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The W.O.E. Tudor PVD Pelagos FXD
Customizing my dream watch, the W.O.E. PVD Pelagos FXD - When Tudor released the Black Pelagos FXD last year, I instantly knew I wanted one to land in my collection....
The W.O.E. Tudor PVD Pelagos FXD
Customizing my dream watch, the W.O.E. PVD Pelagos FXD - When Tudor released the Black Pelagos FXD last year, I instantly knew I wanted one to land in my collection.
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A Mystery Death in Oslo, an Intelligence Op Gon...
An unidentified woman was found dead in a luxury Oslo hotel. Was “Jennifer Fairgate” an assassin, spy or a troubled woman looking to disappear? Her timepiece is a clue to...
A Mystery Death in Oslo, an Intelligence Op Gone Wrong?
An unidentified woman was found dead in a luxury Oslo hotel. Was “Jennifer Fairgate” an assassin, spy or a troubled woman looking to disappear? Her timepiece is a clue to solving a complex puzzle that reads like a Hollywood thriller. 3 June 1995, Oslo Plaza Hotel, Room 2805 The woman’s...
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Omega's Modern Unit Watch Program - Frogmen, SE...
Omega has a long history of producing watches for the military, most notably the classic Seamaster 300 made for the British Royal Navy. Today the company is continuing that history...
Omega's Modern Unit Watch Program - Frogmen, SEALs and the Secret Service
Omega has a long history of producing watches for the military, most notably the classic Seamaster 300 made for the British Royal Navy. Today the company is continuing that history with special production “unit watches,” and appears to have standardized its program, offering a unique Seamaster Diver 300M solely to...
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A Brief History Of The Dive Watch - How The Mil...
Benjamin Lowry - If you’re new here, you’ll want to go back and read part one (HERE) of this two-part series where we detail the history of the earliest diving-specific...
A Brief History Of The Dive Watch - How The Military Helped To Shape History’s Greatest Tool Watch (Part Two)
Benjamin Lowry - If you’re new here, you’ll want to go back and read part one (HERE) of this two-part series where we detail the history of the earliest diving-specific watches and their crucial links to military organizations including Italy’s Decima Flottiglia MAS, the US Navy’s Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT
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Advice for Buying a Watch
The Watches of Espionage community can be broken down into two segments: professional watch nerds tired of the traditional watch media; and complete newbies, those initially attracted by Military and...
Advice for Buying a Watch
The Watches of Espionage community can be broken down into two segments: professional watch nerds tired of the traditional watch media; and complete newbies, those initially attracted by Military and Intelligence content but with little interest in watches. Over time, the latter group usually develops an interest in watches and...
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The Dive Watch - How The Military Helped To Sha...
by Benjamin Lowry On a moonless night, gently rolling waves reflect only the faintest shimmer of starlight. Fully submerged well up the beach by way of a spring tide, a team...
The Dive Watch - How The Military Helped To Shape History’s Greatest Tool Watch
by Benjamin Lowry On a moonless night, gently rolling waves reflect only the faintest shimmer of starlight. Fully submerged well up the beach by way of a spring tide, a team of commandos peer down at their synchronized mechanical dive watches, counting down the seconds before their waterside assault will begin...
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"Let's Roll" - A Hero's Rolex Frozen In Time - ...
Todd Beamer’s gold and steel Rolex was found among the debris from Flight 93. While the hands are disfigured and the sapphire crystal is gone, the date window–frozen in time–...
"Let's Roll" - A Hero's Rolex Frozen In Time - September 11, 2001
Todd Beamer’s gold and steel Rolex was found among the debris from Flight 93. While the hands are disfigured and the sapphire crystal is gone, the date window–frozen in time– still reads “11.” Remembering the heroes of September 11th Attacks: On the morning of September 11th, 2001, Todd Beamer, a...
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Covert Influence in Watch Media
A CIA Case Officer’s job is to steal secrets by recruiting and running assets - penetrations of a foreign government or hostile non-state actor. At the core of this trade...
Covert Influence in Watch Media
A CIA Case Officer’s job is to steal secrets by recruiting and running assets - penetrations of a foreign government or hostile non-state actor. At the core of this trade is manipulating an individual to report on his or her organization and spy on behalf of the US Government. A...
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CIA Officer’s Love Affair with the Arabic Seiko
As I type this Dispatch, I am on a transatlantic flight to London for a short visit, a mix of business and pleasure. As a former CIA Case Officer, separating...
CIA Officer’s Love Affair with the Arabic Seiko
As I type this Dispatch, I am on a transatlantic flight to London for a short visit, a mix of business and pleasure. As a former CIA Case Officer, separating the two can be difficult. In my W.O.E. travel pouch is my Rolex GMT Master II 16710. On my wrist...
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CIA Officers and Apple Watches
Counterintelligence Risks of Smart Watches “Apple watches are for nerds.” Though we don’t actually think this, it’s easy to understand how one could come to that conclusion. The Apple Watch...
CIA Officers and Apple Watches
Counterintelligence Risks of Smart Watches “Apple watches are for nerds.” Though we don’t actually think this, it’s easy to understand how one could come to that conclusion. The Apple Watch of today could be seen as the “calculator watch” of the ‘90s–in other words, a product with a nerdy association....
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CIA Case Officer’s Everyday Carry - EDC
We get a lot of questions about “everyday carry,” commonly known as “EDC.” So in light of these requests, we want to provide some insight into our typical EDC and...
CIA Case Officer’s Everyday Carry - EDC
We get a lot of questions about “everyday carry,” commonly known as “EDC.” So in light of these requests, we want to provide some insight into our typical EDC and what I carried as a CIA Case Officer (C/O) in Africa and the Middle East. A timepiece is a crucial...
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Tudors of Espionage (T.O.E.s)
The Shield Protects the Crown: W.O.E. is a watch snob–or at least I was. For years, I looked down on Tudor as an inferior tool watch existing in the shadow...
Tudors of Espionage (T.O.E.s)
The Shield Protects the Crown: W.O.E. is a watch snob–or at least I was. For years, I looked down on Tudor as an inferior tool watch existing in the shadow of its big brother Rolex. I never understood why someone with a Rolex would purchase a Tudor. After all, Tudor...
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Trading a Rolex to Get out of a Sticky Situatio...
The "Escape and Evasion" Rolex The final requirement to be certified as a CIA Case Officer (C/O) is to pass the certification course at a classified government training center commonly...
Trading a Rolex to Get out of a Sticky Situation - Myth or Reality?
The "Escape and Evasion" Rolex The final requirement to be certified as a CIA Case Officer (C/O) is to pass the certification course at a classified government training center commonly referred to as “the Farm.” Students learn the tradecraft to clandestinely recruit and handle assets. The entire learning process is...
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Jordanian Breitling: The Gift From A King That ...
At its core, the Breitling Aerospace is a functional tool watch. The dual digital screens of the chronometer-certified "SuperQuartz" have practical features including a digital chronograph, second time zone, day...
Jordanian Breitling: The Gift From A King That Spawned A CIA Case Officer's Love Of Timepieces
At its core, the Breitling Aerospace is a functional tool watch. The dual digital screens of the chronometer-certified "SuperQuartz" have practical features including a digital chronograph, second time zone, day and date, alarm, and countdown timer. In the intelligence business, these would be useful features for conducting clandestine operations where...
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The History Of Casio G-Shocks And The US Military
Forty years have passed since the introduction of the Casio G-Shock in 1983. And while the basic formula behind the world’s most durable watch has remained largely unchanged since the...
The History Of Casio G-Shocks And The US Military
Forty years have passed since the introduction of the Casio G-Shock in 1983. And while the basic formula behind the world’s most durable watch has remained largely unchanged since the legendary DW-5000C first hit store shelves, the world of warfare and the United States Military in particular have made significant...
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A Navy SEAL’s Rolex Submariner on the Osama Bin...
Over the past decade, just about every detail of Operation Neptune Spear, the Navy SEAL raid that brought Usama bin Laden to justice, has been recounted. The service members involved,...
A Navy SEAL’s Rolex Submariner on the Osama Bin Laden Raid
Over the past decade, just about every detail of Operation Neptune Spear, the Navy SEAL raid that brought Usama bin Laden to justice, has been recounted. The service members involved, the elusive stealth Black Hawk helicopters, the quad NODs, have all become objects of intrigue and some have risen to...
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Forget Bond, A Real CIA Spy Seiko Watch
In the 1970s, CIA Technical Officers modified a digital Seiko to conceal a Tropel T-100 camera inside. The purpose of the watch-turned-espionage-tool was to allow a recruited agent to surreptitiously...
Forget Bond, A Real CIA Spy Seiko Watch
In the 1970s, CIA Technical Officers modified a digital Seiko to conceal a Tropel T-100 camera inside. The purpose of the watch-turned-espionage-tool was to allow a recruited agent to surreptitiously photograph classified documents in their place of work and deliver them to CIA. The camera was so quiet that it...
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The Pragmatic Journey of a SEAL Through Watch C...
By Benjamin Lowry One thousand yards of open ocean undulated gently between US Navy SEAL David Hall and the dim lights of the Haitian shoreline. Wearing little more than woodland...
The Pragmatic Journey of a SEAL Through Watch Collecting
By Benjamin Lowry One thousand yards of open ocean undulated gently between US Navy SEAL David Hall and the dim lights of the Haitian shoreline. Wearing little more than woodland cammies, a Boonie hat, and a modified hunting life jacket, Hall glanced at the luminescent display of his Luminox watch...
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