From the precision airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities in June to the surprise capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, to the ongoing conflict in Iran, General Dan Caine has been a constant at the pointy end of military affairs. As these historic events unfolded one by one, Caine displayed an impressive collection of watches from Rolex, Breitling, and Jaeger-LeCoultre. He is, without a doubt, one of us. 

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 an era of digitalization, there is something satisfying about staying old school, and a custom pen, built to last a lifetime, is a must. Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen 3.0COMING MAY 2026 Sign Up For Notifications HERE When I worked as a CIA Case Officer, a quality pen and 3x5 cards were essential aspects of my everyday carry and are still items I carry religiously to this day. Despite rapid advancements in note-taking devices, I still defer to a pen and paper regularly. As a part of our ongoing effort to produce the best possible custom tools, we set out to design a purpose-built writing instrument fit for our community. Enter the Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen 3.0 - Tiger Stripe. Milled from a solid block of titanium in the United States, our pen is lightweight and durable. For a premium feel, we opted for Tactile Turn’s Bolt Action construction, which extends or retracts the refill with one smooth, spring-loaded motion, more satisfying than the hollow click from your drugstore ten-pack of pens. For the new 3.0, the clip starts with an OD‑green Cerakote finish and then undergoes Cerakote’s Laser Imaging process: a 60 watt fibre‑laser sweeps the surface to coax darker and lighter tones from the same coating without etching or removing it, creating a multi‑tone tiger‑stripe camo pattern that stays as tough as the base layer. The inside reveals a subtle engraved “Tactile Turn X WOE” text.    Perhaps most importantly, the PVD black bolt is operated by way of a unique watch-style crown that is also PVD coated and complete with a W.O.E. spearhead engraving. Details matter. It is so often the little things that have the greatest impact. To be clear, this is by no means a “tactical pen”. Our titanium pen is a TSA-approved item primarily intended for writing, though we admit it may have other uses. We’ll leave it at that. Far from inexpensive, perishable pens, our Bolt Action Pen is designed to last a lifetime and utilizes readily available Pilot G2 0.7mm refills. For the complete specifications, read HERE. Product Development At W.O.E. At Watches of Espionage, our product development model is to partner with true professionals—masters of their craft—to develop distinct and highly functional products that honor our community and our core belief that you should “use your tools.” In creating our ideal Everyday Carry (EDC) pen, we reached out to Tactile Turn because they are the best in the business at creating high-quality writing tools, hand-machined in Texas, right here in the United States. As a company, we seek to partner with US manufacturers and use our platform to promote their craftsmanship. Working with Tactile Turn has been a pleasure, and it is no surprise that there is a significant crossover between the watch and EDC communities. The good people at Tactile Turn are industry leaders for a reason, doing incredibly detailed and consistent work. They are also true innovators and were able to prototype the watch-style crown to produce a unique product for our community. Further, they stand behind their work with a lifetime warranty for all of their products, including our W.O.E. Bolt Action Pen. About Tactile Turn Tactile Turn was founded in 2012 by Will Hodges who happens to be a watch guy with Tudor, Sinn, and OMEGA in the collection. Frustrated by the disconnect between the things we buy and how they’re made, Will took things into his own hands, purchasing a WWII-era lathe and producing his first 1000 pens completely by hand. Things have taken off since then, and Tactile Turn now operates a serious 48,000-square-foot production facility in Dallas, Texas, where a small team of machinists produces every single pen by hand. Will is still at the helm and still obsessed with producing quality pens in the United States that will probably outlive their owners. At W.O.E., we only work with suppliers who understand the Use Your Tools ethos, and Tactile Turn is an excellent example. The first version of our Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen had an all black, PVD-coated bolt, crown, and clip. Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen 1.0: Now a coveted collector’s item, the original Titanium Turn X W.O.E. collaboration launched in 2024 and differed from the new 2.0 and 3.0 with an all black PVD-coated bolt, crown, and clip. Tactile Turn X W.O.E. Titanium Pen 3.0 - Tiger Stripe Learn more HERE  

Elliot Ackerman is a former Marine Infantry Officer, MARSOC Raider, and CIA Paramilitary Officer who later became a best-selling author. The one constant throughout Elliot’s incredible life of service was the Rolex Explorer II on his wrist.

This month in the SITREP, there’s a lot to like, including our top picks from the W&W release cycle, including a secretive Tudor collector meet-up, AI photos receiving undue buzz, an Australian special operator and watch nerd arrested for war crimes, the Iran War’s effect on the luxury watch market, managerial reshuffling at Breitling, the return of “Rolex Rippers”, and more. 

As always, watches are our prism to view current events and national security. The USSS has a deep history with watches and is arguably one of the leaders in unit watches. While in the grand scheme of things, a watch may seem like an insignificant detail, it does say a lot about the individual Special Agent and the culture of the broader agency. The United States Secret Service (USSS) is tasked with protecting national leadership, including the President and Vice President, and has a long-standing relationship with unit watches. Today, we will explore a few of them. 

In a rare display of openness from a Swiss watch brand, especially one whose parent organization is Rolex, Tudor invited collectors from around the world to its headquarters in a suburb of Geneva. After an initial introduction from a Tudor executive, we were ushered into a large conference room where we placed our watches on the table. The watches on display represented at least 80 years of history. 

At Watches of Espionage, the Rolex GMT holds a special place, making the recent discontinuation of the Pepsi GMT-Master II an unwelcome surprise. Unveiled in 1954, the GMT-Master was designed as a utilitarian tool for pilots and jet-set business travelers with a second-time zone function, but the Rolex GMT also has a lesser-known yet impactful heritage in the military and intelligence. 

In this Dispatch, we’ll discuss the watches worn by the Artemis II astronauts who are continuing mankind’s legacy of lunar exploration. Whether it’s the NASA-issued Omega Speedmasters worn by the intrepid Apollo 17 astronauts who last visited the Moon, or the more modern Breitling and Omega models utilized by Mission Commander Reid Wiseman and the rest of Artemis II’s crew, for astronauts, a watch is never just a watch.

New disclosures show how gifted timepieces remain tools of intelligence for CIA and DIA, but can they keep them?

When it comes to Watches of Espionage, James Bond is the elephant in the room. There is a significant gap between the realities of intelligence collection and Hollywood's depiction, but 007 has had an indelible impact on watch culture within the Intelligence Community, and we know several real-world practitioners whose watch choices were influenced by the Omega and Rolex watches worn by Bond, James Bond. 

Omega & Breitling to the Moon, Arnie’s Arnie Up for Auction, a New DHS Secretary with a Quartz Chronograph, CJCS Caine with a New Breitling Unit Watch, a “Dream Girl” Rolex Robbery, & More Watch Crime

Pilots in general, whether military or civilian, have one of the strongest watch cultures of any profession, with many opting for mechanical GMTs and chronographs from brands like Rolex, Omega, Breitling, and Seiko. For aviation professionals, the Use Your Tools ethos is alive and well, and pilots are responsible for several of history’s most important watches, from the Rolex GMT-Master to the Breitling Navitimer. In this Dispatch, we’ll explore watch culture among military pilots and aircrew. 

From Waltham To Suunto & Now W.O.E., A Wrist Compass Is Essential Gear For Countless Special Operators While the tools of warfare have developed rapidly over the past sixty years, some gear has remained virtually unchanged, timeless tools that are as effective in 2024 as they were in 1964. Among those essential items are the wristwatch and the wrist compass, both utilized extensively as tools by Intelligence and SpecOps personnel throughout the past six decades. A US Navy SEAL in Vietnam wears a Rolex or Tudor Submariner with a wrist compass. (Photo Credit: Herb Ruth Collection) We often discuss the importance of timekeeping in operational scenarios, but navigation is another equally mission-critical element. The archetypal image of the Vietnam-Era SEAL or a MACV-SOG operator almost always includes not only a watch but also a wrist compass, worn on the same strap. Often overshadowed by the watches they accompany, wrist compasses are useful tools favored by divers and special operators, backed by an intriguing history that stretches from the Vietnam War until today. A prototype of the W.O.E. Submersible Wrist Compass worn with a Tudor Pelagos FXD. (Photo Credit: Brock Stevens) In this Dispatch, we’ll explore the use of wrist compasses in operational scenarios both then and now, as well as how that rich heritage informed the development process for the W.O.E. Submersible Compass. Wrist Compasses & Special Operations - A Brief History While the concept dates back to ancient China, the compass as we know it today started seeing widespread use as a tool by mariners navigating at sea as early as the 1100s. Military organizations began issuing smaller, more portable compasses en masse to ground-based troops as early as the First World War, a conflict that also saw the widespread adoption of wrist-worn as opposed to pocket watches. Modern SpecOps finds its roots in the Second World War. During this period, the nascent Navy Scouts and Raiders from the United States and British Special Air Service (SAS) and Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) commandos utilized lensatic compasses with built-in sighting mechanisms for wayfinding in challenging terrain. Ralph Bagnold of the LRDG designed the Bagnold Sun Compass during the Second World War. (Photo Credit: National Army Museum) While accurate, these compasses were typically too large for use on a watch strap and lacked water resistance, factors that would become increasingly crucial as maritime special operations grew to include combat diving and other amphibious modalities. By the early 1950s, dive watches including the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Rolex Submariner had already become essential parts of any military diving load out. Like watches, the compass would also need to adapt to fit the needs of an evolving military. An astronaut and aquanaut on all three US Navy SEALAB experiments, Malcolm Scott Carpenter famously wore a Rolex Submariner with a wrist compass in diving scenarios. (Photo Credit: US Navy) Underwater compasses had been used by divers for decades by that time but were cumbersome for clandestine maritime operators after leaving the water. In the 1960s, numerous scuba diving brands including Aqualung, Dacor, and Scubapro produced simple oil-filled compasses designed to slide over a watch strap. These diving-specific compasses famously appear in photographs alongside watches like the Rolex Submariner and the Doxa Sub 300/300T during the US Navy’s SEALAB experiments. US Navy SEAL Steve Jewitt, nicknamed “The Walrus”, wearing an issued Tudor 7928 alongside a Waltham wrist compass. (Photo Credit: WalrusTactical) Far from the undersea world, the US Military’s answer was a straightforward wrist compass produced in many cases by Waltham and intended for use alongside a navigator’s issued A-11 or similar wristwatch. Given the sizing norms of watches during the period when many tool watches measured 32 millimeters, the compass came equipped with 16mm canvas and later nylon straps. Designed for use by downed pilots, these compasses, which were initially marked “Waltham” and later “W.C.C.” for Waltham Clock Company, would not see widespread use until the Vietnam War when SEALs brought them into action alongside their issued Tudor 7928s. A Vietnam-Era Seiko and Waltham wrist compasses, all of which were utilized by MACV-SOG. (Photo Credit: W.O.E.) The SEALs were not alone in their adoption of the mil-spec Waltham. Army Special Forces operators assigned to MACV-SOG also selected the brass wrist compass for use alongside their issued Seiko watches. When we interviewed John Stryker Meyer, a legend in the SF community, he said that some of his fellow Recon Company soldiers added a W.C.C. compass to the strap, but he preferred the traditional compass around his neck. For special operations forces, the need for a more portable compass stemmed from the level of autonomy and individual responsibility entrusted to each operator. These Waltham compasses, which are still relatively available through surplus or militaria channels, are becoming increasingly collectible due to their SpecOps associations. Retired US Navy SEAL Dave Hall wearing a Cammenga wrist compass alongside a Seiko 6309. (Photo Credit: Dave Hall) After Vietnam, many continued to wear their Waltham compasses into the Cold War, with SEALs including our friend Dave Hall sometimes opting for older W.C.C. compasses over more modern options out of reverence for his SEAL mentors. Issued escape and evasion kits still included the Waltham in many cases, but some frogmen of the 1980s opted for diving-specific compasses from brands like Silva and Tekna. The Cammenga J582 (left) and Suunto M-9 (right) are among the most popular wrist compasses among special operators today. Over time, several brands stepped up to produce simpler and cheaper compasses which evolved along with the world of watchmaking. Starting in the 1990s, the NSN or Nato Stock Number formerly held by Waltham was taken over by Stocker & Yale with a modernized version of the W.C.C. with tritium gas tube illumination housed within an aluminum case. In 2004, Cammenga, already a maker of many issued compasses, purchased the rights and continues to manufacture the mil-spec wrist compass, now called the J582, for the US Military. While it is an effective tool, the Cammenga is not designed for extended diving or swimming operations. A USAF Pararescueman wears a G-Shock DW6900 alongside a Suunto Clipper compass in Afghanistan in 2009. (Photo Credit: Michael Yon) A more modern option that has also been issued to and privately purchased by members of the US Military is the Suunto M-9, though it is typically worn alone on the opposite wrist as opposed to with a watch. For wear on a watch strap, Suunto’s Clipper compass and a similar design from Marathon are also common options for military personnel. All offer significant utility for special operators, but most lack the refinement to go toe to toe with watches from brands like Rolex, Omega, Tudor, and Seiko. The W.O.E. Submersible Wrist Compass A core principle of everything we do at W.O.E. is honoring our heritage. Inspired by the link between tool watches utilized by SpecOps and capable wrist compasses, we set out to design a modern compass measuring that also calls back to the W.C.C. wrist compasses historically used by SpecOps. The result of over two years of prototyping and extensive testing by divers and SpecOps personnel, the W.O.E. Submersible Wrist Compass is a capable tool that celebrates the heritage of our community. With a custom dial featuring C3 Super-LumiNova, a grade two titanium case, individual water resistance testing to 100 meters, and slim 24.5mm wide by 12mm thick dimensions, the W.O.E. Submersible Wrist Compass is a capable tool that also looks the part alongside tool watches from Seiko, Rolex, Omega, and Tudor. Click HERE to learn more about the W.O.E. compass. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: The Dive Watch - How The Military Helped To Shape History’s Greatest Tool Watch  

The goal was to find a so-called “superclone,” the highest tier of counterfeit watches that claim to mirror genuine models down to the weight, finishing, and movement. According to internet lore, the superclones are so good that even an expert watchmaker can’t distinguish them from the real thing.

Dave Hall is a close friend of W.O.E., the subject of one of our first in-depth profiles, and a rare special operations veteran who appreciates watches as much as any nerd in any room. When we added an interview format to the W.O.E. YouTube Channel, it was only a matter of time before we sat down in Dave’s office, packed with a career’s worth of SEAL keepsakes, to discuss his life in the Teams through his watch collection.

The pervasive theory in the world of watch collecting is that shock and vibrations from shooting regularly can damage or even disable a mechanical watch movement. We decided to test it out. Last year, we purchased a new Tudor Pelagos FXD and gave it to our friends at GBRS Group to wear on the range as they fired an assortment of long guns and pistols over the course of six months. We sent it to Greg Petronzi of True Patina to inspect and measure the watch before and after the stress test, and the results may surprise you.

For this Dispatch, we sat down with Greg Petronzi of True Patina to learn more about his life and work, as well as to explore some of the most common questions y’all might have for a watchmaker. 

The Use Your Tools ethos shared among those in our community might seem antithetical to the coverage of expensive luxury timepieces, but like most things, there’s more to the story. No matter how you got into watches or where your horological allegiances currently lie, it’s worth considering the impact Patek Philippe has had on the military, intelligence, and NatSec.

The core job of a CIA Case Officer is to recruit human assets by building relationships with targets and convincing them to provide Foreign Intelligence on their government or organization to further US National Security interests. The trade is not for the faint of heart. In return, assets are compensated with cash, favors, and other stores of value, sometimes including luxury watches from brands like Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe. 

From Washington to Tel Aviv to Tehran, these are the timepieces worn by the leaders directing a historic escalation. On the morning of 28 February 2026, the United States initiated Operation Epic Fury, a sustained air campaign targeting Iranian-linked assets and infrastructure, conducted amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran. According to the administration, the objectives were to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, destroy its ballistic missile and UAV capabilities, and degrade its proxy networks across the region.

These past few weeks have a lot to offer, from intriguing astronaut watch developments to Jeffrey Epstein’s surprising timepiece ties to the Dutch Queen and her Rolex in military service to our usual assortment of watch-related criminal goings on, this time involving both Tom Cruise and a professional athlete. Referencing the seminal Baha Men reggaeton track from 2000, it is time to let the proverbial SITREP dogs out. 

Just as a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, a solitary black-and-white photograph of a man named Ron Damon sent me down a path of discovery that ended with a full heart and a new watch, which, to be clear, is definitely not why we’re here. At Watches of Espionage, timepieces are the lens through which we view and understand history, current events, and, in this case, an exceptional individual we never would have known about if not for the watch on his wrist. 

Over the past several years, there has been a marked increase in unit watches produced for military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies around the world. As issued analog watches have nearly disappeared and Digital Tool Watches now dominate operational use, unit watches have emerged as the clearest enduring expression of modern watch culture within the W.O.E. Community.

The single watch case is durable, compact and functional, and honors our community with subtle accents, most notably flap catches constructed from recycled Battle Dress Uniforms (BDUs). It features subtle nods to our community, honoring those who have gone before us and upholding our ethos.

"I am a former Swiss combat diver and have found a (unfortunately broken) watch in my belongings. Is that something that interests you?" were the first two lines of an unusually short e-mail that I had received out of the blue in November 2024. No “hi, I found you through…”, just straight to the point. I would later learn that the reason for the brevity was that this old diver’s time on Earth was rapidly coming to an end. 

Given the content at W.O.E., it’s easy to get the impression that every “operator” is running around with a Rolex, Omega, or Seiko, as there is a clear selection bias for the stories we tell. While this was largely true in the mid-20th century when many of these watches were issued or easily purchased at the local PX, today the vast majority of Special Operations Forces (SOF) rely on cheap and effective Digital Tool Watches (D.T.W.s).

Last week, professional climber Alex Honnold free solo climbed Taipei 101, a 1,667-foot-tall tower in Taipei, Taiwan. The feat was streamed live to millions around the globe and was quite the spectacle. Honnold is best known for his (even more impressive) June 2017 free solo ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite, which I would argue is one of the most significant athletic achievements of the modern era. I have never called myself a “fanboy” of anyone, but in an era where society rewards celebrities and influencers, it is refreshing to see a master of their craft be rewarded for their passion and efforts. I am a fan of Alex Honnold.

From one of the world’s most wanted men being captured after an Instagram account that has since been proven fake posted a Patek Philippe, to the proceeds of international espionage being used to buy luxury timepieces, to watch robbery at 35,000 feet, to machete-wielding Rolex thieves, we have a lot to get through. We'd better get started… 

In the 1960s, 70s, and into the 80s, there was a golden age of analog tool watches. For decades, end users and military supply officers reached for analog tool watches because they were, at the time, the best and most capable tools for the job. Take, for example, the Rolex “MilSub” fielded by British Royal Navy Divers and the Special Boat Service (SBS), the Marine Nationale’s storied relationship with Tudor, or Seiko’s history with MACV-SOG and the SEAL Teams. Many modern icons even owe aspects of their designs to input from military end users. 

We are beyond excited to announce the release of our first interview video. Our first subject, US Navy Captain (Ret.) Rick Woolard joined the Navy in 1965, serving with distinction as a SEAL during the Vietnam War at the start of an incredible 30-year career that culminated with commanding SEAL Team 6. Woolard was also issued a Tudor Submariner, but throughout his career and post-military life, Rick religiously wore a Rolex Submariner reference 1680, a watch that has seen its fair share of action and adventure.