Watch Industry SITREP - June 2026

A Stolen $750k Richard Mille, Watch-Related Hot-Mic for President Trump, New Thunderbirds Pilots with Strong Watch Game, a new Rolex Boutique at 10k Feet, a Great Short Film from Tudor, & Plenty of Watch Crime 

By Benjamin Lowry

With our sights set firmly on the upcoming Fourth of July festivities, we hope you have plans to watch the fireworks, crack open a few crispy boys with family and friends, and maybe even purchase some quasi-legal boom sticks from a disreputable roadside tent for your own backyard celebrations. In any case, have fun and be (relatively) safe. 

But before we sign off for the holiday, it is once again time for our Watch Industry SITREP, or Situation Report, our monthly download of timepiece and/or espionage-related news and current events. As ever, our trajectory will sometimes intersect with politically charged issues, but W.O.E. remains staunchly apolitical. Whatever the subject matter may be, watches are the lens through which we view and interpret history and current events. 

June was another big month, with a $750k Richard Mille stolen at an F1 race, another awesome film from Tudor, a new Bond villain-esque Rolex boutique opened high in the Alps, Floyd “Money” Mayweather in hot water after writing a bad check for an AP, an awkward watch-related hot mic for Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit, and a new class of Thunderbirds pilots wearing some awesome tool watches. 

You already know what time it is. It’s SITREP time. 

New US Air Force Thunderbirds Selectees Wear Great Tool Watches

From left to right: Capt. Nic “Grim” Herfel with an older Breitling Aerospace, Capt. Nate “Tazer” Palmer with an Aerospace Evo, and Maj. Daniel “Thunder” Katz with what could be a Rolex GMT. (Photo Credit: US Air Force)

On 19 June, the Air Force announced its newest officers who will represent the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, aka the Thunderbirds, for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. As we’ve learned to expect from some of the aviation community’s best and brightest, many of the new Thunderbirds showed up for their official photos wearing great tool watches, and the least we could do is talk about it. Starting with Breitling, a brand with deep ties to military aviation and the broader W.O.E. Community, Capt. Nic “Grim” Herfel wore an older Breitling Aerospace, while Capt. Nate “Tazer” Palmer rocked an Aerospace Evo unit watch with an F-16 on the dial. Maj. Daniel “Thunder” Katz wore a Rolex GMT 126710BLNR "Batgirl", with the GMT-Master being another watch closely associated with military aviation. 

Maj. Tyler “DRFM” Hansen with a unit watch from Wingman (left) and Capt. McKayla Russell, who does not currently have a callsign, wearing an Apple Watch. (Photo Credit: US Air Force)

Getting into a wild-card pick, Maj. Tyler “DRFM” Hansen wore what appears to be an F-16 unit watch from Wingman Watch, a brand that is new to us but looks to have roots in aviation and squadron watches. Capt. McKayla Russell wore an Apple Watch, and we thought about giving her a hard time, but we’re choosing to see this as an opportunity for Capt. Russell to join the Use Your Tools fold with a capable analog tool watch. As far as we can tell, the young captain doesn’t yet appear to have a callsign, and we’d hate to see her with “Smartwatch” painted on her official Thunderbirds Gentex flight helmet… 

For more on the roles played by timepieces in aviator culture, click HERE. 

Awkward Hot-Mic Situation at G7 Involving French President Emmanuel Macron, President Trump, & Watches 

Presidents Trump and Macron at the recent G7 Summit in France, where the leaders shared a lighthearted moment related to watches. 

On 17 June, several media outlets covered lighthearted exchanges between world leaders preparing for serious talks at the recent G7 Summit in France. Topics covered included everything from the World Cup to the recent UFC fights at the White House to Greenland and, somewhat surprisingly, watches. In one instance, after French President Emmanuel Macron apparently left his watch behind before a meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s voice was captured saying, “He’s left his watch here. We’ve got his watch.” President Trump then replied, “Give me it if he left, gimme.” It’s hard to be sure if it was the watch in question, but Macron often wears a Bell & Ross BR V1-92. 

French President Emmanuel Macron is known to favor a watch from Bell & Ross, a French brand.

This isn’t the first time Macron’s watch made international news. As W.O.E. discussed on a previous dispatch on watches of tools of disinformation (read HERE), during a March 2023 televised interview, Macron's Bell & Ross was mistakenly identified as an F.P. Journe worth roughly €80,000, fueling a viral misinformation campaign that portrayed the French president as an out-of-touch elitist hiding a luxury watch from viewers.

Given the weight of these talks and their implications on global politics, it’s nice to hear that these world leaders like to bullshit and joke around almost just like the rest of us. For more on the watches of world leaders, click HERE. 

A New Rolex Boutique Opens at 10,000 Feet in the Swiss Alps 

There’s no way around it: Rolex’s new Alpine boutique is pretty sweet. (Photo Credit: Rolex/Herzog & de Meuron)

Bringing in an estimated $14B last year, there ain’t much Rolex can’t do. Placing an almost unreachable boutique on top of a Swiss mountain? Sure, easy. Have it designed such that it begs for comparison to the high-altitude lair of an imaginary Alpine Bond villain? No problem. For intrepid fans who make the trek, which is significant, are there at least watches to be bought? Don’t be silly. Well, that’s exactly what Rolex has done with its newest boutique, perched atop Mount Titlis (no jokes, please), about 3,238 meters (10,623 feet) high in the Swiss Alps. 

Is it incredible? Yes. Will it actually have watches for sale? We shall see. (Photo Credit: Rolex/Herzog & de Meuron)

Operated by Bucherer, Rolex’s highest-altitude boutique was designed by a swanky architecture firm called Herzog & de Meuron using an existing 1980s telecommunications antenna, and the eye-catching cantilevered concrete, steel, and glass structure also includes a bar, a restaurant, and an observation deck for taking in the panoramic views. Requiring a 40-kilometer train ride from Lucerne as well as at least two cable cars, the new boutique isn’t easy to reach, but it looks to be well worth the trip.

I have already submitted a travel request to W.O.E. to see if I can go check it out. Stand by.

New Tudor Short Film Showcases the Life of Daring Pilot Marchesa Carina Negrone

At W.O.E., we do not hide our fondness for Tudor, a brand with a celebrated military history going back over seven decades, a leading modern unit watch program, and a collection of luxury tool watches seemingly tailor-made for the Use Your Tools ethos. Tudor also dabbles in filmmaking, including Splashdown, a detailed look at the US Navy frogmen tasked with recovering Gemini and Apollo astronauts, a film we were happy to play a (very) small role in creating. 

Marchesa Carina Negrone’s Tudor Mini-Sub and Advisor, both of which would have been worn long after her daring flight records. Still, this film is great. (Photo Credit: Tudor/Hodinkee)

Now, Tudor is back with La Pilota: The Daring Story of Marchesa Carina Negrone, a look at the life and exploits of a pioneering female pilot who set numerous records in the 1930s. Yes, we understand that this is marketing, but the watches in the film, an old Mini-Sub and an Advisor, are both long discontinued, and I would argue that any marketing message is more subtle and tasteful than most.  

James Stacey’s Photo Report from Watches and Wonders Tudor Collector Event 

If you like vintage military Tudors, and you should, this is an awesome photo report. (Photo Credit: James Stacey/Hodinkee)

Back in April, W.O.E. attended an unprecedented meet-up of Tudor collectors during Watches and Wonders. Seemingly tailor-made for nerds like us, the event focused on rare military-issued Tudor models that have likely never all been in the same place at the same time. Our full report on the event is HERE. 

A few weeks back, our friend James Stacey, who also attended the event, published a comprehensive photo report that is as drool-worthy as anything you are likely to find on the internet that isn’t NSFW. Do yourself a favor and click HERE to see all of the photos. You will even see some of W.O.E.’s personal collection, including a South African-issued Tudor Submariner.

Watch Crime 

One of our favorite parts of compiling topics for the SITREP is doing a deep dive on any recent watch-related crime. This past month, we have had a few instances that are, to say the least, higher profile and a lot higher cost compared to the usual smash and grabs we have covered in the past. Also, luxury watch-thieving prostitutes are back!

Richard Mille Stolen by Sophisticated Gang at F1 Race in Texas 

Whitlock’s Richard Mille LeBron James. (Photo Credit: Nicholas Saady, Whitlock’s Lawyer)

As reported by Hodinkee (read HERE), during an F1 race in Austin, Texas, in October 2025, Dean Whitlock alleges that his Richard Mille RM 65-01 Split-Seconds Chronograph "LeBron James", with a claimed value of $750k, was stolen from his wrist. The theft allegedly occurred while Whitlock was in the VIP area of the paddock, where he was (ironically) attending the event as a guest of Richard Mille, a prominent sponsor of several F1 teams. According to a petition from Whitlock’s lawyer: 

"As Plaintiff was pushed through the crowd, he heard a man yelling, but could not make out what he said. Suddenly, a group of people in Red Bull Racing shirts and Ferrari hats pushed Plaintiff. A woman then fell directly in front of Plaintiff, and Plaintiff attempted to assist her to her feet, concerned that she could be injured in the chaotic crush of people. However, when Plaintiff attempted to assist the woman, she forcibly grabbed his arm, and other members of the group ripped the watch from his wrist and disappeared into the crowd."

Incredibly, another Richard Mille was stolen at the same event the previous day by a group using eerily similar tactics, and now, Whitlock has elected to sue the organization behind the race, alleging that they knew of the incident and did not take steps to make the race more secure for patrons in its wake.

While we have explained the risks associated with wearing luxury watches in public at length, this is yet another poignant lesson that you can never be too careful, even at a high-profile sporting event’s VIP section, which undoubtedly comes with some degree of security. I get it: living in a world where you can hardly wear your $750k timepiece to your local F1 race without being robbed feels fundamentally unfair, but the criminal element is as focused on watches as it has ever been. You can never be too careful, and to be clear, we have never reported on a stolen Seiko in 23 editions of the SITREP. 

Floyd “Money” Mayweather in Hot Water After Allegedly Writing a Bad Check to Fund $200k Watch Purchase 

Seems like Money should have paid for his AP in cash, right?

Way back in 2024, professional boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. (aka Pretty Boy) wrote a $200k check to a Las Vegas luxury resale boutique to purchase an Audemars Piguet watch. The only problem was that the check was no good, and Mayweather has recently been brought up on felony charges from the Clark County District Attorney's Office for “theft involving property valued at more than $100,000 and passing a check with intent to defraud”. Ouch. 

Despite his impressive boxing laurels and undefeated 50-0 record, Mayweather is no stranger to finding himself in legal hot water, having been linked to a $7.3M IRS tax lien, disputes about rent payment for his Manhattan apartment, and assorted child support woes. 

With a reported net worth between 100 and 400 million dollars, and upcoming high-profile fights, including an exhibition match with kickboxer Mike Zambidis and an upcoming professional rematch with Manny Pacquiao, we would imagine Mayweather will manage to pay his way through this one. That said, it may be time for a new accountant. Any guesses from the gang on which AP Mayweather allegedly fraudulently purchased? 

Ladies of the Night Return to the SITREP, Allegedly Stealing $25k in Watches 

If you run into this pair, consider not inviting them over to see your watch collection. (Photo Credit: Atlanta Police Department)

In Atlanta, police are searching for a pair of women who allegedly drugged a man before stealing $25k in luxury watches, the brands of which have not been revealed. The victim alleges he met the larcenous pair on a residential roadway before inviting them back to the safety and comfort of his home. He then alleges he was drugged, and when he woke up, the ladies and his luxury watch collection had flown the proverbial coop. The names of the involved parties have not been released, but if you recognize the enterprising young women in the surveillance photo, please contact Atlanta authorities. 

We try not to be judgmental, but this story is one red flag after another. Suffice it to say that if you must engage with “professionals”, maybe don’t do it at your residence. If you must engage with “professionals” at your residence, maybe keep the luxury watch collection in a closed and locked safe. And, if you must engage with “professionals” at your residence and you absolutely must show off your collection of luxury watches, at the very least, make sure your watches are insured and consider mixing your own drinks. 

Final Thoughts 

From new Thunderbirds pilots wearing Breitlings to world leaders joking about misplaced watches, from Alpine Rolex fortresses to organized criminals hunting Richard Milles at F1 races, June was a reminder that watches continue to appear in surprising places at all corners of the W.O.E. Community. 

Timepieces can be tools, trophies, status symbols, heirlooms, and occasionally evidence. But our favorite stories aren’t about hype or scarcity, they’re about the people who embody the Use Your Tools ethos. 

Until next month, stay safe, stay curious, and remember: if you’re planning on paid company for the evening, remember to lock up your watches and consider being your own mixologist. Lowry out. 

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