WOE Dispatch
The Watches Of September 11th
Timepieces Recovered From The Rubble Serve As Reminders Of The 2,977 Victims Of The Terrorist Attacks On 9/11 The world changed forever on September 11th, 2001. For my generation, this...
The Watches Of September 11th
Timepieces Recovered From The Rubble Serve As Reminders Of The 2,977 Victims Of The Terrorist Attacks On 9/11 The world changed forever on September 11th, 2001. For my generation, this day would change our life trajectory, launching us on a path to seek retribution for those who attacked us. Following...
Read More
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...
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...
Read More
Watch Industry SITREP - August 2024
The Olympics, Swiss Industry Challenges, & Watch-Related Crime By Benjamin Lowry In general, the daily watch media news cycle doesn’t interest us. Numerous websites are hanging their collective hat on...
Watch Industry SITREP - August 2024
The Olympics, Swiss Industry Challenges, & Watch-Related Crime By Benjamin Lowry In general, the daily watch media news cycle doesn’t interest us. Numerous websites are hanging their collective hat on being up-to-the-minute, covering new releases and other watch industry shenanigans, and doing a far better job than we ever could....
Read More
Special Forces, CIA, & A Seiko 6105
How A Tier One Cold War Operator Evolved Into A Watch Collector James Stejskal had a long and storied career in Army Special Forces, Detachment A in Berlin, and with...
Special Forces, CIA, & A Seiko 6105
How A Tier One Cold War Operator Evolved Into A Watch Collector James Stejskal had a long and storied career in Army Special Forces, Detachment A in Berlin, and with the Central Intelligence Agency, In this Dispatch, he shares some of his stories and the tools he used. Late October...
Read More
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...
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...
Read More
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,...
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....
Read More
Digital Watches Of The Global War On Terror
From G-Shock To Garmin, Digital Watches Have Served At The Forefront Of Modern Warfare Whether watch nerds like it or not, digital tool watches (D.T.W.) have usurped their analog and...
Digital Watches Of The Global War On Terror
From G-Shock To Garmin, Digital Watches Have Served At The Forefront Of Modern Warfare Whether watch nerds like it or not, digital tool watches (D.T.W.) have usurped their analog and mechanical siblings in the vast majority of military, law enforcement, and intelligence scenarios. Looking beyond the prominent subset of watch...
Read More
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...
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...
Read More
The Watches of Hamas, ISIS, & the Taliban
Is an Obscure Islamic Digital Watch The New Choice Of Terrorists & Non-State Actors? We once called the Casio F91W the “Preferred Watch Of Terrorists” based largely on its associations...
The Watches of Hamas, ISIS, & the Taliban
Is an Obscure Islamic Digital Watch The New Choice Of Terrorists & Non-State Actors? We once called the Casio F91W the “Preferred Watch Of Terrorists” based largely on its associations with Usama bin Laden who was often photographed wearing the attainable Japanese digital watch before his impromptu meeting with SEAL...
Read More
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...
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...
Read More
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...
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...
Read More
The Dive Watch - Everything You Need To Know
Going In-Depth With History’s Most Popular & Impactful Tool Watch Despite the relative lack of popularity of scuba diving, the dive watch prevails as one of the most popular categories...
The Dive Watch - Everything You Need To Know
Going In-Depth With History’s Most Popular & Impactful Tool Watch Despite the relative lack of popularity of scuba diving, the dive watch prevails as one of the most popular categories in watchmaking while also claiming several of history’s most recognizable designs including the Rolex Submariner, Omega Seamaster, and Blancpain Fifty...
Read More
Best Watches Under $5,000
Asking Watch Nerds & Experts from Special Operations, Intelligence, & NatSec For Their Picks We’ve often argued the best place to start with watch collecting is under $1,000. With the...
Best Watches Under $5,000
Asking Watch Nerds & Experts from Special Operations, Intelligence, & NatSec For Their Picks We’ve often argued the best place to start with watch collecting is under $1,000. With the rise of watch enthusiasm bolstered by the internet over the last couple of decades, there are more great options than...
Read More
Every Watch In Jack Carr’s Red Sky Mourning
Sketchy Breitlings, A Vietnam-Era Rolex, & More Making fun of Navy SEALs writing books is a joke that will never get old. That said, there have been some great authors...
Every Watch In Jack Carr’s Red Sky Mourning
Sketchy Breitlings, A Vietnam-Era Rolex, & More Making fun of Navy SEALs writing books is a joke that will never get old. That said, there have been some great authors to come out of the Teams and Jack Carr is at the top of the list. Carr’s series of novels...
Read More
Elliot Brown & The Special Boat Service
How A British Independent Watch Brand Created The Latest SBS Issue Watch The list of modern military-issued analog watches is short. The fact is, most forces have understandably transitioned to...
Elliot Brown & The Special Boat Service
How A British Independent Watch Brand Created The Latest SBS Issue Watch The list of modern military-issued analog watches is short. The fact is, most forces have understandably transitioned to digital tool watches, arguably a more effective tool for modern warfare. That said, they do exist and one of the...
Read More
US Secret Service Omega Seamaster During Trump'...
A Special Unit-Specific Version Of An Iconic Watch Designed For The US Secret Service This past Saturday, a series of gunshots was heard around the world. Former US President Donald...
US Secret Service Omega Seamaster During Trump's Assassination Attempt
A Special Unit-Specific Version Of An Iconic Watch Designed For The US Secret Service This past Saturday, a series of gunshots was heard around the world. Former US President Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania in support of his upcoming presidential bid when suddenly, he flinched and...
Read More
The Murky World Of Counterfeit Rolex
Fake Watch Shopping In Istanbul - A Case Study As a CIA Case Officer operating overseas, you are exposed to the dark side of humanity. It is not a career...
The Murky World Of Counterfeit Rolex
Fake Watch Shopping In Istanbul - A Case Study As a CIA Case Officer operating overseas, you are exposed to the dark side of humanity. It is not a career for the faint-hearted and you learn some things they don’t teach in school. He who fights monsters should see to...
Read More
Custom G-Shock, Omega, & Tudor - Watches Fit To...
Unit Watches Of The UK’s Royalty and Specialist Protection Despite the rise of inexpensive Digital Tool Watches and feature-rich connected smartwatches, there is an ever-growing subset of the military, intelligence,...
Custom G-Shock, Omega, & Tudor - Watches Fit To Guard A King
Unit Watches Of The UK’s Royalty and Specialist Protection Despite the rise of inexpensive Digital Tool Watches and feature-rich connected smartwatches, there is an ever-growing subset of the military, intelligence, and law enforcement communities with a passion for mechanical or otherwise more interesting timepieces. We’ve discussed so-called “unit watches” in...
Read More