watch Made From A Russian Tank Zelensky and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on 19 March. (Photo Credit: Jari Kovalainen / Yle) There is no shortage of W.O.E. content and watches continue to play a role in diplomacy. On 19 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a unique gift from Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, a wrist watch with a case made from metal scrapped from a Russian tank. The watch, known as the CRTL-Z, was designed and manufactured by Finnish watchmaker Leo Winter under his brand, Rebuild Watch Company. Winter was able to connect with Ukrainian soldiers who provided armor plates from a destroyed Russian T-90 tank. The CRTL-Z from Rebuild Watch Company is made from a Russian T90 tank. Produced as a limited series of 55 pieces, Winter donates half of the proceeds, €3,750 per watch, to the Ukrainian Red Cross. Watch number one was given by Winter to the Finnish PM who later presented it to Zelensky through his people. Whether he’ll wear it or not is unclear, but Zelensky has been known to wear a TAG Heuer Calibre HEUER 01 Chronograph but seems to have gone watch-less since the Russian invasion began in 2022. Sometimes, watches are tools of communication more than telling time.   Newly Sworn-In FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino Wears A $100k Vacheron Constantin On 18 March, Dan Bongino, a former NYPD officer, US Secret Service agent, and media personality, was officially sworn in as the Deputy Director of the FBI by Director Kash Patel. We discussed Patel’s 46mm titanium Breitling Cockpit B50 in our look at the watches of the Trump Administration, but Bongino one-upped his boss on this day. During the swearing-in ceremony, Bongino left his Secret Service Breitling at home and wore what we assess with medium to high confidence to be a Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon, a watch that will set you back somewhere around $100k (in steel) if not more. In the business, we call this a big boy watch. Bongino’s new FBI salary, which some outlets report is $221k, pales in comparison to the estimated $4.9M he was making from Fox News in 2024, according to The Day and several other sources. Luckily, it appears Bongino showed up to his new job having already handled his watch shopping business. The Overseas is a legendary integrated bracelet sports watch with roots dating back to the Vacheron Constantin 222 unveiled in 1977. The fact that Bongino opted for the tourbillon version either means he deeply appreciates Swiss watchmaking and mechanical complications or perhaps just wants people to know he balls hard. Our guess is the latter. Stranded Astronauts Return To Earth Wilmore and Williams photographed onboard the ISS with Wimore’s Omega X-33 in view. In our August SITREP, we discussed two stranded US astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who had to overstay their planned week-long space flight amid concerns about a troubled Boeing space capsule. We also noted Wilmore’s use of the Omega X-33, an analog-digital watch designed specifically by Omega for astronauts to use inside the International Space Station. Nine unplanned months later, on March 18th, Wilmore, his X-33, Williams, and her “good solid head of hair” were once again safely on Earth, having returned from the ISS on a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Butch Wilmore wearing his Omega X-33 on 18 March after a very long space mission. In photographs from the astronauts’ return to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, we quickly noticed Wilmore was still wearing the X-33, a quartz-powered watch whose battery life could have been in question during the unplanned nine-month mission. This begs the question: Are mechanical watches more practical for space flight because of the possibility of unplanned lengthy delays like the one experienced by Wilmore and Williams? Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem LARPs With The Coast Guard & A Gold Rolex Daytona Not much needs to be said here, but during a recent visit by newly-minted Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to United States Coast Guard units in San Diego, we couldn’t help to notice what appears to be a yellow gold Rolex Daytona reference 126508 on her wrist. Not one to sit back and watch DHS’s only military organization in action, Noem suited up with Maritime Security Response Team West. Of note, Noem’s Rolex has also drawn a lot of attention during a recent visit to a prison in El Salvador. A former governor of South Dakota, Noem has been spotted wearing other Rolex models in the past, including a 41mm Datejust, but the $47k (at retail) 18k gold Daytona is on a different level. To be completely transparent, I wrote this part wanting to say something snarky, but Noem already looks more tactical than I ever did during my USCG service. It is what it is. Final Thoughts Every time we dig into another edition of the Watch Industry SITREP, we are once again reminded that the link between watches, espionage, the military, and national security is strong and getting stronger all the time. From a monumental US defense official Signal chat snafu to an astronaut wearing an Omega designed for space travel to a $100k Vacheron for the FBI’s Deputy Director to a gifted watch made from a Russian tank to the legend that is Jonny Kim and even the Secretary of Homeland Security clearing spaces with a fancy plate carrier and a gold Daytona, it’s been one hell of a SITREP. We’ll be back next month. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Watch Industry SITREP - February 2025

A Former CIA Case Officer Dissects How To Penetrate Rolex SA We are now one week out from Watches and Wonders, the annual trade show in Geneva, Switzerland, where many of the premier luxury watch brands debut their latest designs. W&W is a masterclass in marketing, with weeks of blogs and legacy media speculating on the new releases, a dramatic and highly choreographed reveal, followed by groaning and analysis for the weeks to follow. While brands from Patek Philippe and H. Moser & Cie. to IWC Schaffhausen and TAG Heuer are present, at the center of all the attention is one brand: Rolex. Last week, we discussed the role of private intelligence and this week we want to take it a step further and look at how commercial espionage actually works. Like many of our articles, this is about watches and the watch industry, but it's really about much more than that. Leaning into my training and experience as an intelligence officer, this is how I would penetrate Rolex SA, the most secretive and powerful watch company in the world. “Leaked” photos of Rolex new releases planned for 2025. Who Would Want To Know? The line between Business Intelligence and Corporate Espionage is blurred and often open to interpretation. “Market research,” including hiring third-party “researchers” is generally accepted. But there is a line and to be clear, corporate espionage is not something we support and would never do ourselves, but it does happen. The Swiss watch industry is a prime target, given the money invested in Research and Development over the past century. These are “trade secrets,” and if they are stolen it could result in significant monetary damage to Rolex, or any other company. Business Intelligence: The process of collecting, analyzing, and presenting business data to support informed decision-making, commonly used in all industries. Corporate Espionage: The theft of a company's confidential information for financial gain. Corporate espionage recently made the news when Bernard Squarcini, a former French intel chief, was convicted of using public funds to spy on individuals for LVMH, the world’s largest luxury conglomerate. (Photo Credit: The Guardian) Controlling over 30% of the Swiss watch market with an estimated 11 billion dollars in annual revenue, Rolex has the biggest target on its back.  Rival brands are the potential beneficiaries of the intellectual property collected from corporate espionage, but also criminal networks and states. The counterfeit watch industry is also a multibillion-dollar industry, with the vast majority of the counterfeit watches originating in China where it appears as though the government at least tacitly supports these criminal endeavors. It’s not a stretch that a nation-state would support espionage against Rolex with the goal of benefiting their industry, this IP theft regularly happens in other sectors. Is Rolex A Hard Target? Rolex headquarters in Geneva is known as an impenetrable fortress for watch media. (Photo Credit: Rolex) In the intelligence community, a “hard target” is a country or organization that is particularly difficult to collect intelligence on due to strong counterintelligence measures, limited access, or high operational security. The intelligence services of Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea are generally considered hard targets but also non-state actors like Hezbollah. The Swiss watch industry is notoriously secretive, with some making the comparison to CIA and other intelligence agencies. There is some truth to it, it is a closed system, and for good reasons. As the leader in the industry, Rolex has spent billions developing proprietary technology, brand value, and integrating their supply chain.   In one of the few accounts of visiting all four of the Rolex manufacturing facilities, Hodinkee described some of the security features, including iris scanners for controlled access, large vaults, and the prohibition of cell phones, all features associated with secure government facilities. While I would not go as far as to say it rivals a nation-state in counterintelligence capabilities, from a corporate standpoint it is probably as “hard” as it gets. Open Source (OSINT) OSINT: The process of collecting and analyzing publicly available information from various sources to generate insights. (Photo Credit: Department of Defense) OSINT is arguably one of the most effective tools in modern intelligence collection and for any collection initiative, it is the first step. Why allocate clandestine resources when something is publicly available? To a certain extent, watch media already does this. Morgan Stanley and Luxeconsult produce an annual report on the Swiss watch industry with detailed assessments of revenue based on publicly available data. Internet watch sleuths will take it a step further and triage trademarks and patents for hints of what's to come.   In 2023 Rolex trademarked the “Land-Dweller” and according to our friend and expert watch spotter Nick Gould AKA @niccoloy Rolex filed a patent in 2022 for a red and black ceramic bezel, both of which could indicate future releases. “Rolex patent filed in 2022, and just published at the end of last month. The Crown finally found a way to do a red and black ceramic bezel. It seems this combination of colours is difficult to achieve.” - Nick Gould AKA @niccoloy on Instagram While examining trademark data can provide insight and fuel speculation, most still take the “we’ll see” approach as they are far from definitive. But it does provide one thread or hypothesis that other forms of collection can potentially corroborate. Alternative Data Sets Open-source collection can go much deeper than trolling government databases. Research firm Bellingcat has made a name for itself by analyzing alternative datasets with an impressive track record at investigating intelligence services, human rights abuses, and the criminal underworld. Hunting the Hunters: How We Identified Navalny's FSB Stalkers (Photo Credit: Bellingcat) Rolex is famed for its vertical integration, relying on only a few outside manufacturers, but it is a multinational company, and some components, packaging, and raw materials must be sourced on the open market.  Equally important are the downstream retail operations. Even with the 2023 acquisition of major watch retailer Bucherer, these retailers are largely outside the Rolex umbrella. A deeper dive into these relationships, invoices, and international shipping manifests can further inform the assessment of organizational structure, supply chain, and even future releases.   While Rolex is believed to have its own foundry, a large shipment of titanium from a broker in South Africa may indicate an expansion of the titanium offering from just the Yacht-Master which was released in 2024.  The same could be said for other raw inputs used for the ceramic bezels or gem-set pieces. While these international shipping manifests are not always easily accessible, with the right know-how and determination, they can often be accessed. Rolex manufacturing facility in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Analyzing the capacity and fullness of parking lots via commercially available satellite imagery can lead to valuable information. Full parking lots on a weekend could indicate an increase in working hours and production schedules. Of note, according to Google Street View, this parking lot has been replaced and covered. (Photo Credit: Google) Human Intelligence (HUMINT) - Recruiting A Clandestine Source inside Rolex. Despite all the technical capabilities, having a human source/penetration with direct knowledge of the collection requirements, i.e. the future Rolex models, is the ultimate goal of any intelligence operation. Anyone who works directly for Rolex is a potential target, but finding someone with placement and access who is willing to divulge secrets is crucial. From an offensive intelligence collection perspective, the “insider threat” is arguably the greatest vulnerability.    “You start working at Rolex and you stay there. It’s a loyalty thing but it’s also an incentive thing. I think they pay very well, great benefits, great perks… This works really well for their secrecy.”  - Acquired Podcast Little is actually known about the structure and inner workings of Rolex.  There is no public organizational chart and even an informed assessment about who would actually know about the Watches and Wonders releases in advance is informed speculation.   A watchmaking trainee at Lilitz, a watchmaking school in Pennsylvania that was built and funded by Rolex. (Photo Credit: Rolex Training) According to the recent Acquired podcast, Rolex has approximately 16,000 employees, with 9,000 of those residing in Switzerland. A LinkedIn query shows 8,388 employees and “associated members” with 4,555 residing in Switzerland.  If you dive deeper and segment the employees, 574 live and work in Biel/Bienne where the cases are manufactured, and you can do the same with the various Rolex entities. The first step is to build an organizational chart to better understand the type of people who work at Rolex. This is your target list. Rolex employees in Switzerland are broken down by geographic area and education. (Photo Credit: LinkedIn) The fact that someone is on LinkedIn at a minimum suggests they are comfortable with public association with Rolex and also makes them more likely to engage externally, maybe even open to exploring other job opportunities. Those who work in watchmaking, watch design, research, and development are obvious targets, but also individuals with access to IT infrastructure could prove a windfall.   Access & Placement In Human Intelligence (HUMINT) placement and access to information is crucial. In an ideal world, you would recruit someone with direct access to the senior level “plans and intentions,” which in the case of Rolex is the CEO. That said, you really don’t know who has access to what until you start talking to people. While new releases are likely a compartmented group, it has to be in the hundreds to design and manufacture new watches. “Open To Work” - The Approach LinkedIn’s “Open To Work” banner is a sign of a potentially exploitable individual within an organization. Linkedin is a professional networking platform owned by Microsoft and a valuable tool for intelligence services. According to the New York Times, Chinese intelligence services have used this platform to recruit spies abroad, including in the United States. To expedite the process and remove myself from the operational act, I would hire a recruitment service firm to conduct the initial outreach to Rolex employees, telling them that an unspecified “consultant” is interested in hiring consultants with knowledge of the Swiss watch industry. Those with “Open for Work” on their profile are priority number one, but given the number of employees at Rolex, a broad initial outreach is necessary.   A recent patent for a Rolex “Alignable Screw Down Crown”. (Photo Credit: Unpolished Watches) Designers, engineers, and scientists are notoriously naive to their value and often eager to talk about their creations and work. Business types are generally eager for other opportunities and career progression, often tempted by outside employment opportunities. With enough “shots on goal,” statistically some will respond positively. Any Rolex employee could be a potential point of exploitation, but someone working within a technical or marketing role could be best. (Photo Credit: Rolex Training) After an initial triage of the resumes received, I would compile them and make an informed assessment of who has access to the information of interest, in this case, the Watches and Wonders releases, and invite them for a remote “interview,” to further assess their access and willingness to disclose sensitive information. Over time, the full-time position would disappear but another opportunity as a “part-time consultant” would appear. The individual could remain at their place of employment, and “consult” on the Swiss watch industry on the side. The target would then transition to a “source,” and be responsive to tasking, i.e. answering specific questions. Student Seeding Operation École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Rolex’s primary source university for new hires. (Photo Credit: EPFL) The largest cohort of known Rolex employees studied engineering at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, a public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, followed by the University of Geneva. Depending on the timeline, you could also consider recruiting a student and “feeding them” into Rolex, another method used by Chinese and other intelligence services. This option represents the long game but is also an effective methodology that does not require developing a source who may already have loyalties to the Rolex organization. Conclusion Rolex is a sophisticated organization that no doubt spends considerable money on both physical security and counterintelligence procedures. That said, it is a big organization, and every organization is vulnerable to exploitation, with the “insider threat” often being the greatest. This article is about the Swiss watch industry in particular, we are “watches of espionage” after all, but really, it is about more than that. Any industry that has leaders will be subject to targeting by hostile actors. This vintage Speedmaster was sold at auction for over $3M after having been faked with insider help and vintage components from Omega’s heritage department. (Photo Credit: Bloomberg) While this may seem farfetched, there is a precedent for this type of compromise in the Swiss watch industry. In 2021, insiders at Omega allegedly conspired with outsiders to compile a fake Speedmaster using parts from the Omega archives, with the watch ultimately selling for over $3 million at auction.   While this may come as a surprise to many in the watch community, it is something at least some at Rolex are keenly aware of. A further review of LinkedIn data shows that the Director of Security at Rolex USA is a former FBI Special Agent, and we can assume he has counterparts in Switzerland and around the globe. Hopefully, Rolex leadership is listening to them and not sidelined as paranoid “formers.”   To be very clear, this is just an intellectual exercise and we do not advocate or condone commercial espionage. We do hope this is a wake-up call to not only watch companies but companies in general. This article has been reviewed by the CIA's Prepublication Classification Review Board to prevent the disclosure of classified information. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: The Murky World Of Counterfeit Rolex

Formerly A Watchmaking Powerhouse, The United States Is Still Home To Serious Watchmakers If You Know Where To Look By Benjamin Lowry In the United States, it means something to be “American-made”, especially within the W.O.E. community. However, the realities behind “Made in the USA” have led to challenges for American brands seeking to celebrate the United States’ once proud horological traditions. So if you’re looking for an American-made watch, what are your options in 2025? In this Dispatch, we’ll discuss the current state of watchmaking in the United States, prefaced by a necessary exploration of the standards required for something to earn the “Made in the USA” designation in comparison to other prominent watchmaking nations.   (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) While there are challenges, the state of American watchmaking is not all doom and gloom, and many brands are doing big things in the United States that are worthy of celebrating. If buying a watch with US roots is important to you, this article serves as a primer for how to make informed buying decisions. It’s an admittedly imperfect science, but for each of the brands we cover, we’ll attempt to quantify the level of US manufacturing taking place. “Made In The USA” A technician assembles movements in Shinola’s Detroit factory. (Photo Credit: Detroit Free Press) Whether we like it or not, determining how “American” a watch is can be daunting, an issue further complicated by brands who use clever language in the interest of marketing and, ultimately, self-preservation. For the most part, these efforts are not malicious and are instead an attempt by brands to celebrate their American heritage while not running afoul of the legal definition of “Made in the USA”, which is more extreme than the standards enforced in many nations. “Made in USA” means that “all or virtually all” the product has been made in America. That is, all significant parts, processing, and labor that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. - Federal Trade Commission The FTC’s hard-line policy is in stark contrast to Switzerland’s standards for the official “Swiss-made” designation, which requires only 60% of a watch’s manufacturing costs to be incurred in Switzerland, with at least 50% of its components by value (including the movement) having originated in Switzerland. There are other provisions, but the key is that many watches from around the world, including Swiss watches, are allowed to have significant input from other countries—including China—while watches hoping to be considered “Made in the USA” must conform to the “all or virtually all” standard. It’s easier for watches to be “Swiss-made” than it is to obtain full “Made in the USA” status. (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) Considering that essential movement mechanical movement components like mainsprings and jewels are not currently manufactured in the US, “Made in the USA” is an all but unreachable standard for US-based watchmakers at the moment, but it wasn’t always this way. A Brief History Of US Watchmaking Once upon a time, watchmaking in the United States was a big deal. In the late 1800s, companies clustered around the Industrial Revolution hotbed of Waltham, Massachusetts implemented new ideas to industrialize watchmaking, leaning into pioneering mass production principles based on interchangeable and replaceable components. In late 1800s Switzerland, individual watchmakers in the Jura Mountains were still hand fabricating every component of a single watch, start to finish, one at a time, at a laborious rate. American watchmaking was miles ahead. In an act of corporate espionage, the Swiss industry responded by dispatching agents to the United States to study Waltham Watch Company in Waltham, Massachusetts. With an open mind and a new grasp of mass production principles in watchmaking, the horological spies returned to Switzerland to revolutionize Swiss watchmaking, gaining back the ground lost to the United States by the early 1900s. Jacques David (left) & Theo Gribi were the Swiss “spies” sent to the United States to learn about American watch manufacturing. The final blows to American watchmaking would come with the Great Depression and World War II. The stock market crash ensured few people could afford luxury items such as watches, and WWII meant that many American watch factories switched to making military equipment to aid the war effort. All the while, the neutral Swiss were free to ramp up production and marketing to fill the void in a way the Americans would never come back from. Along with Japan and Germany, Switzerland has pretty much been at the head of the watchmaking pack ever since. However, the past few years have seen a significant increase in interest in American watchmaking and a growing number of companies trying to revitalize America’s former watchmaking glory. Here is a list, in no particular order, of people and brands we think are notable in this new resurgence of American watchmaking. Note: Some great American watch companies rely on Asia for manufacturing and production, and there is nothing wrong with that, but for this list, we are sticking to brands that do an above-average amount of manufacturing, assembly, and/or testing in the U.S. as well as brands that otherwise have something unique that sets them apart. This is not intended as a complete or exhaustive list, and if there are other brands you believe we missed, we welcome your feedback in the comments. Weiss Watch Company - Nashville, Tennessee (Photo Credit: Weiss Watch Company) Inspired by a lifelong fascination with watches, Cameron Weiss pursued his passions by enrolling in an apprentice-style watchmaking program. After learning the ropes, Weiss cut his teeth working for renowned watch brands Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin, honing his skills before setting off on his own with Weiss Watch Company in 2013. The brand has gone from hand-finishing watches at the Weiss family dining room table to a proper workshop in Nashville, Tennessee, with several landmark models, including the American Issue with a Weiss-made movement, and the bespoke Executive Issue featuring American-sourced gold. (Photo Credit: Weiss Watch Company) With a collection that combines complete movements sourced from Switzerland with other calibers that are “workshop made” by Weiss from both in-house and imported components, all of Weiss’s watches are meticulously assembled and tested in the United States and start around $2,500. RESCO Instruments - Coronado, California (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) Moving to a brand close to our community, we have RESCO Instruments, which was founded by Robert Smith, an active duty Navy SEAL at the time, back in 2009. Given the founder’s line of work, the watches are extensively tested and used by Team Guys after being assembled and tested in the United States by the brand’s full-time watchmaker at RESCO’s Coronado headquarters. There are a wide variety of customization options as well as both quartz and automatic options for many of RESCO’s models. As a note, RESCO is heavy on maritime-related iconography with a trident on the seconds hand and many of the case backs, but we would argue the brand isn’t only for SEALs but rather intended to celebrate the legacy of the Naval Special Warfare community with solid utilitarian dive watches that start around $1,000. If you’re looking for an interactive sales experience, RESCO is also an approachable small American business, and pretty much anyone can call to chat with Rob and/or his wife about watches or to place an order. Of note, RESCO also has a robust unit watch program. Shinola - Detroit, Michigan (Photo Credit: Shinola) One of the more complicated names in the US watchmaking conversation is Shinola, which was founded in 2011 by Tom Kartsotis, a co-founder of Fossil, the mall watch giant. Bent on bringing back US and specifically Detroit manufacturing for watches, leather goods, bicycles, and more, Shinola unveiled its Runwell collection of watches in 2013, catching on with prominent wearers including President Bill Clinton. However, all was not as it seemed, and the FTC quickly stepped in to limit Shinola’s “Made in America” language and marketing slant, ordering the company to more accurately portray its timepieces as assembled in the United States from foreign components. President Bill Clinton has been a passionate Shinola supporter. After, Shinola pivoted to “Built in Detroit” language that the FTC also did not enjoy, arguing that it meant more or less the same thing as its previously challenged “American-made” claims. In any case, Shinola does assemble watches in the United States from what we can tell, and the brand’s efforts to create jobs in Detroit and bring manufacturing back to the United States are noble. With quartz models starting well under $1,000, Shinola is a brand to consider when looking for a watch with at least some American and even presidential caché. RGM - Lancaster, Pennsylvania (Photo Credit: RGM) The proverbial O.G. of modern American watchmaking, Roland G. Murphy launched the eponymous RGM watches in 1992. His interest in horology was spawned in high school when Murphy worked half days at a local clock company. This led him to pursue watchmaker training in Switzerland before taking a job with Hamilton back in Pennsylvania, eventually working his way up to Technical Manager, a role he maintained until the launch of RGM. The hand-made tourbillon on RGM’s Pennsylvania Tourbillon. (Photo Credit: RGM) With a stated goal “...to offer not only the finest watches made in the USA but the finest watches available”, RGM machines movement components, utilize centuries-old lathes for finishing, and dabbles in high complications including the tourbillon. Despite certain essential components still coming from Switzerland, from a movement perspective, RGM makes some of the most American watches in existence, currently offering no less than four “in-house” movements in various watches throughout its collection in addition to Swiss calibers. As you’d expect, RGM’s watches embody serious watchmaking and come with price points to match, starting at just over three grand with more pedestrian Swiss movements.   Barrelhand - San Ramon, California Barrelhand’s Project One was introduced in 2020 as a limited series of only ten watches priced at $30k. (Photo Credit: Barrelhand) Likely the most modern and avant-garde brand making watches in the United States today is Barrelhand, a small-batch producer of watches leaning into 3D printed technology as well as designs that are way out there for most. Started by former NASA researcher Karel Bachand, Barrelhand released their first watch, the Project One, in 2020 as a limited series of only ten watches at $30k apiece. It was a showcase of the possibilities of 3D printing, featuring the world’s first 3D printed movement bridge, as well as a crown release system, chapter rings, and lugs all fully 3D printed in titanium. The Barrelhand Monolith is theoretically intended for astronauts. (Photo Credit: Barrelhand) We are assume certain movement components come from elsewhere, but significant design and manufacturing are taking place in the United States. The brand’s second watch, the Monolith, is designed around a theoretical space travel use case and also leans heavily into 3D printing while coming in at a more reasonable but still serious $8,750. It’s not going to be for everyone, but we see Barrelhand as a more industrial American take on something like Urwerk or Richard Mille. Oak & Oscar - Chicago, Illinois (Photo Credit: Oak & Oscar) Within the microbrand/independent world, a few American upstarts are doing more than just drop shipping, and Oak & Oscar, based in Chicago, Illinois, is one of them. Founded by Chase Fancher in 2015, Oak & Oscar has a full-time watchmaker on staff who meticulously assembles each watch, a lot more than the average startup watch brand can say. Oak & Oscar’s collection centers around watches that could stand alone as a person’s one-watch collection, at times integrating helpful complications like a GMT or chronograph. (Photo Credit: Oak & Oscar) In keeping with the brand’s Chicago roots, all Oak & Oscar watches can be ordered with leather straps made by Horween Leather Company, the home of Shell Cordovan. For watches hand-assembled in Chicago using mechanical calibers coming from Switzerland, the price points aren’t out of hand either, starting around $1,600 for the time-only Olmsted 38 on a Horween leather strap. Oak & Oscar has also dipped its toe into the unit watch space, with a prior limited run for the US Secret Service. Mk II - Wayne, Pennsylvania (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens) MK II was founded way back in 2002 by Bill Yao as a provider of watch parts including dials and hands intended for modifying watches from other brands, including Seiko’s SKX diver. Success in this venture led Mk II to evolve into a fully-fledged brand specializing in creating re-imagined second comings of some of history’s most important tool watches. Mk II, which is pronounced “Mark Two”, is military parlance for something like a second version or edition, meaning the brand's designs are intended not as replicas but rather updates with modern specs, manufacturing standards, and subtle design changes. Diving with the Mk II Fulcrum 39. (Photo Credit: Geoff Gerrits) For the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, Mk II has the Stingray. For the Benrus Type I, the Paradive. For the Omega Seamaster 300, the Project 300. And, for the Mil-Sub, the Fulcrum 39 we recently tested underwater in the Florida Keys. It’s easy to call Mk II an “homage brand”, but there’s a lot more going on here, and if the speed with which Mk II’s watches sell out is any indication, plenty of people get it. Prices start around $1,000. SēL Instrument - Tucson, Arizona The OmniDiver Xos 42 from SēL feels almost like a concept watch. (Photo Credit: SEL Instrument) Part watch brand, part new approach to how a watch should look in general is SēL, a brand founded by Andrew McLean in Tucson, Arizona in 2013. Where Barrelhand is all about 3D printing, SēL’s thing is CNC machining, and you can tell from looking at the brand’s watches, most of which are hulking industrial designs made from titanium and steel. The movements are standard Swiss calibers (both quartz and mechanical options exist), but virtually everything else is being manufactured in the United States. Impressive for a brand of its size, SēL makes all of its dials in-house. (Photo Credit: SēL Instrument) This is another case of a design ethos that isn’t going to be for everyone, but the specs are certainly there with SēL’s watches, with the OmniDiver Xos 42 provides a staggering 2000 meters of water resistance as well as proprietary shock resistance tech, paired with in-house luminescent material, in-house dials, cases, and bracelets, a proprietary bezel click mechanism, and a lot more. We talk about the Use Your Tools ethos all the time, and SēL’s watches look and feel more like tools than most while starting around $4,800 for the aforementioned OmiDiver. Vaer - Venice Beach, California (Photo Credit: Vaer) Vaer was started by two friends in California, in the way that a lot of small brands start, sourcing parts and almost complete watches from overseas. They quickly moved to a more USA-centric business model, assembling many of their watches stateside while being refreshingly transparent about which watches come from where. Vaer has also recently adopted the USA-built AmeriQuartz movement in some of their watches to create what they call “...the most American quartz watches on the market (measured by source origin value)”. (Photo Credit: Vaer) With price points starting at $200 and even less in some cases, Vaer is a solid option for anyone looking to celebrate at least some level of American watchmaking on a budget. Although the brand has a few questionable designs and is currently sporting a sprawling online catalog that is challenging to grasp, the fact that Vaer is focused on moving things towards American-made earns them a spot here. J.N. Shapiro - Los Angeles, California Shaprio’s dials are made using a traditional rose engine, a special type of lathe. (Photo Credit: J.N. Shapiro) Josh Shapiro, a history teacher by trade, got his start tinkering with watches around his dining room table. This led him to an interest in 100-year-old engine-turning machines used to create traditional patterns such as guilloché on watch dials for other watchmakers. The success of these dials, using the same techniques used by watchmakers hundreds of years ago, led Shapiro to found his brand back in 2018. Soon after, Shapiro moved into producing complete watches and, beyond a few key components from Switzerland, complete movements, meaning these watches are crafted virtually 100% in the United States. Shapiro’s watches are among the most beautifully decorated being made in the United States. (Photo Credit: J.N. Shapiro) Meticulously made by hand at the rate of about 30 pieces per year, Shapiro’s watches are expensive and the kind of thing few of us will ever see, let alone own. It’s hard enough to try to enter the more affordable end of the watch industry with an American-made ethos, and harder still to see someone go after the traditional, high-end corner of the market traditionally controlled by some of Switzerland’s biggest names. Whether you’re a buyer for something like this or not, you have to respect what Shapiro has set out to do. Vortic - Fort Collins, Colorado (Photo Credit: Vortic) One of the more unusual options on our list is Vortic, a brand with a core competency of taking vintage pocket watches from former American brands like Illinois and Hamilton and converting them into wristwatches in its Fort Collins, Colorado base. Given that many of these older pocket watches are completely American and whatever new modifications are taking place in the USA, one could frame an argument for Vortic’s collection being among the “most American” watches on offer, an intriguing point of differentiation compared to the other names on this list. (Photo Credit: Vortic) Of course, stemming from pocket watches means Vortic’s watches are typically large and sometimes very large, with certain models coming in at 45mm in diameter. In addition, Vortic’s watches aren’t cheap with most coming in around $4k or more. After a five-year legal battle with Hamilton, which is backed by the Swatch Group, Vortic also managed an important legal victory defending its ability to re-engineer and sell modern wristwatches built from vintage Hamilton watches that continue to carry Hamilton’s signature. This likely astronomically expensive legal battle shows Vortic’s determination to carry out its unique mission in the USA. Of interest to our community, John Krasinski wears a Vortic Military Edition in some episodes of Jack Ryan on Amazon. The Future Of American Watchmaking   As this list of brands indicates, there have been big steps made in the last decade or so to rejuvenate American watchmaking, but there’s still a long way to go to reclaim the once-proud US watchmaking tradition of the 1800s if such a thing is even possible. In any case, for buyers for whom American provenance is a key factor, any discussion of where to look for an “American watch” is nuanced, and complicated. Doing your research is key. The brands presented here are not intended as a complete picture of American watches but rather a jumping-off point for further research into the US watch industry. For the moment, a 100% American watch satisfying the “Made in the USA” standard does not appear to exist, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t great options displaying a range of levels of US roots. Switzerland, Japan, and Germany may be the key watchmaking nations of the moment, but the United States is also on the map and quickly growing. At W.O.E., celebrating US-based brands and suppliers is an important aspect of our ethos, and we are excited to see where this resurgent American watchmaking industry can go. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: CIA Timepiece Analysis: President Putin and Tucker Carlson

Former French Spy Chief found guilty of using public intelligence resources to aid LVMH and France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault. Nothing gets the blood flowing like a little corporate espionage. On 7 March, Bernard Squarcini, the former chief of France’s domestic intelligence service, was convicted of using public resources to benefit a private client, LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton). According to court records, Squarcini used government surveillance assets in 2008 to monitor a cyber cafe in an effort to identify an individual attempting to blackmail LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault and for conducting illegal surveillance against other individuals. Squarcini was sentenced to two years' house arrest, two years' probation, and a 200,000 Euro fine. Spicy. Bernard Squarcini was conducting private intelligence operations for LVMH.  The Squarcini-LVMH case sheds light on the lengths luxury brands will go to protect their reputation as well as a window into the common, but little understood, practice of corporate espionage and private intelligence. LVMH is arguably the largest luxury conglomerate and owns several watch brands, including Zenith, TAG Heuer, Hublot, and Bulgari. The conglomerate was also an investor in Hodinkee through its corporate venture capital arm: LVMH Luxury Ventures. Bernard Squarcini, known in some circles as “The Shark” (Le Squale), is a former police officer who rose to lead France’s domestic intelligence service, Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI - later DGSI), from 2008 to 2012. Appointed by then-president Nicolas Sarkozy, he played a significant role in domestic security and counterterrorism during this timeframe. He also appears to be somewhat of a watch guy, and he was photographed wearing an older model Breitling Navitimer chronograph in steel and gold (shocker). Bernard Squarcini wearing what appears to be a steel & gold Breitling Navitimer.  While it appears Squarcini’s freelancing may have started when he was head of DCRI, in 2013, he founded Kyrnos, a private intelligence firm, which provided a range of intelligence and investigative services to private corporations. It was at this point that he was reportedly hired by the luxury brand as a “security consultant”—a vague term that can mean many different things.   Bernard Arnault, the founder, CEO, and chairman of LVMH, is among the world's richest people.  The client was LVMH and, therefore, also its founder, chairman, CEO, and largest shareholder, Bernard Arnault. With an estimated net worth of $233 billion, he was dubbed Forbes Magazine’s richest person in 2024, ahead of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg. It is no surprise that Arnault’s watch game is strong, and he owns what is likely a pièce unique (one-of-one) Tiffany-Blue Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual Calendar 5740, an even more limited edition of the Patek Philippe Nautilus Tiffany & Co. edition, limited to 170 pieces. Of note, LVMH also owns Tiffany and Co., and the limited release with Patek has traded for over $1 million on the secondary market.  Bernard Arnault pictured with son, Frédéric Arnault, who now serves as CEO of LVMH Watches. On Bernard's wrist is his one-of-a-kind Tiffany Patek Philippe reference 5740. Photo Credit: Arnault Instagram. It is clear that Arnault values the watch companies in the LVMH portfolio and has even appointed his 26-year-old son Frederic Arnault as CEO of TAG Heuer, who was later promoted to CEO of LVMH Watches before the age of 30 (key succession music). Accusations & Conviction The conviction and sentencing of the former French spy chief is related to Squarcini’s misuse of public resources to identify a blackmailer targeting Arnault. According to court documents, Squarcini also drew on his influence to collect classified information and spy on activist journalist Francois Ruffin. Ruffin produced a documentary, “Merci Patron!,” which discussed companies' outsourcing of French jobs to foreign labor and was heavily critical of Arnault and LVMH. While LVMH CEO Arnault's involvement in the illicit activity is denied by the company, it is not a stretch that he was at least potentially aware of Squarcini’s work for LVMH. It is clear that brand and personal reputation are key aspects of a luxury brand's value proposition. Squarcini at the courthouse in Nov 2024. (Photo Credit: Reuters) According to press reporting, LVMH previously settled a case involving Squarcini spying on private individuals by paying 10 million euros but was quick to note that this payment did not constitute a judgment against the company or an admission of guilt. Squarcini’s lawyers said they would appeal the verdict. “Private Intelligence” - Mercenaries for Hire? In Hollywood, intelligence firms are vilified as mercenaries for hire, willing to work for the highest dollar with nothing off the table. There is some truth to this, but most “private intelligence” companies work for corporations and provide relatively mundane investigations, political risk assessments, and due diligence. That said, some are willing to operate in the grey/black like Squarcini, and their actions can and do result in convictions and prison sentences. We have touched on this in the past with Daniel Corbett, a Rolex-wearing former SEAL turned mercenary who was arrested in 2017 in Serbia while visiting a source to collect information on a terrorist financier on behalf of an unspecified client. Daniel Corbett, a former SEAL who was jailed in Serbia. Former intelligence officers from CIA, British MI6, and other agencies are valued for their skillset and knowledge but also their tolerance for risk and network of contacts. Many former colleagues of mine at CIA have gone into this business, and roles range from benign political risk for large oil companies to more murky work for unspecified clients “based out of” the United Arab Emirates. It can be a dangerous game with real consequences. While these arrangements are generally kept secret, they do sometimes make international headlines and can have a significant impact on geopolitics. The controversial Trump-Russia “Steele dossier” opposition report compiled by Fusion GPS and former MI6 officer Christopher Steele is one recent example. Separately, according to press reports, Qatar hired former CIA officers (Global Risk Advisors) to influence their bid for the World Cup. Israeli firms, notably NSO Group and Black Cube, have (allegedly) been used by private entities and governments to collect damaging information about individuals and human rights activists. The line between legal research and illegal practices can often be blurred and open to interpretation. Christopher Steele, a former British Secret Intelligence Service officer and founder of Orbis Business Intelligence. Espionage is illegal in every country, and intelligence officers from CIA and other services are trained to lie, cheat, and steal on behalf of their government. As government officials, intelligence officers are mostly protected from third country prosecution through diplomatic immunity, but this goes away once they leave the government. After a life of operating in the grey area, some practitioners find it difficult to make this transition to the private sector where laws and norms must be adhered to.  The world is not all flowers and rainbows. To quote the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster, for when you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.” If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Watches of the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict This article has been reviewed by the CIA's Prepublication Classification Review Board to prevent the disclosure of classified information.

While many modern service members trust Digital Tool Watches (D.T.W.) in the performance of their duties, there is a growing subset of the military, SpecOps, and the Intelligence Community leaning into the combination of utility and mechanical intrigue presented by analog watches. There’s a lot of marketing B.S. out there, and whether you’re actually in the military or simply interested in a solid timepiece fit for service, it can be challenging to know where to start. In our new episode on the W.O.E. YouTube Channel, we share some of our top picks for military watches intended for the most common operational environments: land, sea, and air. Looking at a wide variety of price points and brands from around the world, this video is a primer for military watches fit for the Use Your Tools lifestyle. Enjoy episode fifteen of W.O.E. TV. Happy Hunting, -W.O.E.

Using Hotel Safes As A CIA Case Officer & In Daily Life During my second tour as a CIA Case Officer, I received a short message from a HQS office I had never heard of. The individual inquired about an upcoming vacation (R&R) I planned to take with Mrs. W.O.E. and specifically our stay at a relatively obscure 3-star resort in the middle of the Indian ocean. After confirming the details, the individual asked if I would photograph the locks, cameras, and hotel room safe during my visit. I said yes without hesitation and eagerly awaited a special camera (REDACTED). I would later come to find out that the office was responsible for CIA's “black bag operations” or surreptitious entry, i.e., the group that breaks into buildings in the middle of the night (REDACTED). To this day, I don’t know if the request for pictures was for a specific operation or to have “just in case” it was needed in the future. I did notice that many individuals from a certain country were present at the hotel, so I have my suspicions. My wife enjoyed posing around the hotel as I photographed her in front of the cameras and rolled her eyes when I asked her to keep watch as I photographed the hinges, keypad, and serial numbers of the closet-mounted safe. Years later, I received a demonstration from CIA technical officers on how long it took to defeat electronic locks on hotel rooms and digital safes: about 3 seconds. There is nothing secret about this capability, and there are commercially available technologies capable of defeating hotel locks and safes. The process is achieved by electronically overriding the lock via a port under the keypad (or key scanner on a hotel door). Electronic access port under the keypad of a Safemark Systems hotel safe. Is “Hotel Safe” An Oxymoron? If you find yourself as a Student Case Officer (SCO) at the CIA training center—“the Farm”—and receive a pop quiz; “True or false, a hotel safe is sufficient for Covert Communications (CovCom) storage?” Circle false. The answer is false. You don’t have to be a super-secret squirrel to know that a hotel safe is not safe storage for anything; this should be common sense. Using the transitive property, it’s logical to conclude that you should never leave your prized Omega or Rolex in a hotel safe. But I would point you to the real answer to every question at the CIA: It depends. Drawer mounted hotel safe. Dubai – A Case Study I was recently in Dubai for a short layover and was traveling with three watches: a Rolex GMT, a Tudor Black Bay 58, and the more affordable Arabic Seiko. I stayed at a nice hotel (like most hotels in Dubai), and the United Arab Emirates is arguably one of the safest countries in the world. For most of my trip, I left the Seiko and Black Bay 58 in the hotel safe and wore the GMT on my wrist. I could have carried the other two in my man purse, as the risk of them getting stolen on the street is low in Dubai, but I assessed that the likelihood of accidentally leaving the bag at a coffee shop or bar exceeded the likelihood of them being stolen out of my hotel room. Travel risk mitigation is often about choosing the best or least worst option. Would I leave my priceless South African Navy-issued Tudor in the hotel safe? No, because it’s irreplaceable. If it’s irreplaceable, don’t take it with you. South African Navy issued Tudor MilSub ref 7016.  (Photo Credit: W.O.E./James Rupley) Watch Crime Is No Joke As we have discussed at length, watch crime is at an all-time high. According to data from The Watch Register, the global value of stolen watches in 2024 exceeded $2 billion, a remarkable number. Examples of watches stolen out of hotel safes are numerous, and the incidents often go unreported. When it comes to hotels, crime can be sophisticated, such as breaking and entering, targeting patrons at the hotel bar, or more opportunistic sticky fingers from the housekeeper. Considerations With Hotel Safes Of course, the safest thing to do is to leave your watch at home and/or travel with one affordable watch. But if you do decide to travel with more than one, here are some considerations. The Bates Motel vs. The Four Seasons In general, a 5-star hotel will have better security than a 1-star hostel. The Ritz Paris on Place Vendôme will have a director of security, controlled access elevators, and working cameras throughout. The hostel will not. Security personnel will be more likely to ensure access to the safes is restricted and that default codes are reset. That’s not to say that luxury hotels are inherently safe, but they are probably safer. The first thing I do when I arrive at a hotel is take a basic stock of the security measures in place. Besides the obvious indicators, this is often more a gut feeling than anything else. The Safe Characteristics Hotel safes are often mounted in a closet or drawer and vary greatly from cheap and mechanical to sophisticated and robust. A good safe is secured to the wall and is not easily removed. If possible, you should check to see if the default or administrator password has been reset, a common mistake made by hotels when installing the safe.   For many safes, you can enter “superuser mode” by pressing the lock button twice, followed by the default/factory master password: 999999. Default passwords can often be found online. Regardless, the hotel staff can generally get into a safe if a customer accidentally forgets the password. Hotel procedures should require at least two members to be present when opening a safe, but in my experience, this policy is rarely adhered to. Entering superuser mode by pressing “LOCK” twice; default override password for SafeMark safes is “999999” Most electronic safes can also be accessed electronically via a port under the keypad. The purpose of the port is to program the safe, but commercially available technology can plug in and immediately override the set code. Some also can be open with a traditional key, often held by the hotel. Of note, many hotel room electronic locks can also be accessed via a port under the lock. In this video, after entering superuser mode, by pressing “LOCK” twice, I am able to confirm the default code of 999999 has been changed, but the safe is secured via easily accessible screws, making removal of the entire safe easy with a wrench. I give it a B. Other Precautions The first thing I do after getting into a hotel room is put the do not disturb sign on the door, which generally stays there for the remainder of my stay.  I also check to make sure the windows and door to the adjoining room are locked. Whenever I leave the room, I turn on the TV to ensure there is some noise coming from the room, but not so loud that a neighbor calls to complain. Lastly, check the exits and cameras in the hallway to understand what is and isn’t being captured. If anything is wrong with your room, ask for another one. Alternatives To Hotel Safes? Of course, the elephant in the room is why you would travel with one, let alone multiple watches. The safest thing is to leave your watches at home, and I do agree that anything you travel with should be considered perishable to some extent. If you want to travel with a watch, consider an affordable (a relative term) one-watch approach. I wouldn’t take that family heirloom Omega to Cape Town.   Travel essentials: An affordable, one-watch companion may be a better option for travel.  Pictured here is a CWC SBS. Bring It With You There are times when bringing your watch with you is better than leaving it in the room, and this depends on your location, activity, and watch. You probably don’t want to wear a Rolex while clubbing in London, but a stroll around the Dubai Marina, I wouldn’t think twice. I would never leave it in a bag while taking a swim on a public beach, but that boutique hotel on a private beach may be viable. Hide It In The Room There is a theory floating around the internet that you should hide valuables in your room. A locked safe indicates there is something of value in it, and an open safe may telegraph that you have nothing of value.  The idea is to hide the watch in the hotel room: in a dirty sock, tucked in a hidden pocket of your suitcase, or even the bottom of a dopp kit. This theory does hold weight, and it is something I have done, particularly in hotels without safes or AirBnBs. Again, the do not disturb sign is key here. That said, this option is also not without risk. If housekeeping does come in, they could mistakenly wash that dirty sock, or you could forget to retrieve it while in a rush checking out. Safety Deposit Box At The Front Desk Some hotels have safe deposit boxes for guest use. I have never used one because I don’t like to telegraph to the hotel staff that I have something of value. These safe deposit boxes are on a spectrum, with some offering secure storage with one box per patron while others are a single communal safe. My biggest concern here is that you introduce a human element. The front desk changes over time, and multiple people could, in theory, have access to that storage box. Apple Air Tag Real-time geolocational devices used to be the stuff of futuristic spy movies, but today, they are readily accessible from Apple and other vendors. While most savvy criminals will check the loot for an air tag, it is a simple measure to throw one in your watch pouch or bag just in case it is stolen or misplaced.   What Happens If Something Is Stolen? As a general rule, if something is truly irreplaceable, leave it at home. If you do decide to take a nice watch on a trip, make sure you have pictures of the watch and have documented the serial numbers. If possible, insure the watch and make sure that the insurance will cover stolen property out of a hotel safe. If the watch is stolen, make sure you document it with the local police and the hotel, as this documentation will be needed to file a claim. Please note that most hotels have disclaimers that they are not responsible for stolen items. So, What's The Verdict? If this article seems vague and non-descriptive, that is by design. The goal is not to tell you what to think but to teach you how to think. There are no true or false quizzes at the Farm because there are very few definites in the world of intelligence. To be very clear, I am by no means advocating for storing watches in hotel safes, and if you do so, you must acknowledge the risk of the watch not being there when you return. What I am really saying is “it depends.” This article is about watches, but the knowledge should be applied to passports, computers, tablets, and other valuables. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Criminal Rolex Gangs and Traveling with Watches, Part I This article has been reviewed by the CIA's Prepublication Classification Review Board to prevent the disclosure of classified information.

At Watches of Espionage, we don’t generally do watch reviews. The fact is that other platforms are better suited for this type of content. We will never become yet another outlet copying and pasting watch specifications and marketing language, but certain brands and models feel closer to our community than others and deserve a closer look. We’re big fans of the Tornek-Rayville/Mk II, so we wanted to shed some light on Mk II’s newest release, the Fulcrum 39. As always, nothing you see here is sponsored. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens) We strongly believe in the Use Your Tools ethos, meaning that if we’re going to discuss a particular watch, we’ll be using it for its intended purpose. With that in mind, Ben, our resident expert in the maritime environment who previously put the Marathon GSAR collection to the test, is back with another diving review of Mk II’s latest release. We see this becoming a series and welcome your feedback. Is A $1,000 Watch From An American Microbrand A Worthy Successor To The Legendary Rolex Mil-Sub? By Benjamin Lowry  At around 70 feet deep somewhere off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, the colors of the coral reef are muted, presenting a blue-grey seascape that feels like a dated photograph. With modern diving equipment, a decent wetsuit, and a fancy diving computer on my right wrist, I am at ease in the 75-degree water. To quote Kincade (and Moneypenny) in Skyfall, “Sometimes the old ways are the best”, and I have elected to wear a leaky old-school oval mask and an analog dive watch for the occasion. (Photo Credit: Geoff Gerrits) Peering down at the new Fulcrum 39 from Mk II on my left wrist, I am reminded of the delta between the grizzled Royal Navy Clearance Divers of old—whose issued Rolex Mil-Subs served as the inspiration for the modern Fulcrum 39—and myself, a washed-up commercial diver turned watch writer currently puttering around a tropical reef. That important distinction aside, the best way to get to know a dive watch is to let it do its thing. In this Dispatch, I dive with the Fulcrum 39 in an attempt to unpack what it means to honor the legacy of a legend with a compelling modern watch capable of standing alone. The Rolex Mil-Sub Mo Crang, a Royal Navy Clearance Diver, wearing a Rolex Mil-Sub on its issued nylon strap. (Photo Credit: Tony Groom) To understand the Fulcrum 39, we’ll need at least a basic grasp of the watch that inspired its creation, the Rolex Military Submariner or Mil-Sub. While the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Tudor “Snowflake” Submariners used by the Marine Nationale and Omega’s British military-issued Seamaster 300 are all important players in the arena of military dive watches, many would argue that the Mil-Sub takes the undersea cake. Issued in as few as 1,200 examples, the British Military’s special version of the Rolex Submariner provides an almost perfect combination of enduring design, provenance, and utility. In November 2024, a Rolex Mil-Sub hammered for $240k at Christie’s, well beyond the means of most tool watch users. (Photo Credit: Christie’s) As is often the case with cool old things, collectors are well aware. The few surviving Mil-Subs are among the most valuable military watches today, with at least one example from 1974 hammering for $240k at Christie’s as recently as November of last year. Even if you have the money, it would be hard to argue that a vintage Mil-Sub is a great candidate for a modern Use Your Tools lifestyle. Sure, you could get a new Rolex Submariner, but you’re still talking about ten grand, and the watch today feels miles apart from its military-specific predecessor. So, if you appreciate the core design elements and utilitarian ethos of the Mil-Sub but want something reliable, modern, and (a lot) more attainable, what else is out there? Enter Mk II. What Is Mk II? There is a lot more to the Fulcrum 39 than an homage. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens) Watch microbrands these days are a dime a dozen. To be clear, there are great microbrands I would argue are at the beating heart of the enthusiast community. But for every one of those, there are a thousand Kickstarter campaigns out there spewing $500 to $1500 watches that, for one reason or another, simply don’t have the sauce. Mk II, which was founded by Bill Yao back in 2002, is one of the OG microbrands and is replete with sauce. Though its beginnings were humble, mostly selling aftermarket parts for modifying Seikos, Mk II’s ethos quickly came together. It’s all in the name. “Mk” in military parlance means something like model, edition, or variant. So Mk II—which is pronounced “Mark Two”—denotes the second version or a reimagining of an existing piece of equipment. Are Mk II’s watches homages? By definition, yes, but there is more to the story here than a cheap San Martin Rolex knockoff on Amazon. The goal with a Mk II is never to fool your buddies into thinking you picked up a $250k auction piece, but rather to take some of history’s great tool watches—which are typically well out of reach anyway—and reimagine them with updated materials, manufacturing standards, and subtle aesthetic changes to create something new, aware of its past yet distinct. (Photo Credit: Geoff Gerrits) For the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, Mk II has the Stingray. For the Benrus Type I, the Paradive. For the Omega Seamaster 300, the Project 300. And, for the Mil-Sub, Mk II unveiled the original 42mm Fulcrum back in 2013. Over the past couple of years, Yao’s spin-off brand, Tornek-Rayville, has captured much of the limelight with its TR-660, but recently, Mk II has circled back to the Fulcrum with a new 39mm variant aptly named the Fulcrum 39. The watch is intended as a modern American Mil-Sub, but how does it stack up? The Fulcrum 39 - A Modern American Mil-Sub? Put simply, for just under $1,000, the Fulcrum offers a lot to like. Measuring 39mm across and 14.1mm tall, including the domed sapphire crystal, the Fulcrum wears more or less like an old Tudor or Rolex Submariner, which is a good thing. The watch is also available on either rubber or nylon straps as well as the option of a stainless steel bracelet with screwed links and a NodeX clasp with a slick integrated micro-adjustment system. The clasp is cool but, unfortunately, doesn’t offer enough length to get over most diving suits. It’s probably not an issue for most, but I ain’t most. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens) The matte black dial has printed indices coated with Super-LumiNova BGW9 that glows blue and relatively well. The overall format combines elements from a couple of different vintage Rolex Submariner dials, as well as the Mil-Sub’s signature sword hands, and is available with or without a date that falls into the 4:30 position if you go that route. The bezel is generally shaped like that of a vintage Rolex, rotating with solid action throughout its 120 clicks with edges that are so grippy they’re almost sharp. The crown is large at 7mm, signed, and screws down far enough to provide a lot of peace of mind, providing control of the non-date Miyota 90S5 on the inside. Both the case and bracelet are bead blasted, an effect that fits the utilitarian aesthetic this watch is after but won’t garner positive comments at your local watch meetup about the finishing. With the basics out of the way, let’s go diving. Diving With The Fulcrum 39 Despite the heavily domed crystal, underwater legibility with the Fulcrum was not an issue. (Photo Credit: Geoff Gerrits) Tumbling off the swim platform of our Florida Keys scuba boat, I kept half an eye on the Fulcrum as a watch nerd does. Before descending, I set the bezel to serve as an almost certainly unnecessary backup to my Garmin Mk3i diving computer. Though I was digging the bracelet, I had to swap over to a nylon strap to fit the watch over my 4/3mm wetsuit, opting for a Five Eye paired with a Submersible Wrist Compass. In the water, the contrast between the dial, indices, and handset made for impressive legibility, a factor aided by the use of anti-reflective material on the underside of the crystal that appears blue, a polarizing feature for some but not something I mind. The bezel was also easy to rotate, and I used it to time my three-minute safety stop at the tail end of the dive. Testing a dive watch in South Florida is not a rough life. (Photo Credit: Geoff Gerrits) As great dive watch designs often do, the Fulcrum faded into the background of my subconscious mind in the water. Everything worked as intended, and my dive time was determined at a glance without giving the watch itself a second thought. As I am sure someone will correctly point out in the comments, most modern divers don’t use analog dive watches. However, despite all of my modern equipment, the Mk II watch on my wrist was still a tool, as capable in 2025 as it would have been decades ago. Awkwardly climbing the ladder, I pondered the idea that most of the key elements of the Fulcrum’s design come from Rolex, not Mk II. But it is Mk II that has packaged the whole thing in a modern way that many can afford and appreciate, providing a legitimate inroad to an important design format without feeling like a copy. It’s a difficult balance but also an important conversation to have. Final Thoughts After dealing with the leaky old-school mask for one dive, it was time for something more modern. The Fulcrum didn’t seem to care what was thrown at it. (Photo Credit: Geoff Gerrits) This shouldn’t come as a shock, but despite its visual similarities, the Fulcrum 39 from Mk II is not a Rolex Mil-Sub. I would argue that it isn’t trying to be. The Fulcrum is instead a modern take on the codes established by the Mil-Sub, updated and upgraded to suit the needs of modern divers and military members. At least for me, the line between homage and copy is nuanced but has a lot to do with the level of respect and thought going into any new design meant to reference another existing watch.Rather than the end of the story, the OG Mil-Sub was the starting point in the Fulcrum 39’s design, before going through Bill Yao’s famously exacting process, with each element and aspect carefully weighed, measured, and distilled for maximum utility and an overall look that’s cleaner than your grandma’s kitchen. Still, the Fulcrum 39 isn’t perfect. The clasp doesn’t extend enough for many wetsuits, the finishing is just ok, the lume’s performance is good but not great, and some will take issue with the price point compared to the Japanese movement on the inside. Though, that last point is probably moot, as the initial run sold out in minutes. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens) It’s not for everyone, but as I said, the Fulcrum 39 still offers a lot to like, truly feeling like what an “American Mil-Sub” might be if there were such a thing, with great strap and bracelet options, a near perfect fit for most, excellent attention to detail with things like alignment, and an ethos I can get behind. It’s not the thing, and it was never intended to be. It’s a second coming of the thing: a riff on an existing idea, carefully juxtaposed against what works and what people want today. In a sea of 1:1 “heritage-inspired” watches, the Fulcrum 39 balances old and new in a way I can get behind while also honoring the W.O.E. community in the process. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Diving With The Marathon Search and Rescue

Backed by a significant history of producing military watches dating back to the First World War, Omega quietly continues to produce customized “Unit Watches” for select government organizations and military units including the US Navy SEALs, US Secret Service, Danish Frogman Corps, and more. Intriguingly, despite being one of the world’s largest watch brands and no stranger to mass marketing, Omega’s unit watch program isn’t officially acknowledged. In the newest episode on the W.O.E. YouTube Channel, we pull back the curtain on Omega’s modern unit watch program, using specific examples and intel gathered from the world of SpecOps to show that at least for Omega, the Use Your Tools ethos is alive and well. And no, you can’t have a custom unit Seamaster for your local watch meetup. Enjoy episode fourteen of W.O.E. TV. Happy Hunting, -W.O.E.

FBI Breitlings, Iran Holding British Couple, Luxury Watch Scammer Sentenced, Pro-Russian Paramilitary Leader Assassinated, & New Stats For Swiss Watches By Benjamin Lowry At Watches of Espionage, we take a holistic approach to our understanding of current events, regularly scrolling mainstream news outlets, sketchy conspiracy theory sites, social media, and anything else that falls within our purview. Once a month, we take all of that roughly digested information and distill it into something we like to call the SITREP (Situation Report), a brief synopsis of recent events related to watches, crime, espionage, the military, and anything else we think you’ll find valuable or entertaining. No marketing fluff. No celebrity endorsements. Only the good stuff. This past month, there was a lot to unpack. From a fraudulent Beverly Hills watch dealer getting his comeuppance to a pro-Russia paramilitary leader dying in a mysterious explosion to British nationals accused of espionage (sketchy Breitling content included) to some surprising watch theft stats, it’s been a big February. On top of all that, one of the more important statistical analyses of the watch industry was recently released, serving up several intriguing insights. Hold onto your hats, it’s time for the SITREP. The Timepiece Gentleman Sentenced For Mail & Wire Fraud At this point, our fascination with watch-related crime is well-established and some would say borderline unhealthy. After pleading guilty back in October, Anthony Farrer, who operated a Beverly Hills watch consignment business based on an online persona known as “The Timepiece Gentleman”, was recently sentenced for mail and wire fraud to the tune of about 5.6M US doll hairs. According to court documents, after advertising a relatively straightforward consignment-style business in which he would retain a percentage of proceeds after selling a watch on behalf of a client, Farrer would instead keep all of the money, using the ill-begotten funds to maintain a lavish LA lifestyle including luxury apartments and cars. As we have discussed in our piece looking at watches as tools of money laundering and other illicit activities, timepieces are easily transferable units of value. That aspect, combined with the dramatic rise in the value of brands and vintage watches, means bad actors looking to make a quick buck will increasingly look to watches for nefarious purposes. However, in the long run, crime doesn’t pay, and the ironically named Timepiece Gentleman will have almost six years in federal prison to consider whether all of the Richard Mille Instagram wrist shots were worth it. US Secret Service Breitling On The New Deputy Director Of The FBI Dan Bongino in his USSS days wearing a Secret Service Breitling “Unit Watch” while providing close protection to President Barack Obama. As discussed in our look at the watches of the Trump Administration, the White House has no shortage of Breitling content. Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, wears a 46mm titanium Breitling Cockpit B50 with the White House seal on the dial, part of a special run of White House Breitling models ordered in the past few years. Not to be outdone, Trump’s pick for the FBI’s deputy director spot, former Secret Service agent and conservative media personality Dan Bongino, has also been spotted wearing a Breitling. Former USSS Acting Director Ronald Rowe wearing a USSS Breitling that could be the same as Bongino’s. Rather than the White House version, Bongino’s Breitling appears to be the seldom-seen older USSS Colt GMT with the Service Star on the dial that we’ve also spotted on former Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe. Remember, when it comes to sketchy dudes and Breitling, we don’t make the rules. We simply observe and discuss. Pro-Russia Paramilitary Leader Dies In Moscow Explosion - Wearing A Richard Mille? Moving from white-collar watch crime to the world of espionage, Armen Sarkisyan, the founder of a pro-Russia paramilitary group, was assassinated on 03 February following an explosion in central Moscow. The founder of the “Arbat Battalion”, a paramilitary organization that fought for Russia against Ukraine in several key engagements, has been described as a criminal mastermind and was once allegedly responsible for overseeing Russian prisons where he recruited fighters for the Russian war effort. Unsurprisingly, Ukraine has yet to comment on the explosion but with a history of targeted killings including the assassination of Russian Naval Commander Stanislav Rzhitsky carried out in Russia using Strava data, it would not be a large logical leap to imagine Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency was involved. Getting back to watches, Sarkisyan has been photographed wearing what appears to be a Richard Mille chronograph, potentially the RM 50-03 that will set you back $1M, as well as an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore chronograph. Whether this is real or not, we can only speculate, but we would not be surprised either way. Serving as a prominent private military contractor for Russia appears to have good watch implications but is also bad for your health. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group had been spotted wearing a Ulysse Nardin before he turned against Russia and—coincidentally, maybe—died in a plane “crash” a couple of months later. British Motorcycle Tourists Detained In Iran & Charged With Espionage A pair of British motorcycle tourists, Craig and Lindsay Foreman, have been detained and charged with espionage in Iran after traveling to the country as part of a Middle Eastern motorcycle tour. According to the Iranian government, the couple, “...entered Iran under the guise of tourists and gathered information in multiple provinces of the country.” According to The Guardian, since 2010, at least 66 foreigners and dual citizens have been detained by Iran on a wide variety of charges often related to espionage. Despite a photo of Craig Foreman wearing an old-school Breitling Colt, we would be shocked to learn the couple was involved in clandestine activities, and it’s far more likely they are the victims of so-called “hostage diplomacy”, the taking of hostages for diplomatic leverage. That said, the naivety of Western travelers never ceases to amaze, and we would argue people need to start taking responsibility for their actions. It might sound like fun to rollerblade through Iran, play basketball in Russia, or teach Somali kids yoga, but these decisions have real geopolitical consequences, with the US and UK governments often making significant concessions to get people like Craig and Lindsay home. Morgan Stanley’s Watch Industry Report For 2024 Is In Likely the most-referenced guide to the overall health of the Swiss watch industry, Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult’s annual report was published earlier this month. We try to stay away from pure industry news, but an overarching statistical analysis like this is worthy of your time, showing numerically which brands are growing in revenue and market share, which are in decline, and how the Swiss watch industry as a whole is faring, all free from the influence of brand marketing dollars. The revelations this year are straightforward. Rolex continues its reign, accounting for an astonishing 32% of the Swiss market share and over 10.5B CHF in turnover based on sales of 1.24M units. Those numbers—which are estimates for a private business like Rolex—are not so different from last year but worthy of a second glance when you consider the massive delta between the Crown and Cartier down in second place with an 8% market share and 3.1B CHF in turnover based on 660,000 units. More broadly, the report indicates the overall health of the industry could be better, with a 3% decrease in Swiss watch exports from 2023 to 2024 and only eleven of the top 50 brands recording growth. Despite these metrics, nothing here amounts to doom and gloom for Swiss watch lovers or indicates we are any closer to being able to walk into a Rolex AD and grab a brand spanking new GMT-Master II right out of the showcase. Watch Theft Tops $2B Globally In 2024 Richard Mille accounted for the ten most valuable stolen watches in 2024. (Source: BBC) Once again revisiting the seedy world of watch theft, new reporting from LBC based on data from The Watch Register claims the global value of stolen watches in 2024 topped £1.6B, or approximately $2B, with some £60M ($75M) worth of luxury watch theft coming from Britain alone. In most cases, stolen watches are sold internationally after being networked through transnational criminal organizations that also often deal in illicit narcotics and human smuggling, using luxury watches as another increasingly lucrative income stream. Rolex remains the most commonly stolen brand, though the top ten stolen watches in value were all from Richard Mille, which makes sense given Richard Mille’s average per-watch cost in 2024 was an astronomical 275,000 CHF, again referencing Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult’s report. As the potential upside for criminal organizations increases, these robberies have become more brazen, sophisticated, and violent, with some perpetrators surveilling potential victims in luxurious shopping areas or watch boutiques before identifying targets, following them to a more secluded area or even their residence, and relieving them of their timepieces, sometimes violently. We’ve discussed luxury watch theft in detail and provided some of our recommendations for avoiding becoming a victim of this growing trend. Suffice it to say that situational awareness is always key and flexing your Batman GMT in Mayfair is never worth catching an ass-whooping and losing your $11k watch. W.O.E. In The Press While it is never our intention, our discussion of Watches of Espionage occasionally finds itself referenced outside the traditional boundaries of our community. When we penned our open letter to Vice President JD Vance asking him to cease his Apple Watch-wearing ways, we had no idea the response it would elicit in mainstream media, including a write-up in The Daily Mail entitled, “Espionage expert's chilling plea to JD Vance”. In addition, W.O.E. was called out in The Financial Times for our discussion on the watch-wearing habits of Ahmad al-Sharaa, the defacto president of Syria who has been spotted with an ascending watch game that quickly escalated from no-name quartz to Patek Philippe. Finally, we haven’t had a chance to listen to the entire (five-hour) thing, but W.O.E. also got the nod in a popular podcast called Acquired in a Rolex-focused episode. Final Thoughts With Watches and Wonders and the majority of new watch releases looming at the end of April, there is typically something of a slowdown for watch news in the early days of Q1. Looking beyond our usual dose of watch-related crime and the recent illuminating report on the Swiss watch industry, that was precisely the case this past month, which is where espionage comes in, with yet another high-profile assassination of a Pro-Russian paramilitary leader as well as the unfortunate story of a British couple being detained in Iran, supposedly for spying. This blend is exactly what the SITREP is meant to be, a one-pager providing a high-level overview of recent events related to any aspect of our community, whether that’s watches, espionage, NatSec, or the military. Whatever your reason or path of entry into our community may be, we’re here for you, but we still wouldn’t recommend motorcycle touring in Iran. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Watch Industry SITREP - January 2025

The link between watches, the military, and espionage is nothing new. Long before the advent of inexpensive digital timekeeping, there was an era where warfighters utilized mechanical watches for their intended purpose because they were simply the best tools for the job. At W.O.E., we focus on honoring and celebrating the heritage of our community. To fully understand that heritage, you have to look back to the original end-users, the OGs that cemented the lore behind some of watchmaking’s biggest names. When it comes to scrubbing the archives for photographs showcasing important military watches, our friend Justin Couture AKA The Wristorian is among the best. A lot of us (myself included) aren’t going to spend hours combing through the US National Archives hoping for a great shot of a Seiko 6309, but that’s exactly what Justin does, and it pays off. In this Dispatch, we asked Justin to share some of his favorite watches “in action” on the wrists of servicemembers from military organizations the world over. It’s important to remember that long before Omega paid big bucks for K-Pop superstars to don Aqua Terras, hard men dived, dismantled bombs, and waged war with real watches on their wrists. Today, with Justin’s help, we celebrate the legends who were living the Use Your Tools ethos long before it was cool. Legendary Timepieces Photographed On The Wrists Of Military & SpecOps By Justin Couture Hamilton MIL-W-4637B & Breitling Chronomat - US Army It just wouldn’t be a proper Watches of Espionage Dispatch without a bit of sketchy Breitling content to kick it off. The Airborne Ranger, from the 2nd Battalion, 75th Infantry pictured here is sporting two timepieces along with an M-161A rifle. Photographed in 1981 near “Rosy Roads” Naval Station in Puerto Rico, this shot was captured during “Ocean Venture”, a naval exercise that involved 120,000 service personnel, 250 ships, and about 1,000 or more planes from 14 different countries. The smaller of the two watches appears to be a standard-issue Hamilton MIL-W-4637B. The other watch was trickier to identify but looks to be a quartz Breitling Chronomat reference 9108. The giveaways are the size, the case shape on the crown side, the bracelet, and the distinctive bezel. It’s a rare model to spot anywhere, let alone in this environment. The reason this operator is wearing two watches on one wrist is anyone’s guess. It could be for redundancy—the old “two is one and one is none” mentality. It would also have allowed him to track two different time zones without a GMT function. Benrus Type I – US Navy Here is a photograph of not one, but two Benrus Type Is in action in 1981. This famously sterile-dialed tool watch was never available for civilian purchase. It epitomizes the concept of “everything you need and nothing you don’t”. One of the most legendary military-only tool watch designs ever made, the Benrus Type I and later Type II were produced in response to a US Government specification during the Vietnam War and exclusively issued to special operations forces with a few select pieces also allegedly being provided to CIA Officers with completely sterilized casebacks. The four operators pictured here are being transported by helicopter to the ammunition ship USS Mount Hood (AE-29). There they will assist with search and rescue operations for a beached frigate called the RPS Datu Kalantiaw (PS-76). The frigate was a casualty of Typhoon Clara and ultimately 19 individuals were rescued from the wreckage, while 52 bodies were recovered. Rolex GMT Master 1675 – US Air Force The Rolex GMT Master is a watch that shows up often in archival military photos. I see them time and time again—a testament to both their status and durability. This image, taken in 1978, shows Astronaut Judy Resnick inflating a solar water still (a device that makes saltwater safe to drink) during 20-man life raft training on Biscayne Bay near Homestead Air Force Base (HAFB). This exercise was conducted by the Air Training Command Sea Survival School. The man on the right is seen wearing a Ref. 1675 Rolex GMT-Master. The hallmark bi-colored bezel can be made out just under his sleeve. Resnick lost her life in the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986, but left an indelible mark in the history books as a pioneering female aviator and astronaut. Rolex Submariner 6536 - Royal New Zealand Air Force “Vanguard 18” was a joint military exercise that occurred in 1971 to promote effective cooperation between various armed forces. This image shows an RNZAF Deployment Commander greeting a Lieutenant Colonel from the Singaporean Air Force. The former, seen on the right, is wearing what appears to be a Rolex Submariner reference 6536. Interestingly, this was a transitional reference for Rolex and was only produced for a brief window in the mid-1950s. Given the date that this photo was taken in Tengah, Singapore the Submariner would have been around 15 years old at the time. Safe to say that, if we could zoom in even closer, the watch had probably earned a fair number of battle scars by this time. Rolex Explorer 5500 – US Navy Onboard the USS John Hancock (DD-981) in 1982, a Data Systems Technician re-enlists somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. The Hancock was a Spruance-class destroyer commissioned in the late 1970s that operated out of Charleston, South Carolina until moving to Florida in 1987. The officers in the photo are part of the US Navy 6th Fleet whose purpose was to “...conduct the full range of Maritime Operations and Theater Security Cooperation missions, in concert with coalition, joint, interagency, and other parties, in order to advance security and stability in Europe and Africa.” The watch on the wrist of the officer on the right appears to be a Rolex Explorer. More specifically, given the size and the single line of text above the 6 o’clock numeral, it is likely a reference 5500 Explorer. This is a smaller and less common model in the range but built to the same standards of water resistance and robustness. In other words, a no-fluff tool fit for the job. Tudor Submariner 94110 “Snowflake” – US Air Force If you follow W.O.E. closely, you’re no stranger to the close historical bonds, which continue to this day, between Tudor and the military. This image, taken in 1985, shows a member of the US Air Force combat control team using a theodolite to track a weather balloon during the joint Honduran/US Exercise CABANAS '85. On his wrist is a Tudor Submariner Snowflake ref. 94110. What makes this particular shot so interesting is that he seems to have something tucked under the watch. While this may not be the most common place to store an object of importance, generally speaking, there are multiple examples I have seen in military photos. A good illustration of this is a wedding band kept on a nylon pull-through strap. As for what is underneath this Tudor, I suspect it could be a cap for the equipment. It’s tough to say but a unique storage solution, nevertheless. I would love to hear insight from the community in the comments. Seiko 6105 “Willard” – Royal New Zealand Air Force I’ve written on multiple occasions about the prevalence of Seiko divers throughout history: military, adventure, exploration, diving, etc. If you haven’t read Ben’s take on the ubiquity of the Seiko “turtle” among military personnel, check it out and you’ll see what I am talking about. Often accompanying these Seiko dive watches is a pronounced mustache. Turns out, a solid ‘stache is the perfect complement to a Seiko diver. As evidenced by this photo from 1983, there is an even smaller intersection where the ‘stache and the Seiko 6105 are accompanied by a bagpipe, and I think that’s worth celebrating. The gentleman in the photo, a member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, is wearing the classic Seiko 6105, alternatively called the “Captain Willard” (a reference to its appearance in the film Apocalypse Now). Bonus points for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk in the background. Seiko 7548 – US Army Now back to a few watches from the land of the rising sun. This image from October of 1984 shows US Air Force personnel catching giant freshwater prawns in the Philippines during a jungle survival training exercise. These prawns, known locally as ulang, can grow up to a foot long, making them a great source of protein in a survival scenario. On the wrist of the gentleman on the right is a red and blue “Pepsi” bezel Seiko 7548. This watch represented Seiko’s first foray into quartz-powered dive watches in 1978 and quickly grew a following among the armed forces. In fact, it became a real classic, not just among military personnel, but throughout virtually all active pursuits of the 1980’s. I’ve seen the same model on mountaineers, military generals, marine veterinarians, and everything in between, which speaks volumes to the capability and performance of the model. Seiko 6139-7010 – Japan Air Self-Defense Force Since I began collecting, I’ve been a major subscriber to the Cole Penning ton ethos to Always Read The Caseback. This image shows Japanese personnel assigned to the Rescue Coordination Center at the start of Operation Cope Angel, held off the coast of Okinawa, Japan in 1980. The man on the right is wearing a Seiko 6139-7010 chronograph. The 6139 line consisted of a multitude of different models, but the Arabic numerals of the aforementioned model make it ultra-legible and appropriate for military use. Though not many examples are known, this model was issued to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and can be identified as an issued model by the cherry blossom and wings on the caseback. There is also a similar model with an anchor and wings given to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). A decade ago this watch would have been entirely unknown as an issued piece, making this a great illustration of the knowledge that has yet to be gained among the military and watch enthusiast communities. Citizen Aqualand & Seiko H558 “Arnie” – Royal Australian Navy EOD and US Navy This 1991 image shows a member of a U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team examining a device with members of a Royal Australian Navy EOD unit. At the time, they were working together to clear mines from Kuwait’s harbors following Operation Desert Storm. In terms of tool watches per image, this photo scores highly. If you look closely, you can spot both a Citizen Aqualand and a Seiko H558 “Arnie”—two classics, especially in the early 1990s when ana-digi dive watches found their footing. The former was known to be issued watch to Royal Australian Navy Clearance Divers throughout the 80s and into the 90s. The latter, though not known to be issued, was favored by military personnel for its unique, shrouded design and water resistance. Both of these watches were the apex predators of analog/digital performance at the time and offered real functionality for military work. Doxa Professional SUB300T – Korean Military I don’t know about you—but if someone asked me what watch I would expect from Republic of Korea Special Forces operators in 1985—I probably would have said Seiko. Maybe Citizen? I would not have guessed Doxa. That’s the fun thing about these combing through the archives, though, you can unearth unexpected gems. Here is a shot of Special Reconnaissance ROK Marine members offloading from a C-130E Hercules aircraft at Yoju Airfield during Exercise TEAM SPIRIT in 1985 and on one of their wrists, you can see a Doxa SUB 300T. I initially thought it was a yellow-dialed “Divingstar”—but after stumbling across an example of a Korean military-issued Doxa Professional, that seems more likely. The SUB 300/300T was known to be favored by famed divers like Jacques Cousteau and has been issued by many international militaries, mostly for naval pursuits. CWC Chronograph – Royal Air Force This image, taken in 1980, displays a Royal Air Force pilot (left) as he helps a U.S. Air Force pilot don his flight suit during an RAF visit to the Spangdahlem Airbase in Germany. On his wrist is a CWC chronograph. These CWC models featured broad hands and clear markings, making them ideal for pilots. The dials bore the “broad arrow” symbol, a traditional indication used to designate British military property. I’ve long admired CWCs current and past models along with their extensive history of issuing models to various military branches. To me, seeing a watch like this—void of any marketing angle and being used exactly as intended—that’s what it’s all about. More Than Just Old Photos Sure, we’ve all heard of influencers, but I would argue you’re better off taking your watch-wearing advice from people stretching their watches beyond a wrist shot at the closest vegan cafe. If you want to understand the history and significance of tool watches, in particular, you must look to the original practitioners: the divers, pilots, special operators, and intelligence professionals, and see what worked for them. Chances are, even in a world dominated by the Apple Watch, it’ll work for you too. About The Author: Justin Couture is a Kansas City-based freelance writer and vintage watch enthusiast. In 2020, he founded @The_Wristorian, an Instagram page dedicated to providing historical context around military and civilian tool watches. Horological pursuits aside, Justin is a proud father, husband, and paramedic of 16 years.  If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: The Best Military Watches For Land, Sea, & Air  

The USG Finds An Unlikely Culprit That “Prevents Time Travel” - In the W.O.E. world, we focus on watches used as tools to get the job done. But in one fascinating historical instance, a watch was part of the problem rather than the solution. According to CIA, a simple wristwatch may have prevented some test subjects from traveling through time and space, by grounding them in the present.

Seiko, Hamilton, Timex, & More - Our Top Picks For Starter Watches Of Espionage - One of the most common questions we are asked is: “What should I buy for my first watch?”

Take a look at any photo of a special operator during the Global War On Terror, and there’s a decent chance they will be “inside-wristing”, meaning wearing their watch on the inside of the wrist. But why is this the case? Does wearing a watch this way add genuine utility or is this simply a trend among the LARPing crowd? In the newest episode of W.O.E. TV, we discuss the legitimate benefits and cultural factors behind wearing a watch this way. To be clear, if you’re someone who wears a watch this way to be “tacti-cool”, we’re not here to change your mind, simply to inform. We don’t make the rules. Enjoy episode thirteen of W.O.E. TV. Happy Hunting, -W.O.E.

The Evolution Of A Rebel Leader Turned Syrian President, Told Through His Watches - Tactical Watch, Seiko, Omega, & Patek Philippe At Watches of Espionage, we explore national security and current events through the lens of timepieces. Today we take a close look at the watches of Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the former Al-Qaeda in Iraq fighter who led the movement to overthrow the Syrian regime, now serving as President of Syria. As he ascended to power, al-Jolani’s watches changed to match his persona, communicating a message to his supporters and the international community. In intelligence and national security, a watch is a tool. In this case, al-Jolani’s watch serves as a tool to telegraph a persona. When Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was overthrown at the beginning of December 2024, ending some five decades of rule by the Assad regime, I was—along with the rest of the world—genuinely surprised by the speed with which the events transpired. With extensive experience living, working, and traveling throughout the Middle East, including to Syria, I would have expected the Assad family to maintain its totalitarian stranglehold over its 25 million citizens all but indefinitely. So how could this have happened? And where do watches fit into the picture? Al-Jolani made the change from a seemingly-generic quartz watch to a more refined Seiko as he molded himself into a statesman. At the center of the conversation was one man: the “rebel leader” then called Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who led the effort to overthrow Assad. Despite a challenging background, ties to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, and a stint in Iraq’s infamous Camp Bucca internment facility, al-Jolani has demonstrated an impressive grasp on the importance of communication and influence since becoming Syria’s new head of state. While his attire was perhaps the first to change—from olive drab fatigues to a business suit—for a trained eye, nowhere was this shift from Jihadist to political leader more apparent than with al-Jolani’s watches. For al-Jolani, who has since dropped his nom de guerre in favor of his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, his choice of watches symbolizes an intriguing step-by-step ascent from a scrappy rebel leader, to a budding diplomat, and eventually, to a fully fledged statesman complete with a Patek Philippe, all taking place in record time. Remember, a watch is never just a watch. Unknown Tactical Watch A photograph from the first days of al-Sharaa’s rule showing his mysterious black tool watch. As the first images of a triumphant al-Sharaa in Damascus hit the media on 08 December 2024, he wore the de facto Middle Eastern rebel uniform: a thick beard and olive drab fatigues. In our earliest discussion of the events, we incorrectly identified the watch on al-Sharaa’s wrist as a black plastic Digital Tool Watch (D.T.W.), but as more photos of the events have surfaced, it would appear the watch is some kind of all-black, likely quartz analog watch with an integrated rubber strap. Despite our best efforts, we have yet to identify the watch. If anyone out there knows, we’ll be sure to update this article. Another angle shows the watch. Does anyone have any idea about this one? In any case, the tactical-looking watch was in line with al-Sharaa’s messaging at the time, portraying himself as the militant Jihadist leader commanding troops on the road to Damascus. And while that image served al-Sharaa’s needs, it would appear the new Syrian leader had a long-term plan in mind with regards to his look, quickly making the swap to business suits and a more elegant timepiece. It happened so quickly, it would appear significant forethought went into al-Sharaa’s appearance and watches. Seiko Kinetic SRN045P1 - $150 al-Sharaa wearing his Seiko in the days following the overthrow of the Assad regime. In the days immediately following the overthrow of the Assad regime, al-Sharaa began a campaign to court the media, inviting a series of politicians and delegates to Damascus for highly publicized displays of the “new Syria”. Along with some fresh threads, al-Sharaa upgraded the black tactical watch to a more refined Seiko Kinetic SRN045P1. The Seiko Kinetic SRN045P1 was Ahmed al-Sharaa’s watch of choice in his early days as Syria’s leader. While it isn’t expensive by watch standards at around $150, the Seiko looked the part with a new, more business-like but still modest al-Sharaa and accompanied him on a series of high-profile meetings in his quest for international legitimacy. Seiko is an intriguing brand, serving as one of the world’s largest watchmakers while also balancing a passionate following among the military and watch enthusiasts with mainstream commercial success, including at least one Middle Eastern head of state. We discussed al-Sharaa’s then two-piece watch collection in our SITREP back in December, thinking that at least the watch story had run its course. As it turns out, al-Sharaa is more of a watch guy than we ever imagined and has significantly leveled up his timepiece game in recent weeks, starting with a Swiss luxury icon from one of the biggest names in the business. Omega Seamaster Diver 300 - $5,900 An Omega Seamaster Diver 300 on al-Sharaa’s wrist as he met with a Qatari delegation. On 23 December, al-Sharaa stepped up his game as he met with a delegation from the Qatari Foreign Ministry. Given away by its distinctive early 90s bracelet design and helium escape valve, the watch was an Omega Seamaster Diver 300 in the more seldom-seen grey dial/navy blue bezel configuration. Often associated with James Bond for its predecessor's antics on the wrist of Pierce Brosnan in 1995’s GoldenEye, the Seamaster Professional has become one of the single most popular luxury dive watches in the world, serving as an entry-point to luxury watchmaking for many, including al-Sharaa. The Seamaster appeared to be a mainstay on the al-Sharaa’s wrist for weeks to follow, and we might have once again called our conversation on the leader’s watches complete. After all, the Seamaster hits a nice sweet spot of not feeling overly expensive or luxurious while still representing a big jump above a Seiko. Also favored by former US President Joe Biden, the Seamaster is not cheap, but a world leader likely won’t be accused of corruption or anything else interesting simply for wearing an Omega, which is where our next and (maybe) final watch comes into play. Patek Philippe World Time Chronograph 5930G - $81,610 Moving from a $150 Seiko to an Omega with a retail price of around $6k is a leap, sure, but nothing compared to al-Sharaa’s next move. Last week, al-Sharaa, who is now officially the “Interim President” of Syria, visited Saudi Arabia to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the Kingdom’s de facto ruler, in Riyadh. The visit was in keeping with al-Sharaa’s recent MO, shaking hands in front of the camera with as many prominent leaders in the region as possible in an attempt to earn favor for Syria’s new political direction. What was out of place was the watch on al-Sharaa’s wrist, a white gold Patek Philippe 5930G. The watch, which offers “world time” functionality as well as a chronograph, goes for over $80k new and closer to $50k on the secondary market, a significant leap from a Seamaster to say the least. Where the Patek came from is anyone’s guess, but the fact that it was first spotted in Saudi does offer clues depending on your level of pessimism. We have discussed the role of watches in diplomacy and the Middle East and the Saudis in particular are known for cementing relationships with the gift of watches. We assess with medium confidence that this watch could have been a gift from MBS or another Saudi official. Regardless, the Patek Philippe stands in stark contrast to the black tactical watch the rebel leader wore just two months prior and marks a clear evolution to a leader in the Middle East. Final Thoughts If you made a movie about a fictitious rebel leader becoming the legitimate president of a Middle Eastern country, I’m not sure you could have cast the watches any better, representing a near-perfect four-watch staircase demonstrating al-Sharaa’s rise from Jihadi fighter to president. Starting with a humble black “tactical” watch fit for battle fatigues, then swapping for an elegant Seiko to pair with political business attire, to one of the biggest names in luxury watches in the Omega Seamaster, and finally a complicated Patek Philippe, one of the most storied (and expensive) names in watchmaking, al-Sharaa has proven once again that there is more to every watch than meets the eye. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Bribes & Operational Gifts - The Role Of Timepieces In Clandestine Operations

An Open Letter To JD Vance From A Former CIA Officer On The Counterintelligence Risks Of Smartwatches Mr. Vice President, Congratulations on your ascendancy to the Vice President of the United States of America. While we are an apolitical platform, we wish you nothing but success, the country depends on you.   In a recent picture of you onboard Air Force Two, we couldn't help but notice the Apple Watch on your left wrist. As a former CIA case officer who spent most of his adult life recruiting spies and stealing secrets, I feel implored to highlight some of the potential vulnerabilities of your smartwatch before suggesting a simple solution. As Vice President, you are now a priority intelligence collection target for the world's most capable bad actors, and the Apple Watch is an effective vector for potential exploitation. We do not doubt that hostile intelligence services are working around the clock to exploit (“hack”) your devices and would be genuinely surprised if they haven't already. The photograph in question, reportedly from 28 Jan 2025. To be clear, we are not anti-technology or troglodytes. We are big fans of Apple and believe the iPhone and iPad are two of the most consequential products of the last century. For most people, the Apple Watch is a great tool and offers significant lifestyle benefits: fitness tracking, optimizing communication, and sleep and health monitoring. But you are not like most people. You are one of the most powerful world leaders and thus a priority target for extremely capable hostile intelligence services, including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea—all of which are considered Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs).   From an intelligence perspective, the Apple Watch offers unique data collection and access for exploitation and even manipulation. Of particular concern, the watch contains a microphone that when worn is capable of detecting and recording the user's conversations. As Vice President, nearly everything you say and do is of interest to foreign intelligence services (FIS). This includes not only strategic-level discussions with the President and National Security officials but also conversations with your wife, political donors, and college friends. While the Apple Watch has security features in place, you must operate under the assumption that it can be compromised and exploited. Through a process called hot micing, the microphone can be remotely activated or set to passively collect audio without the wearer's knowledge. Additionally, the Apple Watch collects GPS location, movement, and biometric data including heart rate and sleep patterns, representing potential vulnerabilities for exploitation by bad actors. If the device is compromised, all of this data is available to a hostile intelligence service.   French newspaper Le Monde has exposed a number of intelligence links using data from Strava, a popular fitness tracker. (Photo Credit: Le Monde) Further, the average iOS Apple operating system has an estimated 40-80 third-party applications installed. Many of these apps collect data and resell it to advertisers. If a product is free, you are the product. While in theory this data is anonymized, we have our doubts. Just ask your new Secret Service Director Sean Curran. According to an investigative report by the French newspaper Le Monde, data collected through the fitness app Strava was leveraged to identify 26 Secret Service agents as well as the locations of sensitive meetings. “It's this new app—you put in your Social Security number, and it makes you look like a cat.” (Credit: New York Times) As you are likely aware, connected devices are prohibited in Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIF) and regardless of location, many of your conversations occur at this level or higher. In September 2024, the US Army issued a warning to Department of Defense (DOD) personnel on the counterintelligence (CI) risks of smartwatches with a social media campaign: “Smartwatches can transmit sensitive information. Don’t be an insider threat - Think before you use a smartwatch in the field or on deployment.” While state-sponsored hackers (APTs) are likely the greatest threat, it is important to understand that private companies allegedly also maintain this capability. In 2021, Apple reportedly sued Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group: “NSO Group creates sophisticated, state-sponsored surveillance technology that allows its highly targeted spyware to surveil its victims. These attacks are only aimed at a very small number of users, and they impact people across multiple platforms, including iOS and Android. Researchers and journalists have publicly documented a history of this spyware being abused to target journalists, activists, dissidents, academics, and government officials.” (Credit: New York Times) To be very clear, there is nothing inherently wrong with Apple products or the Apple Watch. In fact, we would say that they are probably one of the most secure, or least vulnerable, tech products on the market. That said, any device can be hacked.   If you don’t believe us, we encourage you to reach out to your newly appointed Director of CIA John Ratcliffe and Director of National Security Agency (NSA) General Timothy D. Haugh for a demonstration of our capabilities. You will be amazed. I am a firm believer that you should not highlight a problem without providing a solution. So here are three watches we would recommend, not only are they great tools backed by intriguing heritage, but they are also all completely safe from the prying eyes of foreign intelligence services. Sangin Instruments Neptune We are told there is no such thing as a “former” Marine. Given your time serving in the Corps, we can’t help but think a watch described as “A Marine Raider Rolex” would fit the bill. Founded by Jacob Servantes, a Marine Special Operations veteran, Sangin produces a range of capable tool watches informed by the founder’s military experience and appreciation of watches. The Neptune is on the more refined end of the brand’s spectrum, capable of 300 meters of water resistance while still looking elegant enough for White House wear. Marathon 41mm Diver’s Automatic (GSAR) Another brand with legitimate links to the Marine Corps is Marathon, a Canadian brand that has seen its watches issued to numerous US Military units including Marine Force Reconnaissance. For your purposes, we would recommend the automatic GSAR, which is powered by a Swiss Sellita movement while still offering significant water resistance and tritium tubes for constant nighttime legibility. Besides, if President Trump really does make Canada the 51st state, this watch will be almost made in the USA (just kidding… kind of). Breitling “White House” Aerospace Thus far, we’ve suggested commercially available watches, but why not take advantage of your new position just a little bit with a customized Breitling “unit watch” that is only available to White House staff? The so-called “White House” Breitling Aerospace is a customized version of one of the brand’s most popular models from a military and intelligence perspective, offering a broad swath of digital timekeeping functions that will help to offset the Apple Watch loss without having potentially dangerous counterintelligence implications. During the previous Trump administration, someone set up a program where White House employees could order a version of several models with the White House Seal on the dial as well as a special caseback engraving. As a note, we’re not calling you sketchy, but it’s important to know that Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling. We don’t make the rules. It's Never Just a Watch Whether you know it or not, as a US Marine, you are a member of the W.O.E. community. Given the gravity of your new role, a watch may seem like an insignificant nuisance. But decades from now when you move on in life, the watch you wear over the next four years will be a talisman of your service to this country and treasured by your grandchildren. Unless it's an Apple Watch, in that case, it will be in a landfill. Sincerely,  -Watches of Espionage (W.O.E.) For more information on this topic check out our article on the Counterintelligence Risks of Smartwatches as well as our Youtube video HERE. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: The Watches Of The Trump Administration This article has been reviewed by the CIA's Prepublication Classification Review Board to prevent the disclosure of classified information.

For CIA Leadership Analysts seeking to learn everything they can about a world leader, even something as seemingly insignificant as a wristwatch can play a role in assembling a complete profile to be shared with key decision-makers including the president. Whether it’s Kim Jong Un’s IWC, Putin’s insane luxury watch collection, or a Panerai favored by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, remember: A watch is never just a watch.   In the newest episode on the W.O.E. YouTube Channel, we discuss the watches worn by several prominent world leaders. Leaning into our experience from the world of intelligence, we provide examples of the types of insights that can be gleaned from the watches world leaders choose to wear on their wrists. Enjoy episode twelve of W.O.E. TV. Happy Hunting, -W.O.E.

A US Marshals Watch Auction, Submarine Smartwatch Intel Leaks, A Celeb’s Stolen Rolex Returned, & More   The watch world moves at a sometimes frenetic pace, making it difficult to believe we’re already closing the door on the first month of 2025. With that being said, we’re true believers in taking the time to slow down and reflect on the happenings of the past month in our recurring SITREP (Situation Report) series. If you’re new here, this monthly after-action report of sorts is our rundown of the watch and espionage-related events we believe you will find interesting, all coupled with our commentary. No matter how you slice it, the biggest news in the United States was the inauguration of President Donald Trump, kicking off his second go-around as the commander-in-chief. We already provided our unbiased look at the watches of the incoming administration HERE in great detail so we’ll be leaving the new White House out of this SITREP if at all possible. Despite a lingering holiday hangover and the weight of a political regime change, January brought a lot to the table. From a U.S. Marshals Service auction including luxury timepieces that look straight out of the cartel lookbook, to a celebrity’s unlikely recovery of a stolen Rolex, to a French submarine’s unfortunate cyber security failures, and a whole lot more, it’s time for the first SITREP of 2025. Whoa, Keanu Reeves’ Stolen Rolex Recovered In Chile If there’s one thing we know from our monthly check-in on global watch crime, it is that in most cases, stolen watches are never recovered. Post theft, these watches are typically fed into a transnational illicit network and later sold on the black market far afield from the original crime scene. Well, in an ending good enough for Hollywood, three watches stolen from Point Break star Keanu Reeves’ home in California in 2023 were miraculously recovered in Chile following a raid of four houses related to local burglaries and the subsequent arrest of one 21-year-old individual. An Instagram post from a member of Reeves’ stunt team shows a Rolex Submariner similar to the one stolen from the actor’s home and later recovered in Chile. One of the watches, a Rolex Submariner, is engraved with the actor’s name and “2021, JW4, Thank You, The John Wick Five”. The watch appears to be from the set gifted by the actor to his stunt team after filming 2023’s John Wick: Chapter Four. At least according to social media, Keanu Reeves is rumored to be a good dude, so it’s great to see at least one fairytale ending in a stolen watch story. For even more on the alarming trend of criminal gangs specifically targeting Rolex and other luxury watches, check out the latest video on the W.O.E. YouTube Channel. Sadly, Reeves does not make an appearance. Former New Jersey Senator Sentenced In Corruption Trial After Receiving Gifts Including A Patek Philippe   (Photo Credit: Alex Kent/AFP) Former Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to eleven years in prison after being found guilty in a federal corruption trial. He received expensive gifts, including a Patek Phillipe watch, from a wealthy businessman in return for an introduction to Qatari government officials. Back in October, Menendez was charged with acting as an "agent" of the Egyptian government and allegedly accepting bribes in the form of gold bars, cash, and a Mercedes, with his total illicit compensation totaling almost $1M according to court documents. Businessman Fred Daibes reportedly sent Sen. Menendez the above images of additional watches with the casual phrase -“How about one of these.” In total, Menendez was convicted of 16 counts, including bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and acting as a foreign agent.  Prosecutors successfully argued that the senator tried to use his power to advance Egyptian military interests, interfere in criminal prosecutions, and secure investment from Qatari officials. As we have discussed, watches play a significant role in espionage operations, being more difficult to trace, highly liquid, and less blatant than cash, a Mercedes, or gold bars. U.S. Marshals Service Auctions Patek & Rolex Models With Sketchy  Background & Plenty Of Diamonds (Photo Credit: USMS/Gaston & Sheehan) If you’re a watch nerd, you’ve likely heard of Christie’s, Phillips, Sotheby’s, and Bonhams—some of the biggest names in the big business of watch auctions. If not, our friend Tony Traina recently shared an excellent primer on the sometimes shadowy world of watch auctions. We sometimes wonder what happens to watches seized by US federal law enforcement agencies, and you may be surprised to learn that not only are these watches sold at auction, but also that some of the world’s most serious brands and references are present and accounted for. (Photo Credit: USMS/Gaston & Sheehan) In the U.S. Marshals Service Luxury Watch Auction that closed on January 16th, the top lot was a Tiffany dial Patek Philippe Nautilus that hammered for an eye-watering $1,059,855, with the entire auction intriguingly forgoing buyer’s premiums. Some of the other heavy hitters included a Rolex “Rainbow” Daytona with the full factory pave diamond treatment that went for $455,100 and another Nautilus, this time in platinum and set with emeralds, for $930,300. The question then becomes, where the heck are these watches coming from? Looking for the perfect watch to match your gold AK? Be sure to check out the next USMS luxury watch auction. While the auction itself, which is operated by an auctioneer called Gaston & Sheehan on behalf of the USMS, (unfortunately) doesn’t specifically state the provenance of any of the watches, it’s reasonable to assume they come from seizures associated with various law enforcement actions. Whether that’s from murderous cartel bosses with solid gold AKs or more polished white-collar criminals is unclear, but an auction like this likely serves as a legitimate source of income for a federal agency like the Marshals Service. Who said crime doesn’t pay? French Nuclear Sub Crew Shares Sensitive Information Using Smartwatches (Image Credit: Le Monde) Despite offering legitimate lifestyle benefits, smartwatches and other connected devices present serious counterintelligence risks. We’ve spoken at length about the challenges presented by smartwatches like the Apple Watch for intelligence officers, and it would appear a Marine Nationale (French Navy) nuclear submarine crew has just provided another example of the potential gravity of the situation. The Île Longue military base in Brest harbor is home to France’s four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. As you’d imagine, everything on base is top secret, everyone is subject to search, and connected devices aren’t allowed in many areas. An officer exits the Suffren, the French Navy's newest nuclear attack submarine. (Photo Credit: Nicolas Tucat /AFP) Still, according to Le Monde and other sources, 16 submariners recently inadvertently shared top-secret patrol schedules and geographic data about the submarine base by uploading on-base fitness activity to Strava after recording a run on their smartwatches. The incident serves as another important reminder of how crucial it is for individuals to safeguard their data, even if it means missing your baguette and café-related notifications or having to catalog your fitness activities the old-fashioned way. Given the long-standing historical link between the Marine Nationale and Tudor and the lack of counterintelligence risks inherent in mechanical watchmaking, I can’t help but wonder if these dudes wouldn’t be better off with a Pelagos FXD. Catherine Villeneuve To Leave Bremont After Fifteen Years With Military Projects Division (Photo Credit: Bremont) After a massive fifteen years with the brand as the Head of Military and Special Projects, Catherine Villeneuve is set to move on from Bremont. Where she’ll go next is as yet unknown, but it’s more than worth taking a moment to recognize her efforts in acting as a liaison between a watch brand and numerous global military organizations. Sometimes lovingly called the “third founder” of the brand after Giles and Nick English, Villeneuve helped to create over 500 military “unit watches” for military organizations the world over. W.O.E. had to opportunity to visit Catherine at Bremont in 2023 and we are sad to see her leave. (Photo Credit: W.O.E./James Rupley) Whether this move has to do with the brand’s 2023 investment by American billionaire Bill Ackman and others and the ensuing exit of the founders, we do not know, but what is clear is that Villeneuve’s loss will be felt. Despite close ties between our community and watches, brands are often ineffective in dealing with military organizations which have their own cultures and customs. Having a full-time employee dedicated to bridging that gap did wonders for Bremont, and we can only hope to see other brands adopt similar roles in the future. For more on Bremont’s unit watch program, check out Aviation “Unit Watches”: Bremont Military and Special Projects Division.   W.O.E. In The Press (Photo Credit: Devin Pennypacker) While it’s never our intention, as our community grows to include more “mainstream” watch nerds, Watches of Espionage occasionally finds itself mentioned in the press. This past month, one of our custom-designed tools, the W.O.E. Submersible Wrist Compass, was reviewed in detail on Worn & Wound by our friend Devin Pennypacker. For those who have asked, the demand for the compass has been incredible, and we are working hard to get those back in stock soon. Click HERE to read Devin’s review. (Photo Credit: W.O.E./Brock Stevens) Our compass also made it into the virtual pages of GQ, where Cam Wolf argues that accessories like the Submersible Wrist compass will be the next big thing for watch enthusiasts. For us, the enduring legacy of wrist compasses in use by SpecOps and the military is our driving factor, but we’re also cool with fashionistas getting in on the Use Your Tools lifestyle. That said, (unless all expenses are paid) we won’t be attending Paris Fashion Week. Click HERE to read Cam’s article. Final Thoughts Some months come on stronger than others, but if the past few weeks are any indication, there is plenty of excellent SITREP content on the horizon for 2025. From the unlikely return of a stolen Rolex to one of the internet’s favorite actors to ze French accidentally sharing critical submarine intelligence to a US Marshals Service auction for some of the most ostentatious watches you could hope for, January came on strong. As always, if you should come across great stories for the SITREP in the execution of any of your daily sketchy activities, be sure to send them our way. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Watch Industry SITREP - December 2024

Pressure Testing An Affordable Watch & Understanding Deepsea Espionage By Benjamin Lowry While the stories we tell typically explore the world of intelligence in the terrestrial sense, espionage and the deep sea have been closely linked for decades. Starting during the Cold War, a shadowy conflict has been waged on the ocean floor. From submarines and divers tapping (or cutting) cables to deepsea acoustic listening stations and the clandestine recovery of sensitive materials, controlling and monitoring the deep ocean is an unfamiliar yet critical component of intelligence and modern warfare. Brands like Rolex and Omega will often tout their deepsea capabilities with the Rolex Deepsea Challenge rated to 11,000 meters (36,090 feet) and the Omega Ultra Deep coming in at a lesser but still ridiculous 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) of theoretical water resistance. But what about a cheap Casio often associated with terrorists and hipsters? With around $15 and some engineering know-how, can an affordable watch also venture into the deep ocean? Setting the stage for undersea espionage to follow, the CIA’s Glomar Explorer was a ship designed to secretly raise a sunken Soviet submarine to recover its nuclear warheads. (Photo Credit: CIA) At W.O.E., watches are the lens through which we view history and current events. In this Dispatch, we’ll take a Casio F91W—a cheap digital tool watch—almost 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) under the sea, setting the stage for a broader discussion on the deep ocean’s role in the wilderness of mirrors. As a Coast Guard veteran and former commercial diver, I’m no expert on the intersection of engineering and espionage at depth. Luckily, I know people. Pressure Testing A Casio F91W Our friend Josh’s Omega Planet Ocean on the manipulator arm of an ROV. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens) A couple of years ago, a fellow watch enthusiast named Josh Konicki reached out saying he worked in the unique world of deep ocean salvage, often contracting for the US Government to recover downed fighter jets, lost ordnance, and other sensitive items the military doesn’t want lying around the ocean floor. In 2022, Josh and his team helped the Navy recover an F35 that crashed into the South China Sea from the deck of an aircraft carrier. It’s scary to imagine the repercussions if our adversaries were to recover and reverse engineer one of the world’s most advanced fighter jet platforms—not good. Photo Credit: US Navy Like many whose lives revolve around the sea, Josh is a watch guy, and when he asked if I would be interested in seeing a Casio F91W dive deep on the manipulator arm of an ROV or remotely operated vehicle, I answered with an enthusiastic “hell yeah”. Available on Amazon for precisely $13.16, the F91W is among the most common watches on the planet, with some three million units produced on average per year since the watch’s inception in 1989. This implies there are well over 100 million F91Ws out there in the world, a crazy statistic. Utilized as a tool by everyone from Usama Bin Laden to US SpecOps and art school grads at your local farmers market, the F91W is a straightforward digital watch equipped with a resin case, strap, and crystal and paired with simple digital timekeeping functions and one of the worst backlights in watch history. (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) Many have argued the F91W is the least expensive watch that is actually worth buying, and I tend to agree. For its price, it’s one of the most capable watches you can get. However, while the F91W is many things to many people, most would fall well short of calling it a dive watch, at least unless you’re willing to get a little bit handy, risk your $15 investment, and have some mineral oil lying around. Filling A Watch With Oil & Going Deep For Josh, whose job is to build and maintain equipment for deepsea salvage and recovery, filling a digital watch with oil is no big deal. Incredibly, after this relatively simple and cheap modification, a watch—even one as attainable as the F91W—becomes all but pressure-proof thanks to the almost incompressible nature of oil. The actual how-to for this “hydro-mod” is all over the internet, but suffice it to say oil-filling your Casio is relatively easy, cheap, fun, and helps if you’re planning to take your F91W five kilometers or so underwater, which is exactly the kind of thing Josh does for fun. For the deep ocean test, Josh strapped the F91W onto the manipulator arm of CURV 21, a 6,400-pound ROV belonging to the US Navy and capable of diving to around 20,000 feet. The live video feed from the ROV, which is hard-wired to the surface, means the operator can observe the watch throughout the dive. As the numbers on the depth gauge begin to rise, there’s an element of suspense as the ROV descends through the water column. The bright ambient light of the shallows gives way to the inky darkness of the depths, with nothing but small particles passing by the ROV’s lights to indicate the descent to the bottom. As the digital depth indication passes 1000 meters, 2000 meters, 3000 meters, and finally 4000 meters, the watch nerds in the room are glued to the screen waiting for the $15 watch to implode… or not. Incredibly, the F91W survives its journey to an official 4,950 meters—an astonishing 16,240 feet—and back. 4,950 meters under the surface, the pressure is approximately 7,227 pounds per square inch, which is well over three tons pressing on the watch. For context, that’s a Dodge Ram 1500 or a young adult hippopotamus parked on every inch of your F91W. As Americans, we’ll do anything to avoid the metric system, but using scientific terminology, we’re talking about a shitload of pressure. Josh with his fleet of deep-diving F91W watches and the ROV. However impressive, this example of oil-filled horological pressure resistance is not unique. There are other oil-filled watches from brands like Sinn capable of similar diving exploits, and many other watches both digital and analog quartz (mechanical watches can’t be oil-filled) that could theoretically be filled with oil and go deep. But the feat is all the more impressive when considering the F91W costs about as much as a Chipotle burrito (with guac). But wait, what is the US Government doing 5000 meters down anyway? A Brief History Of Deepsea Espionage Artist’s rendering of SEALAB III, the Navy’s final experiment to prove men could live and work on the sea floor. (Photo Credit: US Navy) When the US Navy’s SEALAB trials kicked off in 1964, the reason behind the costly and dangerous experiment was billed as an attempt to prove man’s ability to live and work in the sea. The part the Navy left out was why the US Government might require such a mode of diving in the first place, and the principal reason was intelligence collection. Even after the cancellation of SEALAB III in the wake of aquanaut Berry Cannon’s death in 1969, the Navy didn’t stop its deep-diving research, it simply stopped talking about it. Artist’s rendering of the USS Parche, one of the modified submarines used in Operation Ivy Bells. (Photo Credit: Naval Order) Before SEALAB, the Navy was already using the Sound Surveillance System, a network of underwater listening stations designed to detect and monitor submarine movements, especially the kind with nuclear capabilities. By the 1970s, American submarine espionage was in full swing, with the specially modified USS Halibut using diver lockout chambers and saturation diving methodology developed during SEALAB to attach listening equipment to Soviet communication cables in the Sea of Okhotsk as part of Operation Ivy Bells. If you haven’t read up on this insane operation, there’s a great book called Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story Of American Submarine Espionage, that is more than worth your time. US Navy SEAL Rick Hetzell wearing a Rolex Submariner on an Olongapo bracelet while working with his US Navy-trained sea lion. By 1974, the CIA and Howard Hughes built the Glomar Explorer, a 618-foot supposed deep-sea mining ship designed to secretly raise a sunken Soviet submarine, the K-129, from a depth of 4,900 meters (16,000 feet). The plan was for the ship to use a massive specially engineered undersea claw, which was completely hidden from the outside of the ship, to lift the sub and recover its nuclear warheads and cryptological documents. To date, it remains one of the most complex, expensive, and secretive intelligence operations of the Cold War. It gets weirder. Starting in 1960, the US Navy also maintained a fleet of trained marine mammals including dolphins and sea lions capable of locating undersea mines and even identifying and subduing adversarial combat swimmers, especially those with Russian accents. During the Cold War, espionage in the deep sea was alive and well, but what about now? A Sea Of Surveillance & Sabotage The true extent of the modern US Navy Marine Mammal Program is unknown to the public. (Photo Credit: US Navy) Today, as technology takes an increasingly prominent role in armed conflict, the deep ocean continues to serve as a little-understood domain of war. In addition to its nuclear submarines and a much improved undersea listening system that detected the implosion of the Titan submersible in 2023, the US Navy quietly maintains its Marine Mammal Program, (allegedly) primarily for Mine Countermeasures (MCM), but other recent clandestine acts on the sea floor have—once discovered—burst into the headlines. The exploded Nordsteam pipelines were determined acts of sabotage. Twenty-three natural gas pipelines connect Europe to Russia. On 26 September 2022, two of them exploded without warning 70 to 80 meters (230 to 260 feet) under the surface of the Baltic Sea. Built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany, the explosion of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines was captured by undersea seismic listening stations, with explosive materials later being recovered on the surface. With much of Europe facing an energy crisis, the saboteur was careful, exploiting the inherent difficulty of investigating the aftermath on the ocean floor, making attribution difficult. A Baltic Sea communications was severed by a vessel dragging its anchor across the cable numerous times. In 2024, also in the Baltic Sea, there were several more highly publicized incidents where deepsea cables carrying internet and electricity were cut by unknown agents. Cables providing internet service between Lithuania and Sweden and Finland and Germany were cut in November. Depending on the depth, operations of this type would likely require advanced marine technology involving divers, ROVs, and submersibles, well beyond the scope of any entity smaller than a major nation-state. Coincidentally, on Christmas Day, a Russian tanker allegedly packed with “spy equipment” was detained by the Finnish Border Guard after intentionally dragging its anchor across cables providing critical infrastructure. Russia, one of the possible culprits for at least some of the recent undersea acts of espionage, is known to operate a “shadow fleet” of civilian-registered vessels outfitted to conduct intelligence and sabotage operations. Eagle S, an alleged Russian “spy tanker” was seized by the Finnish Border Guard on Christmas Day, 2024. Whether these covert operators wear Vostok Amphibias or F91Ws or something else is anyone’s guess. They don’t appear to have a fleet Instagram page. Home to numerous utility and communications cables, not to mention submarines armed with nuclear weapons, and at least one Casio F91W, the sea floor is a key player in global espionage operations both then and now. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Casio F-91W, the Preferred Watch of Terrorists *As a disclaimer, as Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. When you click on the link to a book in this article and make a purchase, this can result in Watches of Espionage earning a commission. If you’re interested in these books and want to make a purchase using these links, we appreciate your support.

Rolex, Omega, Timex, & Patek Philippe Worn By US Political Leaders  As Donald Trump is once again sworn in as the President of the United States, we offer an unbiased look at the watches worn by not only Trump but also members of his Cabinet and close advisors. The watches worn by US Presidents and political appointees are seldom accidental, and you can learn a lot about a person from their timepiece. Remember, a watch is never just a watch. With that in mind, we apply our Agency background and knowledge of timepieces to see what can be learned from the watches worn by the incoming administration, especially those worn by politicians with roles close to the world of intelligence and the military. A White House Breitling belonging to Cliff Sims, Trump’s pick for Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications Please keep in mind that this is simply an exercise and all in good fun. Watches of Espionage is an apolitical platform utilizing watches as the lens through which we view history and current events. If the new administration were on the other side of the aisle, we’d write the same article. If seeing a watch worn by a political figure you don’t agree with triggers you, we would recommend taking up a soothing activity like hiking, knitting, yoga, or maybe even an ice bath.  If you have additional vitriol that must be expressed, know that we very much enjoy reading your comments. Until then, let’s get started.  Donald Trump - President  During his first term, President Donald Trump notably wore several luxury timepieces including a Patek Philippe Ellipse, a Vacheron Constantin Historiques 1968, and a Rolex Day-Date Ref 18038. While he elected to not wear a watch for the inauguration yesterday as far as we could tell, we will keep our eyes peeled for which watches Trump favors during his second term. Of course, the elephant in the room is the collection of Trump-branded watches released last year, including a $100,000 tourbillon as well as more pedestrian models coming in around $500.  Despite the release with much fanfare, we have yet to spot President Trump (or anyone else) wearing any of the watches bearing the President’s name including such models as the Trump Crypto President 47, the Trump’s Smoky Blue, or the Trump Shield Warrior, a real shame if you ask us.  JD Vance - Vice President  The Vice President for Donald Trump’s second term in office is none other than JD Vance, a former United States Senator from Ohio and US Marine Corps veteran. While Vance is often photographed without a watch, when he was seen wearing a watch during the campaign, it was typically an Apple Watch. The Apple Watch serves as a sign of youth and tech savviness in keeping with Vance’s background in venture capital, but smartwatches also present serious counterintelligence risks. Will the VP continue to wear an Apple Watch in the White House? Or will the Secret Service and National Security Agency inform him of the CI-risks of smartwatches? Mike Waltz - National Security Advisor  Mike Waltz, Trump’s National Security Advisor, has quite the resume, having served in US Army Special Forces during the Global War On Terror and earning a total of four bronze stars (including two for valor). During his service, Waltz appears to have favored a straightforward Digital Tool Watch (D.T.W.), but more recently, Waltz has been spotted wearing a couple of different Rolex models including a GMT-Master II, likely reference 126710, and an older GMT-Master II with the all-black bezel, likely reference 16710. This embodies the old-school adage that all a Special Forces man needs are a star sapphire ring, a Randall knife, and a Rolex. Waltz in Afghanistan wearing a Digital Tool Watch (D.T.W.)  Kristi Noem - Secretary of Homeland Security Trump’s pick for the Secretary of Homeland Security is Kristi Noem, formerly known as the 33rd Governor of South Dakota. Again demonstrating the popularity of Rolex in US political circles, Noem is often photographed wearing what appears to be a 41mm DateJust. What’s more, like many members of the military and SpecOps, Noem has also been seen “inside-wristing” her Rollie for reasons we can also assume are tactical in nature. Noem inside-wristing her Rolex. Kash Patel - Director of the FBI  It almost shouldn’t have to be said at this point, but Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling. We don’t make the rules. Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, worked as a prosecutor at DOJ and also served as the Chief of Staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense, Deputy Assistant to the President, Senior Director for CT at the NSC, and Principal Deputy to the Acting Director of DNI. He was also a DOJ liaison officer to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Patel’s Breitling also appears to have the White House Seal or another insignia at three o’clock.  Patel appears to be a watch nerd with several watches in his collection.  With experience in many three-letter agencies relevant to our community, a Breitling was always going to be the right choice for Patel who has been wearing what looks to be a 46mm titanium Breitling Cockpit B50. We are told that at least one of the Breitlings is a Unit Watch from the previous Trump Administration, with the White House seal at the three o’clock position.  Pete Hegseth - Secretary of Defense  Pete Hegseth, a cohost of Fox and Friends and former Army National Guard officer, is Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense. Intriguingly, other than older images from Hegseth’s military service in which he is seen wearing a Suunto Observer, the modern Hegseth does not appear to wear a watch. Instead, like many GWOT veterans, he appears to virtually always wear a memorial bracelet. Dating back to the Vietnam War when they were typically worn to honor soldiers captured or missing in action, today, these memorial bracelets typically display the name, rank, and date of the death of a fellow service member. Hegseth wearing a Suunto Observer during his National Guard days. Marco Rubio - Secretary of State The two may have gone toe to toe during Trump’s first run at the White House, with Rubio famously saying in 2016, “If he hadn’t inherited $200 million, you know where Donald Trump would be right now? Selling watches in Manhattan.” However, the pair appears to have worked it out, with Rubio slated to serve as Trump’s new Secretary of State. In most photographs, Rubio wears a blue Roman Numeral dial Rolex DateJust with a fluted bezel, likely a reference 126334 or something similar.  Christian Craighead - Personal Bodyguard to Donald Trump? Craighead wearing a CWC SBS, a watch designed for the Special Boat Service. According to press reporting, former Special Air Service (SAS) Warrant Officer, Christian Craighead was recently hired by Donald Trump as his personal bodyguard with a special emphasis on traveling ahead of the President’s public speaking engagements to locate potential sniper positions. Craighead burst into the public eye when he responded to a 2019 al-Shabaab attack in Nairobi, single-handedly killing five terrorists. Craig wearing a Seiko SNJ025 “Arnie”, a watch enthusiast favorite. Like many current and former members of UK Special Forces, Craighead is also something of a watch guy, having been seen wearing Rolex, Seiko, and Panerai watches in addition to releasing a collaboration with CWC, a brand that famously supplied the Special Boat Service (SBS). Hired for a role that is typically handled by the US Secret Service, it will be interesting to see how Craighead fits into the POTUS’ protection picture as a civilian. Elon Musk - Czar of the Department of Government Efficiency  While his role is technically non-governmental, it appears Elon Musk will have significant influence on the new White House through his appointment as the Czar of the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE. It would seem that Musk’s interest in watches has waned in recent years, but he was once known for wearing a special SpaceX version of a TAG Heuer Carrera Cailbre 1887, an Omega Aqua Terra, and a Rolex DateJust way back in the day. One can only hope that when Trump’s licensed watches hit the wrists of those who have anxiously pre-ordered, there’s at least one extra lying around for the DOGE Czar.  Tulsi Gabbard - Director of National Intelligence (DNI) A former member of the US House of Representatives from Hawaii’s second district, Tulsi Gabbard was recently selected by Trump as the Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard also has a military background including service with the Hawaii National Guard including a deployment to Iraq and today serves in the Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel. Despite her background, most photographs show Gabbard wearing what appears to be a no-name fashion watch.  John Ratcliffe - Director of CIA Trump’s pick to head the Agency as Director of CIA or DCIA is John Ratcliffe, a former Texas representative and the Director of National Intelligence from 2020 to 2021. Despite the link between espionage and watches celebrated on W.O.E., Ratcliffe appears to buck the trend as we cannot find a single photo of him wearing a watch. We believe that this makes Ratcliffe the first Director of CIA to NOT wear a watch, a significant moment in the evolution of Watches of Espionage. If anyone has further details, be sure to let us know. Meanwhile, Ratcliffe’s predecessor, Bill Burns, isn’t a watch nerd, either, he does at least wear a straightforward quartz Timex.  Cliff Sims - Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications The author of White House tell-all Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House, Cliff Sims has held several positions relating to US Intelligence and served as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications. With at least some interest in horology, Sims is also one of several owners we have encountered of a “White House Breitling”, a standard Breitling model (it seems like a few are available) customized with the White House Seal and a special engraved caseback. Of note, this Breitling was commissioned for the previous Trump Administration.  In Sims’ case, he hits the sketchy nail on the head with a White House Breitling Aerospace, always great to see.  Matthew Whitaker - US Ambassador to NATO  A former Attorney General, Matthew Whitaker is Trump’s choice for US Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO. In addition to having played college football at the University of Iowa, Whitaker is at least a little bit of a watch guy, having been recently photographed wearing a two-tone Rolex Submariner, quite possibly a reference 126613. This is one of those watches that shows the breadth of the divide between the Submariner’s utilitarian diving roots and its current position on the wrist of a high-powered attorney/politician, but we still love to see it.  Sebastian Gorka - Counterterrorism Chief on the White House National Security Council A television presenter and former Deputy Assistant to the President during Trump’s first term, Sebastian Gorka, who was born in London to Hungarian parents, is the president’s pick for counterterrorism chief. What’s more, Gorka appears to be something of a watch guy. We’ve seen him wearing an Omega Planet Ocean, though it’s hard to discern the exact reference, as well as several more obscure watches on his Instagram. A Sinn 857 showcased in a 2020 post on Gorka’s Instagram. In a post from back in 2020, Gorka showed off his EDC which included a seldom-seen 857 UTC TESTAF. We’ve said this before, but if you’re rocking a Sinn, it isn’t because you picked it up at Macy’s. Watch guys are everywhere.  Final Thoughts One more shot of Cliff Sims’ White House Breitling Aerospace. Politics aside, it’s genuinely nice to see so many “real” watches worn inside the White House. Where digital tool watches (D.T.W.) and smartwatches including the ubiquitous Apple Watch have no doubt taken a sizable chunk of the top of the mechanical watch industry, certain serious individuals continue to value timepieces. Especially in political circles, nothing happens in a vacuum.  At W.O.E., we subscribe to the Use Your Tools ethos, and that includes watches utilized as tools of communication, as is so often the case in politics. In addition, there are a few players in the new White House that are clearly interested in watches, showing once again that watch guys are everywhere.  If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: U.S. Presidents and Timepieces, The Last 40 Years

Global watch crime is an enterprise worth an estimated 1.9 billion dollars in 2024. Almost daily, watches from Rolex, Richard Mille, and Patek Philippe are stolen—sometimes violently—from the wrist of a tourist or businessman. But what can you do about it? In the newest episode of W.O.E. TV, we’ll discuss this alarming trend and provide tips for how to travel with a luxury watch. While criminal watch gangs pose an undeniable risk, with a certain amount of forethought and some common sense, it’s possible to enjoy your watches around the world. Don’t be a soft target and always use your tools. Enjoy episode eleven of W.O.E. TV. Happy Hunting, -W.O.E.

Director William Burns Received An Omega Watch From A Foreign Government, Can He Keep It? Last week the State Department published a list of gifts provided by foreign governments to US government officials, including the Office of the President, the Department of Defense, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The media was quick to jump on (and politicize) gifts to President Joe Biden, including a $20,000 7.5-carat diamond from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to First Lady Jill Biden. But this annual list offers unique and detailed insight into the role of watches in diplomacy and intelligence including documentation of CIA officers receiving Omega Seamasters, Movados, and even a Rolex-Yachtmaster II valued at $18,700, which was later destroyed. We have discussed at length the use of watches as bribes and operational gifts given by CIA officers, but what happens when CIA officers receive gifts from foreign intelligence services, assets, and developmentals? Can they keep them? The short answer is no, but the real answer is “it depends” (yes). Stick with me here. It Is Against US Law To Accept Expensive Gifts Federal law prohibits US Government officials from receiving gifts that exceed $480, anything below this amount can be deemed as a souvenir or as a “mark of courtesy”. But there are exceptions: A CIA officer may accept the gift if “Non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to donor and U.S. Government”—a very subjective concept. In the intelligence business, where human relationships are at the core of the trade, accepting a gift can often do a lot to further the relationship between a Foreign Intelligence Service (“Liaison”) or even an agent or prospective agent (“developmental”). I would go as far as to say that in many cases accepting a gift can do more to further a clandestine relationship than giving one. A U-Boat watch gifted to a CIA Paramilitary Officer from a European intelligence service. After receipt of a gift, the item immediately becomes the property of the US Government and must be reported within 30 days to the General Services Administration (GSA). At CIA, operational gifts from clandestine sources or foreign intelligence services are immediately documented in an operational cable and a separate gift report. (If I remember correctly, when I was at CIA the amount that required reporting was anything above $50.) Purchase Pending With GSA By default, the items are sent back to CIA headquarters and ultimately destroyed, but there are exceptions. According to the release, on June 18th, 2023, a CIA officer received a green dial steel Rolex Datejust, ref. 126300 from a (redacted) foreign government. Valued at $8,050, the document states that the item is “Purchase Pending with GSA”—which means the officer who received the gift is paying the retail price to the US Government to retain the gift.   (Watch Photo Credit: Debonair Watches) Another CIA officer received a Tsikolia Brand Georgian Defense Forces Watch in February 2023 and purchased it from the GSA for $543.  Many others agreed to forfeit the timepieces, including an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra, a Ladies Omega Constellation 31mm, a Rolex Air King ref. 116900, a Rolex Lady-Datejust, and a slew of Movados. A Tsikolia Brand Georgian Defense Forces Watch was also given to a CIA Case Officer in 2023. While many of the officers likely would prefer to keep the watches as mementos, the reality is these gifts can be an expensive purchase for a civil servant. Most CIA officers cannot come up with thousands of dollars on short notice to purchase an unexpected Rolex or Omega.   Retained For Operational Purposes A good friend of mine and former senior CIA executive Anthony “Tony” DeMario told me that during his first overseas tour in a Gulf country in the 1990s, he was given a solid gold Rolex Day-Date from an individual he was developing as a social broker. He was able to retain the watch for operational purposes during that tour as it would have been strange for him to not wear the watch when he met with the individual. Tony ultimately had to forfeit the expensive Rolex to the US Government for destruction. He regrets not purchasing the watch, but he knew he would never be able to pay the retail price of a gold Rolex on a GS-12 paycheck. The Panerai he purchased before his first tour was already a stretch. Tony is not alone. According to the State Department report, in 2023, at least one CIA officer was allowed to keep a Rolex Oyster Datejust for “operational purposes.” What the justification was, we can only speculate, but it was likely to wear when he/she met with the contact who gave it to him/her. Intriguingly, it’s likely the same model as the previous example where the officer chose to purchase the watch from GSA, which could indicate the gifting country is the same as the previous example. (Watch Photo Credit: Legend of Time) As previously documented, I received a Breitling Aerospace from the King of Jordan, a watch that I wore regularly during my career and still have to this day. Fortunately, this was prior to joining CIA so I was able to keep it, but if not would I have had the wherewithal to purchase it if I were a junior CIA officer? I don’t know. A Breitling Aerospace given to W.O.E. by the King of Jordan. A Conflict Of Interest? CIA puts a lot of trust in its officers and this trust is at the core of a functional intelligence service. One of the easiest ways to get fired from CIA is intentionally mishandling money or expenses for personal gain.  Neglecting to report a gift is a serious offense at CIA, and could indicate a possible counterintelligence risk or character flaw.   Former CIA Officer Alexander Yuk Ching Ma was indicted in 2024 for accepting gifts and cash payments in exchange for providing classified information to China. While CIA officers are trained to break laws of foreign countries, contrary to Hollywood's depiction the actual business of intelligence collection is heavily regulated by a team of lawyers and must comply with all US laws. Regular security reinvestigations and polygraphs keep most officers honest, but of course, there are always bad apples. Director CIA William “Bill” Burns & The Omega On 2 February 2023, CIA Director Bill Burns received an (unspecified) Omega watch with an estimated value of $11,000. According to the report, he also received a ceremonial sword and a bischt—a traditional men’s cloak worn in the Gulf region. While the country is redacted, the watch was likely a gift from a Gulf nation. According to press reporting, Director Burns traveled to the Middle East during the first week of February 2023 for a meeting on the Israel-Palestine conflict.   Watches play a significant role in Middle Eastern diplomacy and the Arab world and the Omega could have come from a number of countries that traditionally give watches to dignitaries and intelligence officials, often with their royal crest on the dial. On one of my first days at CIA as a junior trainee, I was provided $20,000 in cash and sent to a watch store in McLean, Virginia, to purchase a timepiece for the Director of CIA to give as a gift to the visiting head of a Middle Eastern intelligence service. The gift was used to build rapport and solidify a personal relationship between the CIA Director and the visiting dignitary. There was a rumor that there was a large closet on the “Seventh Floor” that was full of past gifts to DCIA. Despite my best efforts to find it, they never let me in. Meeting with foreign dignitaries is a key aspect of DCIA’s role. In these exchanges, gifts are often given and received. Alas, despite the deep meaning of watches in the intelligence community and the historic moment of a Director of CIA receiving a watch from a foreign government, Burns apparently was not interested in purchasing the watch and the disposition of the watch is listed as “Destroyed.” DCIA Burns wears a straightforward quartz Timex model. Burns, a career diplomat turned influential CIA Director, appears to wear a modest Timex on a leather strap. It’s a boring but fitting watch for a CIA Director who works quietly behind the scenes to further National Security interests. Guns, Hermes Scarfs, & Chocolates Some experiential gifts, including tickets to an F1 Race, are retained for “Official Use” by CIA Officers. While watches feature prominently in gifts to CIA officers in 2023, gifts also include a “Beretta Hand Gun” (destroyed) and luxury items including Montblanc pens and Hermes scarfs. Some more experiential gifts like Formula One Tickets and Tickets to the Meydan World Cup Horse Race were retained for “Official Use.” These likely would have been used as targeting events or to build relationships with the local intelligence service. While this is speculation, I assess many of the gifts to undercover CIA officers are not actually included on this list (click HERE to see the complete list) and remain classified, though still reported to GSA. Watches will continue to play a role in the secretive world of intelligence and diplomacy. Passed between government officials, timepieces are a memento and often a representation of a partnership between governments or intelligence services. In our community, it’s never just a watch. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. READ NEXT: Moscow Rules: Watches of the Widow Spy This article has been reviewed by the CIA's Prepublication Classification Review Board to prevent the disclosure of classified information.