History
A Question of Time: The Time Pencil Explosive F...
In intelligence operations, time matters. While our Dispatch articles traditionally focus on watches, today we look at another tool to measure time, the time pencil. It’s a short time fuze...
A Question of Time: The Time Pencil Explosive Fuze in World War II
In intelligence operations, time matters. While our Dispatch articles traditionally focus on watches, today we look at another tool to measure time, the time pencil. It’s a short time fuze detonator used for explosive charges in covert operations in World War II. We have profiled watches of the Glorious Amateurs...
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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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DARPA’s Take on the Next Generation of Military...
How Has DARPA Imagined the Future of Wristwatches? The unquantifiable nature of watches is that these little mechanical objects can be imbued with stories of service, sacrifice, and relationships. When...
DARPA’s Take on the Next Generation of Military Watches
How Has DARPA Imagined the Future of Wristwatches? The unquantifiable nature of watches is that these little mechanical objects can be imbued with stories of service, sacrifice, and relationships. When W.O.E. covers watches, we often shy away from product reviews and instead look at the human element that makes watches...
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Double Wristing Stormin' Norman
No, General Schwarzkopf did not double wrist a Rolex and Seiko Despite What You’ve Read. Pictured is General H. Norman Schwarzkopf wearing two watches. Read any story on Schwarzkopf and...
Double Wristing Stormin' Norman
No, General Schwarzkopf did not double wrist a Rolex and Seiko Despite What You’ve Read. Pictured is General H. Norman Schwarzkopf wearing two watches. Read any story on Schwarzkopf and watches and you’ll learn that it’s a Rolex Day-Date and a Seiko diver. There’s just one problem–he didn’t wear a...
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SOG Seikos - Vietnam MACV-SOG Watches, Part II
Detailing the Lesser Known Fourth CISO-Issued “SOG Seiko” By Nick Ferrell - Watches of Espionage previously covered a trio of vintage Seiko dive watches worn by the U.S. Military’s ultra-secretive...
SOG Seikos - Vietnam MACV-SOG Watches, Part II
Detailing the Lesser Known Fourth CISO-Issued “SOG Seiko” By Nick Ferrell - Watches of Espionage previously covered a trio of vintage Seiko dive watches worn by the U.S. Military’s ultra-secretive Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observat
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U.S. Presidents and Timepieces, The Last 40 Years
The watches of the most powerful men in the world, the Commander in Chief
U.S. Presidents and Timepieces, The Last 40 Years
The watches of the most powerful men in the world, the Commander in Chief
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Does Rolex Make Mistakes? The Motley 8 - Error ...
In Watch and Firearm Collecting, Details Matter I purchased a new Rolex GMT Master II “Batman” directly from an authorized Rolex dealer (“AD”). After photographing the watch in my studio,...
Does Rolex Make Mistakes? The Motley 8 - Error Batman Bezel
In Watch and Firearm Collecting, Details Matter I purchased a new Rolex GMT Master II “Batman” directly from an authorized Rolex dealer (“AD”). After photographing the watch in my studio, I was surprised to see a production error that I had never seen before. In the “8” in the “18”...
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Watches and Commercial Espionage: Waltham Watch...
The connection between watches and the military, the dangers of commercial espionage and the influence of firearms manufacturing on the watch industry. by Aaron Stark In December 2022 I published...
Watches and Commercial Espionage: Waltham Watch Company
The connection between watches and the military, the dangers of commercial espionage and the influence of firearms manufacturing on the watch industry. by Aaron Stark In December 2022 I published Disrupting Time: Industrial combat, espionage, and the downfall of a great American company. I got started on this mission of...
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Watches of the War in Ukraine
Watches of the War in Ukraine - Mercenaries, Presidents, Generals, and Oligarchs - a conflict of timepieces
Watches of the War in Ukraine
Watches of the War in Ukraine - Mercenaries, Presidents, Generals, and Oligarchs - a conflict of timepieces
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D-Day, a Look at the Watches that Served Our So...
79 years ago the most important Allied coordinated effort of WWII took place. These watches kept soldiers on time. On Tuesday June 6th, 1944 the largest seaborne invasion in history...
D-Day, a Look at the Watches that Served Our Soldiers
79 years ago the most important Allied coordinated effort of WWII took place. These watches kept soldiers on time. On Tuesday June 6th, 1944 the largest seaborne invasion in history occurred. Nearly 160,000 allied troops managed to change the course of WWII by storming the beaches of Normandy and setting...
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Glorious Amateurs: The Watch Worn by the OSS an...
Readers of thrillers set in World War II and even some non-fiction histories of the OSS and SOE could easily assume the kit of these “special forces” operators was highly...
Glorious Amateurs: The Watch Worn by the OSS and SOE
Readers of thrillers set in World War II and even some non-fiction histories of the OSS and SOE could easily assume the kit of these “special forces” operators was highly specialized and the result of great care and curation in OSS and SOE headquarters. The reality was that early in...
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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 Lasting Legacy of the CIA’s Lockheed A-12 a...
In 1957 Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, the leader of aircraft manufacturer Lockheed’s Advanced Development program dubbed Skunk Works, knew satellites would make reconnaissance aircraft obsolete in the near future. It was...
The Lasting Legacy of the CIA’s Lockheed A-12 and the Watch That Served It
In 1957 Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, the leader of aircraft manufacturer Lockheed’s Advanced Development program dubbed Skunk Works, knew satellites would make reconnaissance aircraft obsolete in the near future. It was determined that the U-2 spy plane, which Johnson had worked on, had a radar cross section that was simply too...
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Vietnam MACV-SOG Seikos: Setting the Record Str...
MACV-SOG Recon Elements Required a Tough Tool To Support Operations, So They Turned To Seiko Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG or just SOG) recon men...
Vietnam MACV-SOG Seikos: Setting the Record Straight
MACV-SOG Recon Elements Required a Tough Tool To Support Operations, So They Turned To Seiko Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG or just SOG) recon men required a robust and non-attributable timepiece to accomplish their mission. They turned to Seiko, known as the ‘Toyota of Watches’....
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