Watch Industry SITREP - October 2026

Mike Waltz Calls Out Castro’s Rolexes, New Bond Omegas, French Riots & Fake Rolexes, Swiss Watch Exports Trending Up, Questionable Casio F91W Upgrades, a Standard Titanium Marathon GSAR, & Plenty of Watch Crime 

By Benjamin Lowry

This evening is Halloween Eve, unofficially known as Mischief Night, Devil's Night, or Cabbage Night (I have no idea), depending on which United States region you call home. In any case, it means those of us with young children are gearing up for tomorrow night’s long, costumed, probably frigid walk and the inevitable sugar rush (and crash) that comes with it. In the meantime, we’re still in the SITREP business, and let me tell you, business is good. 

If you’re new here, the SITREP (Situation Report) is our monthly compilation of current events, new releases, and crime, all either directly or tangentially related to watches. W.O.E. doesn’t read these very carefully, so we aren’t strict, and we’ve been known to sprinkle in just about anything else we think will inform, entertain, or prepare all of you beautiful people. 

These past few weeks offered a lot to sink our proverbial teeth into: UN Ambassador Mike Waltz calling out Castro’s Rolex collection, rising Swiss watch exports, fake Rolex news from the protests in France, a real Breitling boutique burglary, new Omega Bond watches, Spanish police catching luxury watch-thieving bad guys, and a whole lot more. Kick the tires and light the fires; it’s time for the SITREP. 

Mike Waltz Calls Out Fidel Castro’s Rolex Watches

We’re not saying Waltz took the photo of Castro double-wristing Rolexes from us, but… 

On 27 October, UN Ambassador and former Special Forces Officer Mike Waltz held up a photograph of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro with a red circle around two Rolexes, which he said represent “$40,000 in today’s money.” During the United Nations meeting, Waltz used the image and others to make the point that the revolution was never for the people, just the people at the top. Needless to say, things got spicy, and an argument with the Cuban delegation ensued.

For us, the image isn’t news. In fact, we posted the exact photo, with the telltale red circle, years ago. Castro routinely wore multiple watches, sometimes on the same wrist. Collector lore says he set the watches to Havana, Moscow, and Washington, D.C.’s time zones (the third utilizing the GMT function). Whether he wore them for status or for function is still debated. One school of thought holds that in the 60s Rolex stood less for luxury than for reliability, the best timekeeper of the era.

Waltz wearing a Swatch x Omega MoonSwatch.

Of note, Waltz said that Castro’s collection represented “$40,000 in today’s money,” which may be true if you look at today’s value of these vintage pieces. That said, Castro had (at least) four watches in his collection: a Submariner ref. 6536, two GMT-Masters (refs. 6542 and 1675), and a gold Datejust on a President bracelet. Together they would have retailed for roughly $1,300 to $2,000 at the time, or about $15,000 to $22,500 in today’s money. (This is a very rough estimate.) It’s still not nothing, and wearing two watches at once is excessive, but likely well short of $40,000. 

Waltz showed another picture of the current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wearing a “13k Rolex” (image 2). However, this appears to be an AI-altered image. We tracked down the original photo, and he was wearing a Tudor Black Bay GMT in an August 2024 X/Twitter post.

An AI-altered photo of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel was used to imply that he was also wearing a Rolex that was, in fact, a Tudor Black Bay GMT.

I would be remiss not to mention that Waltz, a former SF officer with four Bronze Stars, is one of us and has several Rolex watches in his collection… including a Rolex GMT. That said, during the meeting at the UN, he wore a plastic “Moonswatch,” which was no doubt an intentional decision.

Regardless, Watches of Espionage is alive and well, and timepieces continue to play a role in geopolitics and national security.

French Riots & Fake Rolex News - The Power of Misinformation

A viral video implied that a Rolex, new in box, was left near a trash can on a French street.

Generally speaking, the idea of the French feeling so strongly about something as to protest would not make the global news, with protest being a core tenet of Frenchness. However, recently, what are often semi-peaceful, well-managed protests have gotten well and truly out of hand. Weeks of largely student-run protests have escalated into rioting, looting, and violence, all triggered by what protesters are calling deteriorating conditions in schools and other broader economic and political grievances. 

As is often the case with looting, protesters have targeted luxury stores, including watch brands. One story about a new-in-box Rolex left near a garbage can somewhere on the streets of France went viral on social media, with many of you sending it to us. The short-form video was even covered by a few news-like outlets, but even a casual watch nerd could tell the watch, a supposed GMT-Master II “Sprite”, was a replica, and not a very good one at that. This is a classic example of disinformation (read more about watches of disinformation HERE), in this case likely vying for casual clicks rather than malign influence. Still, the fact that the media picked it up shows how gullible people on social media can be and how important it is to keep your bullshit meter hot and ready like a Little Caesar’s pizza. 

Georges Kern’s Instagram showed a ransacked Breitling boutique somewhere in France.

Separately, at least one Breitling dealer in France was ransacked, which is not atypical for a large-scale rioting event like this. What is intriguing is that Georges Kern, CEO of the newly-minted House of Brands that operates Breitling, Universal Geneve, and Gallet, posted a cell phone video of the damaged boutique on his personal Instagram, with a charged caption: “Et voilà la France. Not really students who did this. At least a good warning for the other countries in Europe. Thank god nobody from our teams was injured.” 

We often think of our watch world as insulated and altogether separate from political strife and social unrest, but the recent rioting in France proves how current events affect the watch industry, and we can expect to see changes in security procedures and storefronts implemented by some of the targeted brands. 

Swiss Watch Exports on the Rise Despite Weakening Demand for Luxury 

Swiss brands and US retailers have been working hard to get watches into the United States. (Photo Credit: W.O.E./James Rupley)

According to data released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH), exports of watches from Switzerland jumped around 12% in September compared to the same period last year. Analysis from MarketScreener indicates the rise is led by a sharp 86% increase in Swiss watch exports to the United States market, likely triggered by tariff-related volatility and the purposeful shifting of inventory by major luxury watch retailers. This is all the more interesting considering that luxury goods are, globally speaking, experiencing a period of decline amid weaker demand from China, inflation, and rising oil prices. But what does this mean for you and me? 

If you’ve been waiting for a particular Swiss watch, maybe even a certain Rolex sports model like the Submariner or a GMT-Master II, US retailers have been going gangbusters to get them into the United States during a relative period of calm in otherwise uncertain tariff waters. That said, the tariff for imported Swiss watches still stands at 12.5%, down from its all-time high of 39% in August 2025, but still a significant number. Does this mean you’re about to get “the call” from your local AD for that crispy 124060? It’s hard to say, but both US retailers and the brands in Switzerland should be incentivized to get their watches across the pond before something else interesting happens. 

New Releases 

As is our custom, in each SITREP covering a month where some cool watches were introduced, we’ll do our best to comment. As always, none of what you see in the SITREP or elsewhere on W.O.E. is sponsored content, and the opinions contained herein are either mine, W.O.E.’s, or hot takes I am borrowing from particularly snarky Reddit posts. It is what it is. 

The Legendary Casio F91W Gets Some Upgrades

A watch we have called “The Preferred Watch of Terrorists” (read HERE), the ever-affordable Casio F91W is a global phenomenon, having sold some 100M units since its introduction in 1989. For our community, it’s a watch with notorious implications, having been used as a digital timing device for IEDs during the Global War on Terror. The watch’s adoption among global military organizations is also strong, including the British Army, which is now providing the watch to its recruits, and it’s no surprise that Casio recently announced a collection of new models with both aesthetic and technical changes. 

The new F91WF-3A. I am eventually going to get one of these… (Photo Credit: Casio)

First is the F91WF series, which is essentially the F91W we know and love in three colors (black, navy, and olive green) paired with strap adapters and military-style straps made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET). I haven’t had the chance to handle one of these yet, but the olive green F91WF-3A should pair well with military uniforms/LARP gear, and the fabric strap is likely to be a major improvement over the standard urethane strap, which isn’t great. At full retail, they’re $46. 

Casio’s new FB100W tracks steps and connects to your phone, which is cool, I guess? (Photo Credit: Casio)

Next up, the real oddball is the new FB100W, which is a F91W with Bluetooth and step tracking, two features I am not sure a single person has ever asked for with this platform. That said, the integration appears to be fairly slick, and time correction should be mighty easy with the Bluetooth integration. Of course, as we often discussed, if the watch can connect to your phone, so can hostile intelligence services, so we can be sure the new FB100W will not be the preferred watch of terrorists, even if they have steps to track. 

This higher-tech F91W descendant will set you back a cool $65. As one Reddit user put it: “It's essentially a tiny bit larger F91W with a step counter and a bit better backlight, but costs like 5x more.” Do with that what you will… 

A Titanium Marathon GSAR Enters the Standard Collection 

The new Marathon 41mm Titanium GSAR. (Photo Credit: Marathon)

Announced during Windup New York, our friends at Marathon Watch are introducing a titanium version of the GSAR, or Government Search and Rescue, the tritium tube-equipped descendant of the original SAR watches made for Royal Canadian Air Force Search and Rescue Technicians starting around 2000. Unlike the Marathon x W.O.E. Titanium SAR collaboration that was limited to 200 pieces, Marathon’s grade 5 titanium GSAR will be part of the standard collection, priced at $2,750, and available starting 17 November. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if, given its lighter weight, the new titanium GSAR becomes a popular option for military contracts, but only time will tell. 

A Pair of New Bond Omega Seamaster Diver 300 Models Joins the Regular Collection 

Omega’s new Bond- and Spectre-inspired versions of the non-date Seamaster Diver 300. (Photo Credit: Hodinkee)

Earlier this month, eagle-eyed fans noticed a few Easter Eggs embedded into Omega’s website, including an Omega logo on the header that intermittently switched into the modern Spectre logo. For real nerds, the same logo was outlined in ASCII art in the site’s source code. I had to look up what that means, and so will you. In any case, on James Bond Day, which is 05 October (the anniversary of the world premiere of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, in 1962), Omega dropped two standard models (and two wildly expensive limited box sets we won’t get into) based on the newer non-date Seamaster Diver 300. 

In short, one is Bond-themed, known as the Seamaster James Bond Edition, and has a blue aluminum wave-patterned dial, a Bond family crest integrated into the twelve o’clock index, a stainless steel case, a titanium bezel insert, and an oscillating weight with the 007 rifled barrel logo. Its nemesis, the Spectre version, has a grainy matte black dial and a ceramic insert executed in relief. The caseback displays another custom oscillating weight with the Spectre octopus logo. Both are non-date, both come on Omega’s excellent stainless-steel mesh bracelet, and both are priced at $8,600. Personally, I dig these, and it’s also cool to see Omega doing watches not only for Bond (like he doesn’t have enough), but also for the bad guys. 

Watch Crime 

We went long on new releases, but we always have time for watch crime, a segment that has become one of our favorite parts of putting the SITREP together. This month has plenty of international intrigue and even a feel-good story with some watch thieves getting their just deserts.  

Spanish Police Solve 28 Luxury Watch Thefts, Arresting 34 Thieves 

As 34 thieves were arrested in connection with luxury watch robberies, a watch worth 450,000 Euros was recovered. (Photo Credit: Policía Nacional)

We have covered numerous instances of the ever-growing trend of organized criminal gangs targeting luxury watches, but we seldom get to discuss what happens after the fact. Well, in this case, we have good news. The Spanish National Police, in collaboration with the Italian Polizia di Stato, have arrested 34 individuals with ties to transnational criminal networks known to traffic in luxury watches. This came as a result of a targeted task force set up to combat luxury watch crime. Thus far, six watches, ranging in value from 20,000 to over 450,000 Euros, have been recovered. 

The crimes all took place in high-profile tourist areas of Spain, including Ibiza and the Costa del Sol (Marbella), but the alleged thieves operated from a central location in Barcelona, making seasonal, theft-oriented trips. Kidding aside, this is further evidence of the level of planning and sophistication that goes into luxury watch theft today. If you’re traveling to Marbella and headed out for a big tapas night with the boys, the streets are that little bit safer, but I’d still consider leaving your Nautilus at home. 

Indiana Customs Officers Seize 300 Fake Luxury Watches 

The seized timepieces appear to be blinged-out versions of the AP Royal Oak. (Photo Credit: U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

It’s a jungle out there, folks, and you can never be too careful. On 14 October at Indianapolis International Airport, customs officers flagged and intercepted a shipment bound for Illinois, ultimately seizing 300 fake Audemars Piguet watches that originated in Hong Kong. The value of fake or, if we’re being nice, “replica timepieces”, is always listed as though the watches were authentic, with customs authorities claiming a cumulative value of $12M for the seized shipment. Our past exploration of the counterfeit watch industry can be found in detail HERE, but suffice it to say that wearing a replica watch will never replace the experience of the real thing. Further, the transnational criminal industry producing these fakes has definite ties to seedier, more troubling forms of organized crime, from drugs to human trafficking. 

That said, it’s unclear whether the incoming fakes were to be sold in the replica watch market to knowing consumers (a market with its own intriguing and confusing enthusiast base) or actually passed off as authentic in the hopes of fooling would-be luxury watch buyers. In either case, however, it’s the same amount of illegal, and it’s always nice to see the good guys chalk up a win like this. 

Final Thoughts 

And there you have it, another month in the books, and another reminder that the watch world is never quite as boring as the snobs following the auction scene would have you believe. From Cuban dictators double-wristing Rolex watches to fake Rolexes on French sidewalks, new Bond watches, welcome Casio F91W updates, and organized watch thieves getting their comeuppance, October delivered the goods. 

As always, keep your bullshit meter calibrated, your valuables close, and your expectations for Hollywood watch accuracy appropriately low (unless Jack Carr is involved). Until next month, stay alert, stay aware, don’t eat too much Halloween candy, and, as always, Use Your Tools. Lowry out. 

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