How Four (Maybe Five) Watches Became My Most Trusted Companions of 2025. It's Never Just a Watch.
I’m not a watch collector. I have a “collection” of dozens of watches, mostly from brands with ties to our community, from Rolex and Omega to Seiko and Breitling. But I have never actually considered this a collection. For me, the real value and pleasure are derived from the experiences and memories watches embody. I don’t understand why someone would pay a fortune for a “mint condition” Rolex 5513 and keep it in a safe; watches are meant to be worn and used.
This piece is somewhat a continuation of “Inside a CIA Officer’s Watch Collection” (Read HERE), but focused specifically on the watches I wore most last year.
Despite owning more watches than any rational person should, I often find myself going back to the same watches, albeit for different reasons and use cases. Here are the top four (maybe five) watches I wore the most in 2025.
Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 16710
Watches are like children; we all have a favorite, even if it's not acceptable to admit that publicly. For me, it is the “Coke” GMT (and my youngest daughter). The black and red “Coke” reference 16710 embodies everything I love about Rolex with none of the newer "jewelry" shine. Nearly 25 years old, it maintains some of the vintage aspects, including drilled lug holes and the aluminum bezel insert, while also providing the durability of a modern Rolex. While it's difficult to imagine now, Rolex used to sell “daily beaters.” The watch captures the spirit of the often-romanticized ‘50s Rolex GMT, originally developed in the 1950s for commercial Pan Am pilots, and I am a sucker for a good story.
If I had to condense my collection to just one watch, it would be this one, no question. This watch has been on my wrist in more than a handful of countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, but unfortunately never saw any cool super secret-squirrel operations at CIA. In fact, I purchased this watch second-hand during my last year at CIA with money saved up from a Long Term TDY. While I have never really considered it a watch to commemorate my time at CIA, the timeline does coincide.
For years, I have said that the Rolex GMT, any execution of the watch, 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. A Case Officer has been described as a “PhD that can win in a bar fight,” and that fictional person would wear a “neo-vintage” Rolex GMT.
This past year, and frankly the past five years, this GMT has been my go-to. It is often the watch that I wear when testing out new straps, and in fact, I misplaced the bracelet for the first six months and wore it almost exclusively off the bracelet, though I do prefer the comfort of the Oyster.
Note: I am considering getting this engraved with “PhD that can win in a bar fight.” Is that corny or cool? Let me know what you think in the comments.
UDT/SEAL-Issued Tudor Submariner 7928
When it comes to vintage watches, my South African-issued Tudor Sub 7016 is my prized possession. That is my grail. But the vintage piece that I wear the most is my UDT/SEAL issued Tudor 7928 from the early 1960s. Unfortunately, I can’t get into the true history of this watch without burning a few bridges, but suffice to say, it came into my possession in a unique and unexpected way, and with the help of a dear friend.
2025 was a big year for this watch and added much to the “provenance,” though I will never sell it. I assisted with the filming of “Splashdown - The Little-Known Story of Tudor and the Space Program” and lent it to John McLachlan, a former UDT-12 frogman who wore it throughout the documentary. To see it on the wrist of an older Frogman as he recalled stories of his career was an emotional experience. A few months later, I visited the newly opened SEAL Museum in San Diego, and it came with me. I often say, “A watch is never just a watch,” and this is what I mean.
Less sexy but more memorable, as I wrote about in a previous Dispatch (read HERE), I wore this watch to a funeral for a dear friend. Why I chose this watch, I can’t recall, but when I look at it, I remember her face and the warmth of her kindness. She would laugh at me for channeling that grief and pain into a superficial item like a watch, but it is my little way to honor her legacy. I believe that a relationship can be developed with seemingly inanimate objects through shared experience, and this is a stark and painful reminder of that truth.
TUDOR Pelagos FXD
From May to September, the watch I wore most is, without a doubt, the Tudor FXD. Dubbed the “Apex Predator” of dive watches by my friend Jason Heaton, if there was ever a watch designed for our community, it is the Tudor FXD. And in fact, it was. The original FXD was developed in partnership with the French Commando Hubert Combat Swimmers and the black version for the US Navy’s SEAL Team Six. With fixed lugs, it is specifically designed as a tool watch, making it ideal for just about any outdoor activity.
In the summer, I am in the water a lot, and whether swimming off the coast of New England or wakeboarding on a lake in Virginia, this is one of the few watches I am confident will stay attached to my wrist (when combined with a Glomar Explorer).
While technically a dive watch, I am convinced the Tudor FXD on a hook and loop strap is the perfect watch for the alpine environment and skiing. Giving a new meaning to Tudor “snowflake,” the unique, angular hour hands and large, square hour markers were developed for legibility underwater. It’s big at 42mm, but it sits flat on the wrist, light because it is titanium, and the chances of it falling off while taking off your gloves are near zero.
W.O.E. and SEAL turned best-selling author Jack Carr during filming of Splashdown - The Little-Known Story Of Navy Frogmen & The Space Program.
Blue or Black FXD?
I own both the original blue FXD and the 2023 black version and wear them interchangeably. While aesthetically I prefer the black bezel, the blue is the original and probably my favorite of the two, and it has special meaning since I actually purchased this watch directly from Tudor in Geneva. That said, I took an extra step and PVD’d the case of the black FXD (read HERE), which made it uniquely mine. I am somewhat self-conscious wearing the black in public because it has become somewhat well-known within the W.O.E. community, and I don’t want it blowing my cover. Such is the burden of being an anonymous CIA Case Officer turned watch influencer…
CWC TGN Crew Watch
Watch snobs will tell you that battery-powered quartz watches are inferior to automatic timepieces. As much as I like to make fun of watch dorks, I generally agree. If you appreciate timepieces, the smooth sweep of the second hand across a dial is hypnotizing. That said, I strongly believe that every watch enthusiast should have a durable quartz watch in their collection. This is your “grab and go” watch when you don’t have time to wind it, set it, etc…
This year, the newly released titanium CWC TGN Crew Watch replaced my CWC SBS as my go-to quartz watch. Whether at the beach, mountain biking, or traveling, it is everything I want in a true modern analog tool watch. It is expensive for a quartz, but executed flawlessly, and it would not be the end of the world if it were lost or damaged.
The grade 5 titanium case with fixed lugs is so light and comfortable that it practically disappears on the wrist, especially on a Glomar Explorer. I spent a lot of time testing out new straps, and the fixed lugs made this easy and seamless.
It’s a strap monster, water resistant to 300 meters, and tough enough for anything from baby pool duty to open water swims. The 12-hour bezel capable of tracking a second timezone is cool, but if I am being honest, I never used it for this. Between the TGN connection, the CWC lineage, and the simple fact that it is the easiest watch in my collection to actually live with, it earned its spot as one of the watches I wore more than any other.
Final Thoughts
As I reflect on 2025, I think about all of the exciting things I have done with my watches, from trips to the United Arab Emirates, Africa, and Europe to swimming in the Mediterranean and skiing in Colorado. But Use Your Tools isn't just about living an interesting life; it's about integrating these inanimate objects into your life. The reality is, the most memorable moments are the moments I may not even remember; trying to coax my children to sleep under the glow of the lume of an FXD, date night with Mrs. W.O.E., or knocking the bezel on the steel shopping cart as I rush to pick up Christmas Eve groceries for the in-laws.
The watches I reached for most were not necessarily the rarest or most “collectible.” They were the ones that fit the moment, whether intentionally or not. I believe a watch becomes meaningful only when it earns its scars and stories, the countless hours tapping away at a computer, the quiet moments of grief, and the loud moments of joy.
These pieces have become markers along the way, not because they are valuable or perform well on Instagram, but because they came with me. And ultimately, that’s the core of all this: a watch is never just a watch; it is a companion for the life you actually live.
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