Intelligence

Dear Mr. Vice President, Please Take Off Your Apple Watch

Dear Mr. Vice President, Please Take Off Your A...

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...

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Dear Mr. Vice President, Please Take Off Your Apple Watch

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...

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Watch Industry SITREP - January 2025

Watch Industry SITREP - January 2025

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...

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Watch Industry SITREP - January 2025

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...

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Taking A $15 Casio F91W 5,000 Meters Underwater

Taking A $15 Casio F91W 5,000 Meters Underwater

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...

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Taking A $15 Casio F91W 5,000 Meters Underwater

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...

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CIA Officers Receiving Expensive Gifts - Omega, Rolex, & A Beretta Pistol

CIA Officers Receiving Expensive Gifts - Omega,...

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...

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CIA Officers Receiving Expensive Gifts - Omega, Rolex, & A Beretta Pistol

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...

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W.O.E. YouTube: A Mystery Death In Oslo

W.O.E. YouTube: A Mystery Death In Oslo

 Is Jennifer Fairgate's Watch A Clue? In 1995, an unidentified woman was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a luxurious Oslo hotel. Was “Jennifer Fairgate” an assassin, spy, or a...

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W.O.E. YouTube: A Mystery Death In Oslo

 Is Jennifer Fairgate's Watch A Clue? In 1995, an unidentified woman was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a luxurious Oslo hotel. Was “Jennifer Fairgate” an assassin, spy, or a troubled woman looking to disappear? Her watch, a Citizen Aqualand, could be the clue to solving a complex puzzle that...

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W.O.E. CIA Reading List Part 2 - CIA & Traditional Espionage

W.O.E. CIA Reading List Part 2 - CIA & Traditio...

Top Picks From A CIA Case Officer’s Bookshelf One of the most common requests we receive is for a reading list on intelligence, special operations, and national security. While this...

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W.O.E. CIA Reading List Part 2 - CIA & Traditional Espionage

Top Picks From A CIA Case Officer’s Bookshelf One of the most common requests we receive is for a reading list on intelligence, special operations, and national security. While this is somewhat outside our scope of Watches of Espionage, we are encouraged by this question because it demonstrates a desire...

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W.O.E. YouTube: CIA Officer Explains Apple Watch Risks

W.O.E. YouTube: CIA Officer Explains Apple Watc...

Whether watch nerds like it or not, the smartwatch is here to stay. Apple sells more Apple Watches in a quarter than the entire Swiss watch industry does in a...

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W.O.E. YouTube: CIA Officer Explains Apple Watch Risks

Whether watch nerds like it or not, the smartwatch is here to stay. Apple sells more Apple Watches in a quarter than the entire Swiss watch industry does in a year. Smartwatches like the Apple Watch and many Garmin models offer significant lifestyle benefits including fitness tracking, communication, navigation, and...

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Pink Panthers - The Ultimate Luxury Watch & Diamond Thieves

Pink Panthers - The Ultimate Luxury Watch & Dia...

A Balkan-Based Criminal Syndicate Leverages Intelligence Tradecraft To Steal Luxury Watches & Diamonds In Bond-Style Heists. Luxury jewel crime occurs on a spectrum and Ocean’s Eleven-style heists are generally figments...

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Pink Panthers - The Ultimate Luxury Watch & Diamond Thieves

A Balkan-Based Criminal Syndicate Leverages Intelligence Tradecraft To Steal Luxury Watches & Diamonds In Bond-Style Heists. Luxury jewel crime occurs on a spectrum and Ocean’s Eleven-style heists are generally figments of Hollywood screenwriters’ imaginations. However, one notable example exists: the “Pink Panthers,” a network of Balkan-based jewel thieves that operated...

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Hey ChatGPT, What Is Watches Of Espionage?

Hey ChatGPT, What Is Watches Of Espionage?

We Ask For AI’s Take On W.O.E. & The Results Are Surprisingly Accurate Whether we like it or not, artificial intelligence or AI is influencing and shaping the world around...

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Hey ChatGPT, What Is Watches Of Espionage?

We Ask For AI’s Take On W.O.E. & The Results Are Surprisingly Accurate Whether we like it or not, artificial intelligence or AI is influencing and shaping the world around us. Utilized in intelligence collection and analysis, cyber security, customer service, marketing, and more, AI is increasingly becoming an aspect...

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W.O.E. YouTube: Billy Waugh - The Watches Of A CIA & Special Forces Legend

W.O.E. YouTube: Billy Waugh - The Watches Of A ...

In 2001, Special Forces icon Billy Waugh celebrated his 72nd birthday in the remote mountains of Afghanistan while working for CIA in the search for Osama Bin Laden. While his...

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W.O.E. YouTube: Billy Waugh - The Watches Of A CIA & Special Forces Legend

In 2001, Special Forces icon Billy Waugh celebrated his 72nd birthday in the remote mountains of Afghanistan while working for CIA in the search for Osama Bin Laden. While his age was unusual for the tip of the spear, this was far from Waugh’s first rodeo. From his service in...

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The Other Watches of James Bond

The Other Watches of James Bond

Despite being a fictional character, perhaps no figure in the world of Watches of Espionage claims as much influence as James Bond. The celebrated links between 007, Rolex, and Omega...

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The Other Watches of James Bond

Despite being a fictional character, perhaps no figure in the world of Watches of Espionage claims as much influence as James Bond. The celebrated links between 007, Rolex, and Omega are well-established and contribute to the lore surrounding two of history’s most important tool watches, namely the Rolex Submariner and...

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A Russian Smartwatch-Enabled Assassination & US Army Apple Watch Warning

A Russian Smartwatch-Enabled Assassination & US...

Ukrainian Intelligence Services used smartwatch data to assassinate a Russian naval commander during his morning jog. The US Army released a Counterintelligence warning to the US Military. Last week, the...

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A Russian Smartwatch-Enabled Assassination & US Army Apple Watch Warning

Ukrainian Intelligence Services used smartwatch data to assassinate a Russian naval commander during his morning jog. The US Army released a Counterintelligence warning to the US Military. Last week, the US Army issued a warning to Department of Defense (DOD) personnel on the counterintelligence (CI) risks of smartwatches with a...

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The Dalai Lama, Watches, & Espionage

The Dalai Lama, Watches, & Espionage

How A Spiritual Leader Became A Watch-Collecting Icon - It All Started With The Office Of Strategic Services We have discussed the operational role of timepieces in espionage and how...

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The Dalai Lama, Watches, & Espionage

How A Spiritual Leader Became A Watch-Collecting Icon - It All Started With The Office Of Strategic Services We have discussed the operational role of timepieces in espionage and how they can be tools in the agent recruitment cycle—the transition of an individual from a target to a recruited asset...

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Announcement: W.O.E. YouTube Channel -Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling

Announcement: W.O.E. YouTube Channel -Sketchy D...

We are excited to announce the establishment of the Watches of Espionage YouTube channel with our first video “Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling - We Don’t Make the Rules”. At Watches...

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Announcement: W.O.E. YouTube Channel -Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling

We are excited to announce the establishment of the Watches of Espionage YouTube channel with our first video “Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling - We Don’t Make the Rules”. At Watches of Espionage, we are dedicated to exploring the intersection of military, intelligence, national security, and the world of horology. Whether...

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A Navy SEAL Turned Mercenary & A Rolex Submariner

A Navy SEAL Turned Mercenary & A Rolex Submariner

American Mercenary details the movie-like career of a SEAL Team Six assaulter turned gun for hire. The one constant throughout his career was a Rolex Submariner on his wrist.   Belgrade,...

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A Navy SEAL Turned Mercenary & A Rolex Submariner

American Mercenary details the movie-like career of a SEAL Team Six assaulter turned gun for hire. The one constant throughout his career was a Rolex Submariner on his wrist.   Belgrade, Serbia - 2017 Working as a private intelligence collector, former Navy SEAL Daniel Corbett found himself in an unenviable situation....

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W.O.E. CIA Reading List Part 1 - The Global War On Terror

W.O.E. CIA Reading List Part 1 - The Global War...

Top Picks From A CIA Case Officer’s Bookshelf One of the most common requests we receive is for a reading list on intelligence, special operations, and national security. While this...

12 comments

W.O.E. CIA Reading List Part 1 - The Global War On Terror

Top Picks From A CIA Case Officer’s Bookshelf One of the most common requests we receive is for a reading list on intelligence, special operations, and national security. While this is a little outside our scope of Watches of Espionage, we are encouraged by this question because it demonstrates a...

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Watches As A Propaganda Tool - Russia, Ukraine, & The United States

Watches As A Propaganda Tool - Russia, Ukraine,...

From the Cold War To The War In Ukraine, Watches Are Used As A Propaganda Tool, But Are They Effective? In June 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the frontline...

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Watches As A Propaganda Tool - Russia, Ukraine, & The United States

From the Cold War To The War In Ukraine, Watches Are Used As A Propaganda Tool, But Are They Effective? In June 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the frontline troops on Ukraine's Armed Forces Day and presented soldiers with Ukrainian-produced Kleynold watches. The tradition of presenting watches to military...

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Istanbul: Shopping For Vintage Watches, Spy Cameras, & Cold War Artifacts

Istanbul: Shopping For Vintage Watches, Spy Cam...

Istanbul is one of the espionage capitals of the world, so it’s no surprise you can find spy artifacts for sale in the world's most famous bazaar. It’s difficult to...

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Istanbul: Shopping For Vintage Watches, Spy Cameras, & Cold War Artifacts

Istanbul is one of the espionage capitals of the world, so it’s no surprise you can find spy artifacts for sale in the world's most famous bazaar. It’s difficult to write about Istanbul without falling into cliches, but there is a palpable romantic mystique and energy in the city on...

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