WOE Dispatch

Diving With The Marathon Search and Rescue

Diving With The Marathon Search and Rescue

Putting One Of The Last Real Military Dive Watches To The Test In the watch world, clout is king. For brands without centuries of history to lean on, sales and...

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Diving With The Marathon Search and Rescue

Putting One Of The Last Real Military Dive Watches To The Test In the watch world, clout is king. For brands without centuries of history to lean on, sales and marketing professionals are left in a mad scramble for authenticity and heritage, searching for a story that makes their watches...

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Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling - We Don’t Make The Rules

Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling - We Don’t Make Th...

Watches of Espionage is vehemently brand agnostic. The watches we cover are dictated by the community and one brand that consistently pops up is Breitling. There are few truths in...

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Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling - We Don’t Make The Rules

Watches of Espionage is vehemently brand agnostic. The watches we cover are dictated by the community and one brand that consistently pops up is Breitling. There are few truths in the world of intelligence, but one of them is Sketchy Dudes Wear Breitling. Before the Breitling fan clubs take out...

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US Army PSYOP: Christopher Ward “Unit Watch” in Recruiting Video

US Army PSYOP: Christopher Ward “Unit Watch” in...

Last week, the US Army’s 4th Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Group released Ghosts In The Machine 2, the second installment in a series of highly stylized recruiting videos supporting one of...

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US Army PSYOP: Christopher Ward “Unit Watch” in Recruiting Video

Last week, the US Army’s 4th Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Group released Ghosts In The Machine 2, the second installment in a series of highly stylized recruiting videos supporting one of the Army’s more unusual units.

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The Seiko Found In The Wreckage Of A Spy Ship And North Korean Covert Operations

The Seiko Found In The Wreckage Of A Spy Ship A...

A Seiko Dive Watch 7548 - 7000 was recovered from the wreckage of a North Korean Spy Ship after the Battle of Amami-Ōshima. Where did it come from and what...

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The Seiko Found In The Wreckage Of A Spy Ship And North Korean Covert Operations

A Seiko Dive Watch 7548 - 7000 was recovered from the wreckage of a North Korean Spy Ship after the Battle of Amami-Ōshima. Where did it come from and what does it tell us about North Korean Covert Action? At CIA, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is known...

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From NASA To SpaceX - The Watches Of SpecOps Astronaut Recovery Teams

From NASA To SpaceX - The Watches Of SpecOps As...

The Historic Link Between The US Space Program, Special Operations Forces, & Timepieces In 2020, some 45 years had passed since a crewed US spacecraft splashed down at sea. On...

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From NASA To SpaceX - The Watches Of SpecOps Astronaut Recovery Teams

The Historic Link Between The US Space Program, Special Operations Forces, & Timepieces In 2020, some 45 years had passed since a crewed US spacecraft splashed down at sea. On 2 August, NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken experienced no less than four g’s as they hurtled toward the...

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Watches And Wonders Releases For The W.O.E. Community

Watches And Wonders Releases For The W.O.E. Com...

Last week was Watches and Wonders, a trade show in Switzerland where watch brands showcase their latest releases. Journalists, tastemakers, and watch enthusiasts flock to Geneva to see and photograph...

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Watches And Wonders Releases For The W.O.E. Community

Last week was Watches and Wonders, a trade show in Switzerland where watch brands showcase their latest releases. Journalists, tastemakers, and watch enthusiasts flock to Geneva to see and photograph new timepieces, meet with brand representatives, and drink no shortage of champagne and Negronis. Watches and Wonders is a masterclass...

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Hollywood Watches of Espionage, Part II

Hollywood Watches of Espionage, Part II

Sketchy Surfers, Intelligence Officers, And A Dictator – Timepieces Add Depth To Characters While Entertaining Watch Nerds As we established in our first installment of this series (READ HERE), watches...

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Hollywood Watches of Espionage, Part II

Sketchy Surfers, Intelligence Officers, And A Dictator – Timepieces Add Depth To Characters While Entertaining Watch Nerds As we established in our first installment of this series (READ HERE), watches play a significant role in film and television, particularly as it relates to the world of espionage. Watch enthusiasts can’t...

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W.O.E. Collaboration With Tactile Turn

W.O.E. Collaboration With Tactile Turn

Pen, Flashlight, Knife, Watch - The Essentials “If you didn’t write it down, it didn't happen” is a common saying in the intelligence business.  In a digital era, there is...

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W.O.E. Collaboration With Tactile Turn

Pen, Flashlight, Knife, Watch - The Essentials “If you didn’t write it down, it didn't happen” is a common saying in the intelligence business.  In a digital era, there is something satisfying about staying old school, and a custom pen, built to last a lifetime, is a must. Custom Tactile Turn...

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CIA paramilitary officers watches of espionage spy watch

Inside The Watch Culture Of CIA Paramilitary Of...

A Watch Given To A CIA Paramilitary Officer After a successful joint operation in the late 2010s, a European intelligence service presented a CIA Paramilitary Officer with a gift, a...

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Inside The Watch Culture Of CIA Paramilitary Officers

A Watch Given To A CIA Paramilitary Officer After a successful joint operation in the late 2010s, a European intelligence service presented a CIA Paramilitary Officer with a gift, a U-Boat timepiece to commemorate operational success. Like most accomplishments in the world of espionage, the ceremony (if you can call...

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Living In Zulu Time - Why GMT Watches Are Important to Special Operations & Intelligence Officers

Living In Zulu Time - Why GMT Watches Are Impor...

Tracking Multiple Time Zones In Austere Circumstances By J.R. Seeger, former CIA SIS Greenwich Mean Time or “GMT” is an internationally accepted timing standard by which all other time zones...

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Living In Zulu Time - Why GMT Watches Are Important to Special Operations & Intelligence Officers

Tracking Multiple Time Zones In Austere Circumstances By J.R. Seeger, former CIA SIS Greenwich Mean Time or “GMT” is an internationally accepted timing standard by which all other time zones are defined. A GMT watch tracks one or two additional time zones by way of a fourth hand, a bezel...

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Dear Panerai, Stop Putting the Navy SEAL Trident On Watches

Dear Panerai, Stop Putting the Navy SEAL Triden...

An Open Letter to Panerai, From Watches of Espionage In 2022, Panerai released the limited-edition “Navy SEALs collection” available intended for purchase by the public, and not exclusively Navy SEALs. ...

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Dear Panerai, Stop Putting the Navy SEAL Trident On Watches

An Open Letter to Panerai, From Watches of Espionage In 2022, Panerai released the limited-edition “Navy SEALs collection” available intended for purchase by the public, and not exclusively Navy SEALs.  The watches are operator-chic , complete with a Navy SEAL Trident on the dial or caseback and a “Time to...

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The Great Escape: Rolex & WWII POWs

The Great Escape: Rolex & WWII POWs

Allied Prisoners of War and Rolex Watch Co., a story of hope in the midst of a grim world conflict. As the war between Axis and Allied forces raged on,...

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The Great Escape: Rolex & WWII POWs

Allied Prisoners of War and Rolex Watch Co., a story of hope in the midst of a grim world conflict. As the war between Axis and Allied forces raged on, Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of the watch company named Montres Rolex SA, had a brilliant notion: Why not let these...

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The W.O.E. Tudor PVD Pelagos FXD

The W.O.E. Tudor PVD Pelagos FXD

Customizing my dream watch, the W.O.E. PVD Pelagos FXD - When Tudor released the Black Pelagos FXD last year, I instantly knew I wanted one to land in my collection....

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The W.O.E. Tudor PVD Pelagos FXD

Customizing my dream watch, the W.O.E. PVD Pelagos FXD - When Tudor released the Black Pelagos FXD last year, I instantly knew I wanted one to land in my collection.

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Watches & Wheels: Pairing Military Vehicles with Timepieces

Watches & Wheels: Pairing Military Vehicles wit...

Round Two of honoring the age-old tradition of matching watches up with heavy-hitting machinery. We’ve done it once before–paired watches with military aircraft–and now we’re doing it again. Except this...

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Watches & Wheels: Pairing Military Vehicles with Timepieces

Round Two of honoring the age-old tradition of matching watches up with heavy-hitting machinery. We’ve done it once before–paired watches with military aircraft–and now we’re doing it again. Except this time, we’re trading wings and rotors for wheels and tracks. These watch pairings explore the world of military vehicles.  There’s...

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A Mystery Death in Oslo, an Intelligence Op Gone Wrong?

A Mystery Death in Oslo, an Intelligence Op Gon...

An unidentified woman was found dead in a luxury Oslo hotel.  Was “Jennifer Fairgate” an assassin, spy or a troubled woman looking to disappear? Her timepiece is a clue to...

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A Mystery Death in Oslo, an Intelligence Op Gone Wrong?

An unidentified woman was found dead in a luxury Oslo hotel.  Was “Jennifer Fairgate” an assassin, spy or a troubled woman looking to disappear? Her timepiece is a clue to solving a complex puzzle that reads like a Hollywood thriller. 3 June 1995, Oslo Plaza Hotel, Room 2805 The woman’s...

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CIA Timepiece Analysis: President Putin and Tucker Carlson

CIA Timepiece Analysis: President Putin and Tuc...

Last week, former Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson interviewed former KGB officer and current Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.  While much of the coverage surrounded the controversy...

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CIA Timepiece Analysis: President Putin and Tucker Carlson

Last week, former Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson interviewed former KGB officer and current Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.  While much of the coverage surrounded the controversy of Tucker himself, we will focus on what we know best: the watches present at the meeting in the Kremlin. ...

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South African Issued Tudor Submariners - Making Time Podcast

South African Issued Tudor Submariners - Making...

Our good friends Darren and Ross Povey from Tudor Collector discussed the history of military issued Tudor Submariners on the most recent episode of “Making Time” podcast.  We plan to...

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South African Issued Tudor Submariners - Making Time Podcast

Our good friends Darren and Ross Povey from Tudor Collector discussed the history of military issued Tudor Submariners on the most recent episode of “Making Time” podcast.  We plan to do a complete W.O.E. Dispatch on South African MilSubs in the future but this is a great opportunity to learn...

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Ask Watches Of Espionage Anything, Part III

Ask Watches Of Espionage Anything, Part III

In this edition of the Dispatch, we’ll answer some common questions we get about W.O.E., timepieces and the Intelligence Community at large. Many of these responses can – and probably...

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Ask Watches Of Espionage Anything, Part III

In this edition of the Dispatch, we’ll answer some common questions we get about W.O.E., timepieces and the Intelligence Community at large. Many of these responses can – and probably will at some point–serve as stand alone stories, but for now, here’s some additional insight on Watches of Espionage. If...

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