How The British Ministry Of Defence Went From Omega & Rolex To A Blacked-Out Diver From A Small British Brand Where plenty of brands look to establish caché among collectors using overstated connections to the military, CWC is legit, having earned a passionate following among military end users and watch enthusiasts alike. CWC is one of the few analog watches still issued today, which sets it in a special category within the W.O.E. community. Within CWC’s collection, the SBS Diver Issue stands out as a watch with real street cred in our community, having been issued to a Tier One maritime special operations unit and still seeing active service within the British Military today. For a closer look at the dive watch of choice for UKSF, we asked Jonathan Hughes, an avid CWC fan and the operator of CWCaddict.com, for a brief overview of the history of the CWC SBS. SBS Sergeant Paul McGough wearing a CWC SBS at the battle for Qala-I Jangi Prison, Afghanistan in November 2001. By Jonathan Hughes Over the last 70 years, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has specified and ordered a variety of dive watches for specialist operators in the British military—starting with Rolex Submariners in the 1950s and early 1960s, the Omega Seamaster 300 in the late 1960s, the Sub again in the 1970s, and CWC from the 1980s onwards along with a smattering of Precistas. The latest iteration of the official MoD special ops diver’s watch, though, is a blacked-out, day-date, quartz diver from CWC. Officially known as the “UKSF” watch, it is commonly referred to as the “SBS” after the unit that first ordered it, the Special Boat Service. The modern CWC SBS Diver Issue. (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) Once an under-the-radar brand virtually unknown outside the British Military, CWC is now appreciated among enthusiasts as the “watch that replaced the MilSub” thanks to Jason Heaton’s excellent article in Hodinkee. The story goes that when the MoD was looking for a more cost-effective replacement for the Rolex Submariner, they turned to CWC, a business set up in 1972 by Ray Mellor exclusively to supply military and government contracts. By the end of that decade, CWC had produced and supplied around 40,000 general service watches, chronographs, stopwatches, and pocket watches, but no diver’s watches as of yet. A Royal Navy Clearance diver wearing a CWC in the 1980s. In 1980, CWC delivered its first batch of a new watch dubbed the Royal Navy Diver. Taking inspiration from the Omega Seamaster 300 with a 3-6-9 dial, a big triangle at 12, sword hands, fixed lug bars, and a fully graduated bezel, the CWC RN Diver was initially supplied with a Swiss automatic caliber in 1980 and 1981 before changing over to a quartz movement starting in 1983. The watches were issued to and worn by Royal Navy clearance divers, ships’ divers, and the Special Boat Service (SBS), with some of the earliest issued examples seeing service in the Falklands War of 1982. An early 1981 CWC RN Divers watch issued to the SBS. (Photo Credit: Jonathan Hughes) The widespread use of these watches by Royal Navy divers led to a request from the SBS for a specially designed version for their unique use case. The stainless steel cases were to be blackened to make them more stealthy and non-reflective for night-time operations. A day and date function was also added, intended to help keep track of the day whilst on longer missions. Legend has it that the black case was inspired by Royal Marines based in Hong Kong who had their steel dive watches black-coated locally, but as no Royal Navy divers have yet surfaced with a black coating, this is probably just a legend. When the UK Special Forces directorate was formed in 1987 to bring together the command of the SAS, the SRS (Special Reconnaissance Service), and the SBS, its name was changed from Special Boat Squadron to Special Boat Service. At this time, the specification for the watch that would become the CWC SBS was drawn up. A modern 1987 Reissue CWC SBS (left) and an original from 1988 (right)  pictured on top of the UKSF “Watch, Wrist, Divers, Day and Date Electronic” specification from 1987. (Photo Credit: Jonathan Hughes/CWC) The specification for “Watch, Wrist, Divers, Day and Date Electronic” was signed in April 1987 by the officer commanding the Operational Research Unit of the Royal Marines in Poole, the home base of the SBS. It called for a watch “of rugged construction and able to withstand submersion, shock, and vibrations incident to service use in sea depths down to 300 metres”. It would have a case “manufactured from high-quality corrosion-resistant non-magnetic stainless steel finished to a durable matte black” and a “rotatable elapsed time bezel capable of being turned and set by hand. The outer edge of the bezel is to be knurled sufficiently to allow turning under wet conditions with a gloved hand.” Tritium was used for the luminous material on the hands and dial, and the dial was marked with a circled T to denote the presence of the radioactive luminescent material. Tests for water resistance, shock, impact resistance, and accuracy were all strictly defined. A 1988 CWC SBS with an acrylic bezel. (Photo Credit: CWC) The first run of 100 CWC SBS watches was delivered in 1988 and was assigned a new NATO Stock Number (NSN) of 6645-99-7995443 as well as being marked with 0552, the Royal Navy’s purchasing code at the time. In contrast to later models, the earliest examples featured an acrylic bezel insert, similar to the early automatic Royal Navy watches. The next batch wasn’t produced until 1992, with another 150 watches being supplied. The bezel was changed to a metal insert with wide hash marks similar in style to the previous acrylic bezel. 1992 CWC issue watches. (Photo Credit: Jonathan Hughes) Through the 1990s and into 2000, another 750 watches were supplied with the Royal Navy purchasing code changing from 0552 to 0555 from 1993 onwards. As well as the SBS, operators from the SAS were also issued these watches. CWC SBS watches were worn by British Special Forces in all the major conflicts of the next 20 years — in both Gulf Wars, and famously in Afghanistan by Sergeant Paul McGough at the battle for Qala-I Jangi Prison in November 2001. Special Boat Service operator Stephen Burns wearing an issued CWC SBS in Afghanistan. Around 2000, the MoD discontinued the old-school Royal Navy watch, which had been issued alongside the SBS throughout the 1990s, making the SBS the default-issued dive watch in the British Military. Another 500 SBS watches were ordered in 2001, delivered in three batches over the next two to three years with small variations in the bezel and caseback markings. These were issued more broadly to divers in the British Army’s Royal Engineers, showing the broader distribution beyond the special operations community. In 2005, another 250 watches were ordered specifically for the Royal Engineers—the first 100 were repurposed from a batch made in 2004 that had been marked with the Royal Navy’s 0555 code, some of which had been sold over the counter to civilians at Silvermans, a popular source of MoD surplus. In this batch, the 0555 was crossed out, and W10 (the code for the British Army) was marked above that. The second 150 were manufactured with W10 markings, the only time that a CWC dive watch has been factory-marked “W10”. Issued examples of the CWC SBS from 2005. (Photo Credit: Jonathan Hughes) With a total of around 1,600 issued watches between 1988 and 2005, an issued SBS from this era is not a common watch by any means but also not offensively rare if you are a collector looking to track one down. A good, legitimate issued SBS with the circled T on the dial can still be had for under £2,000 (around $2,500) although some years and variations are rarer and more sought after than others. In 2004 and 2008, batches of SBS watches that were identical to issued examples were also produced for the civilian marketplace, serving as an indistinguishable and cheaper alternative to the “real thing”. In fact, some of these “civvie” watches still ended up on the wrists of serving military and police, so you could argue there’s really no difference at all. A Royal Navy Clearance Diver wearing a CWC SBS. For over a decade, the MoD placed no further orders for CWCs, purchasing a mix of other civilian-spec dive watches, including several Citizen models and G-Shocks. But in 2016, orders for the CWC SBS were restarted, with some watches marked 2014 and 2015 being supplied as a trial batch and larger scale orders starting in 2017 and continuing today. Still used by the SBS, the watch is now also supplied to a broader range of units and roles, including to the Paras, the Royal Marines, Royal Navy specialists, the Royal Engineers, and the Submarine Service. A 2015 CWC SBS Issued to the MoD. (Photo Credit: Jonathan Hughes) Over the years, CWC has upgraded the SBS albeit in a subtle fashion. The luminous material that was once tritium is now Super-LumiNova. The crystal is now sapphire instead of mineral glass, and the bezel now rotates with 120 clicks instead of 60 clicks, small changes that add up to a more durable and premium-feeling watch. Still, the modern CWC SBS is more or less the same design as the original in 1988, and you can still buy one directly from CWC that is identical to the current issued examples. As mentioned in the Dispatch detailing the US Military’s relationship with Marathon, issued analog diver’s watches in active military service are few and far between. W.O.E.’s personal 1990's Tritium dial CWC SBS (Photo Credit: James Rupley/W.O.E.) For the British Military, the CWC SBS stands out as a design that was developed for elite special operators in the 1980s, earning a reputation as a dependable diving tool over the decades. Despite massive leaps and bounds in technology in many other areas, the CWC SBS—a straightforward quartz dive watch made in Switzerland—remains in active service, still worn and trusted in the field by the British Military. If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE. Read Next: Special Boat Service OMEGA Seamaster About The Author: Jonathan Hughes is a UK-based collector of British military and independent watches. His fascination with CWC started when he saw an early automatic Royal Navy dive watch at a London auction some years ago, and realised that a British company had been quietly supplying watches to the Ministry of Defence for many decades, at that time almost unknown to the wider watch collecting world. His CWC collection now numbers around 300 watches and clocks, and he founded and runs the cwcaddict.com website and blog. He is on Instagram at @jjhughes1969 and reposts CWC photos on @cwc_addict.

One of the coolest parts of the W.O.E. platform is exposing people to the world of watches in an unpretentious and engaging manner.  Getting into watches can be intimidating and it is difficult to know where to start. Regardless of one's socioeconomic status and access to disposable income, we recommend starting with a watch under-$1,000.  Just because you can afford a Rolex, doesn't mean you should start there.   In the “Ask W.O.E. Anything” Dispatch, I put forward my belief that a Seiko is a good place to start, and maybe end with watch collecting.  That said, there are some great watches under $1,000 and there is no right answer to this question.  In order to capture a broad collection of suitable watches, we asked a handful of our friends from both the traditional watch and NatSec communities to provide their choice for the “Best Watch Under $1,000.” This is an incredibly diverse list of individuals from former Special Operations warriors, Intelligence Officers, and divers, to some of the leading experts in the watch community.  The one thing they all have in common is a shared appreciation for watches.  While all of them have objectively more “expensive” watches in their collection, they have a genuine appreciation for these more affordable timepieces. CWC Royal Navy Jason Heaton, author, freelance writer, and podcast host, The Grey NA TO and author of Depth Charge. I’ve long contended that the CWC Royal Navy dive watch is the watch a “real” James Bond would wear, at least the 21st-century iteration of MI6’s famous “blunt instrument” spy. Issued since the 1980s to British Navy divers and Special Forces operators, it is a tough, classic, unassuming watch that can truly go anywhere and manages the balance between looking good and not drawing attention to itself. The quartz version (Approx. $930), with its 300 meters of water resistance, long-life battery, and fixed strap bars means its owner can go forth in the world on adventures, clandestine or otherwise, without having to worry about his watch. And that’s the highest of compliments, in my mind.  Seiko Prospex SNJ025 aka The 'Arnie' Chris Craighead, former British Special Air Service (SAS), @christian_craighead The Seiko Prospex ($525) has a unique and rich history. Not only was it worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in movies such as Commando, Predator, and Raw Deal, it was also one of the first watches issued to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare (NSW) unit. The watch is extremely tough and practical. The dual, analog and digital face makes it a versatile watch for whatever purpose you choose to wear it. Tornek-Rayville TR-660  Brock Stevens, Active Duty US Navy Diver, EDC enthusiast, and photographer behind @deepsea_edc.  The Tornek-Rayville TR-660 ($950) is a no-frills, straight-to-the-point tool watch. As an active duty US Navy Diver who believes in wearing watches for their intended purposes, I love that about it. With a robust movement, 200 meters of water resistance, a legible dial, and lightning bright lume, I count on this watch to get the job done during my working dives. I have beat the living hell out of this thing, banging it around on just about every type of warship the US Navy has to offer, and it just keeps on ticking. Any watch can sit in the collection and look pretty, but if you’re after ultimate function and genuine military heritage at a reasonable price point, look no further. Rowing Blazers X Seiko 5 Sports Watch (Limited Edition 2023)  Eric Wind, leading expert in vintage watches. Eric founded and owns Wind Vintage  The Seiko 5 Sports line offers some of the best accessible mechanical watches on the market. Having had a bunch over the last few years, they are solid, reliable, and attractive - a winning combination. I really like the model we have used for our latest Rowing Blazers x Seiko watches ($495) as it is 40mm, but wears slightly smaller and looks great on men or women. They are hard to argue with for under $500 and are great for travel, the pool, and whatever else you might need. Sangin Instruments “Neptune” James Rupley, Co-founder of small arms reference publishing industry leaders, Vickers Guide and Headstamp Publishing. Regular photographic contributor to W.O.E. I subscribe fully to the “buy cheap, buy twice” maxim, so buying an inexpensive watch can actually be a riskier proposition than buying a much more expensive watch. Is there a $200 watch that you can be happy with forever? It’s a fascinating question, and you can easily blow a day on YouTube watching others try to answer it.  As someone who spends so much time photographing collectibles, aesthetic merit is always going to be a dominant factor in just about anything I focus on. I think the Sangin Instruments “Neptune” ($859) is an excellent example of a watch that skillfully blends functional elements with an attractive design. I love that the Neptune comes with both a metal bracelet and a rubber strap – options that offer me plenty of variety for use in any situation. Timex Marlin Automatic Marty Skovlund, Jr., Former Army guy, avid coffee drinker, aspiring sketchy dude, current Editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose I love a classy watch that is comfortable on the wrist but doesn’t draw attention or accusations of elitism. Timex is the opposite of elite in the watch world, and they make a helluva wrist piece that you aren’t afraid of wearing as a daily driver. And frankly, I wore a digital Timex Ironman on many deployments in a past life, so a non-digital, automatic Timex with a day and date complication feels like a natural evolution. I love mine, and it’s one of the most affordable automatics on the market. The Timex Marlin Automatic ($269) rocks a 40mm stainless steel case, a beautiful deep navy blue dial, and a classic domed acrylic crystal — it looks like a compromise between an ultra-rugged sport watch and a black tie dress watch. This isn’t a go-everywhere, do-anything piece with only 50m of water resistance and a crystal that’s easy to scuff; but it’s perfect for long days at the office or hitting all of Hemingway’s old drinking spots in Madrid in a single day. Pro tip: My Timex Marlin came with a leather strap too orange for my taste. I swapped it out for a W.O.E. Jedburgh Leather strap, and that dark brown leather complements the navy dial perfectly. Seiko Turtle Dave Hall, SOCS (SEAL), USN, Ret. Retired US Navy SEAL. Watch and firearms enthusiast. @davehall1911 The Seiko “Turtle” ($300-600), a nickname for the 6309-7040, could easily be described as the “AK-47 of the watch world”. It’s simple, rugged, affordable, reliable, and has stood the test of time with little necessary improvement. The watch is at home underwater, in freefall, or running an obstacle course. It’s accurate enough to keep track of your total time of dive, calculate M700 time fuse burns, or keep track of your dune run times. You don’t have to take it off to enter a SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) and it is as equally at home on a direct-action mission as it is at the hotel bar in Zangaro (“Dogs of War” cameo reference). The modern Turtle, known as the Prospex SRPE93, has all the same clean lines and durability from the original 6309 and keeps better time than ever. Tornek-Rayville Paradive  J.R. Seeger, retired Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer and author of seven MIKE4 espionage novels and three Steampunk Raj novels set in WWI.  T-R is a US-based watch company that builds field and dive watches that have the DNA of 1960s and 1970s MIL-SPEC watches. The Paradive ( approx. $900) is a modern take on the vintage Benrus Type 1. It is a bead-blasted stainless steel, purpose-built automatic watch with excellent luminous markings and comes with either a standard dive bezel or a 12-hour bezel providing a means to track two time zones. The watch has a depth rating of 200m. It is the most robust dive watch I own. T-R is a small company and there is a wait time while they make your watch. It is well worth the wait. Marathon Navigator Steel SSNAV-D James Stacey, Lead Editor with Hodinkee.com and co-host of The Grey NA TO podcast. If we’re talking about a great tool watch under a grand and you really want to use it, you can’t do much better than the new steel version of Marathon’s long-standing (and long-serving) Navigator ($800). Trading the common and gov’t issue-ready composite case for one in steel, this newly announced Marathon is still 41mm wide, 11mm thick, and sports a field-ready 12-hour bezel. Add to that a high-accuracy quartz movement, 100 meters of water resistance, and tritium tube illumination and you've got a worker. It’s a modernized take on a classic design that traces its lineage across some of the toughest locales that our world has (and had) to offer and it remains a watch that was primarily designed to be offered in contract to governments and special outfits all over the globe and the new steel version even has its own Nato Stock Number. If you want a go anywhere, do anything watch that remains subtle but tough enough for any sort of work, the Navigator is a natural in steel - just add your fav color NA TO. I recommend grey. Sangin Dark Professional Asha Wagner, HazMat Team Manager for a National Disaster Response Task Force and watch and gear enthusiast. @wildlander6 My pick for a sub $1,000 watch is my Sangin Dark Professional ($658). This has been my go-to work, play and travel watch for the past few years. The reasons why I keep opting for this watch are it’s durable, versatile, and comfortable. I am a full-time Fire Captain and a HazMat Team Manager for a National Disaster Response Task Force and am also pretty active with a bunch of outdoorsy hobbies in my off time. I am rough on equipment and an impact-prone individual. I need a watch that can keep up with me and that I don’t have to worry about whether I’m scuba diving or breaching and forcing entry into a building. The Dark Pro has taken everything I’ve thrown at it and come up smiling. As far as versatility it is a 300-meter dive watch with a 24-hour GMT hand, drilled lug holes for easy strap changes, a fully indexed, unidirectional count-up bezel with bright long lasting lume, and a color-matched date wheel at 4:30. The date wheel is there when I need it, and all but disappears when I don’t. The crazy bright lume is great in inclement situations, plus lume just downright makes me happy. The case comes in at 43.5 mm, but with a 20mm lug width 12 mm thickness, and 42 mm bezel, it wears sleeker than its specs might initially suggest. It’s a watch that doesn’t draw a lot of undue attention depending on where I’m traveling, but at the same time makes me smile every time I look at it.  Mine is a co-branded watch with Triple Aught Design and comes in at $795.   Halios Seaforth IV Justin Couture, “The Wristorian” Freelance blogger fascinated by the historical context surrounding vintage tool watches. @the_wristorian Being a vintage guy at heart, I am ever on the lookout for a watch that combines old-school design language with modern capability. Enter the Halios Seaforth IV ($775), the newest iteration of what could now be called a horological cult classic. With Goldilocks dimensions and a clear focus on legibility, the Seaforth IV effortlessly exudes the sort of skindiver vibes that will make you want to inexplicably take up spearfishing. Factor in the brilliant Bahama Yellow dial and the titanium case option and you’ve got the apex predator of modern microbrand divers. Pro-tip for the WOE crowd, for added utilitarianism the Seaforth can be made into a destro configuration by request. Seiko SKX Nick Ferrell, Founder DC Vintage Watches Vintage Seiko is rich in history, and none more than the venerable Seiko SKX, worn on the wrist of many military and intelligence officers I've worked with - both previously employed with the government, and now as customers - the world over.  The SKX line has long been a "gateway drug" for watch collectors just starting down the slippery slope towards obsession, as it was for me.  One of my first Seiko's, I wore the 1999 Seiko SKX007 (on the right) throughout a two-year tour in the White House Situation Room, and it served me well.  And this is a two-for-one - a savvy hunter can find both the SKX and the steel-grey dial 1960s Seiko 7625-8233 dress watch, absurdly large for the era, in good nick for under $1k.  A fantastic two-watch collection, perhaps? Scurfa Diver One D1-500 Benjamin Lowry, Writer, US Coast Guard veteran, former commercial diver, and curator of @submersiblewrist.  With my background in commercial diving, I was always going to be a fan of Scurfa Watches, a brand owned and operated by Paul Scurfield, a North Sea commercial saturation diver. Beyond our occupational connection, the watches themselves represent class-leading value for the busy diving tool watch category, pairing impressive specifications with the legitimacy that comes with having been developed and tested in the owner’s salty workplace. The Diver One D1-500 is the brand’s centerpiece, offering 500 meters of water resistance, excellent lume, an automatic helium escape valve (which, in this very rare case, makes sense), a domed sapphire crystal, and a Swiss quartz caliber from Ronda, all housed within a surprisingly restrained 40mm wide by 47.7mm long case.  While I’m nowhere near as cool as Paul, I have worn the Diver One extensively in recreational and commercial diving scenarios, including at least one near-death experience. Priced around $200, which is insane, the Scurfa Diver One is a great way to live the #useyourtools ethos we subscribe to around here without breaking the bank.  Tornek-Rayville TR-660 Owner of Soturi, - Marine veteran-owned handmade watch straps inspired by military heritage.   When I came across the Tornek-Rayville TR-660 ($950) it instantly hooked me. As an avid enthusiast of military watches, the T-R’s slab-sided case, matte finish, and lighter weight are everything you want in a field/dive watch. Simple, yet significant. Add-on T-R’s intriguing history with U.S. Special Operations (the TR-900 model) and you have yourself a winning combination that’s hard to compete with. Bonus - its integrated lug/pin holes make for easy swapping of your favorite watch straps.  “Arabic Seiko'' W.O.E., former CIA Case Officer turned watch influencer The 42mm “Arabic Seiko'' ref SNKP21J1  (aka the Seik-W.O.E. aka the W.O.E. hype watch) is popular in the W.O.E. community.  In part this is because it is a cool and unique piece at an affordable price point and received consistent coverage on W.O.E., but just as importantly because of the meaning it has for our community.  Many of us have spent a considerable amount of time in the Middle East over the past 20+ years.  I have a strong affinity for the rich culture and language of the Arab world and this piece is a constant reminder of that connection and that period in my life.  A lot of veterans and NatSec identify with this connection. ($130-$200) If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE.   READ NEXT: W.O.E. Holiday Gift Guide

During a 2022 trip to Africa, I brought my Tudor Black Bay 58 and a CWC SBS. While the watch pair worked well, I realized I needed a better watch case, as the watch roll I brought was bulky, poorly-constructed and lacking character.  After returning,  W.O.E. worked with Leather Works Minnesota to design a purpose-built, made-in-the-U.S.A. travel case.

In this week's Dispatch, we continue our exploration of the massive uptick in watch-related crime and discuss traveling with watches.  Africa Watch Loadout- Traveling with Watches See Part I, Criminal Rolex Gangs and Traveling with Watches In early 2022 I planned a return trip to Africa–a continent where I’ve spent much of my life and a place where I feel at home. Like most things in the life of a former CIA Case Officer, it was to be part pleasure, part work: a mix of business meetings, reconnecting with old friends and some time on safari in the bush. I planned to spend most of the trip in rural areas that were deemed safe by most standards, but would travel through Johannesburg and Nairobi–two cities notorious for petty crime that can sometimes turn violent.  My view is that a relationship can be developed with seemingly inanimate objects through shared experience, and this particularly applies to watches. It wasn’t a question of if I would bring a watch, but which watches I was going to bring. This might seem risky because “Africa is dangerous.”  Despite the ignorance of generalizing a continent of 54 diverse countries, there is some truth to this statement. As we explored in Part I, watch-related crime has skyrocketed globally over the past few years and traveling anywhere with a luxury watch requires certain considerations. That said, I believe many parts of Africa are safer for watch aficionados than London, New York or Paris. Decades from now when I’m telling my grandchildren stories about my watch collection, I would rather tell them that their grandfather’s watch was stolen at a bar in Maputo instead of admitting that the watch sat in a safe for 30 years and remains in pristine condition. Watches are tools. I am willing to risk the potential loss or damage to use them for their intended purpose. W.O.E.’s Personal Rolex GMT 16710, Photo James Rupley Rolex GMT- The Case Officer’s Watch: Had it been 2019, I would have brought my Rolex GMT-Master II, an early 2000s black and red “Coke” ref 16710. For years, I have said that the Rolex GMT, any reference,  is the ultimate CIA Case Officer’s watch– a classy and refined tool that signals to others you are a man of culture, yet don’t mind getting your hands dirty. The ideal Case Officer has been described as a “Ph.D. that can win a bar fight,” and I have always envisioned this persona wearing a Rolex GMT.  (Full disclosure, I don't have a Ph.D, and during my last bar fight–which was more than a few years ago–I was likely wearing a Breitling.) When hopping time zones, the quick-change date and GMT functionality are useful for confirming the time back home, and a simple wrist check is easier than pulling out a phone. The watch also captures the nostalgia of the romanticized vision of the Rolex GMT, originally developed in the 1950s for commercial Pan Am pilots. While all my watches are insured, I still questioned the wisdom of traveling to Africa with a watch worth significantly over $10,000 and engineered by one of the world’s most well-known brands, Montres Rolex SA. I’ve heard that one of the tests for Rolex models is that all designs must be recognizable from 20 feet away. While I am not privy to Rolex internal company practices, this feature seems to be accurate in the real world. A semi-trained eye can recognize a Rolex from across the room in a dimly lit bar, and thanks to social media (See Part I), in 2022, semi-trained eyes are all over the place. A criminal call out scanning the arrivals hall at Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport could do the same, immediately pegging the Rolex wearer as a potential target.  Sure, in an emergency, I could potentially trade the Rolex for a plane ticket, ride to the airport or facilitate a border crossing, but at a certain point the watch is more likely to get you in a bad situation than out of one.  It is a liability, not an asset.  The Rolex was out. Affordable Watches: The logical decision–the “school solution”-- was to travel with one watch, something that would not draw attention and be durable enough to make it through any expected or unexpected adventure. It needed to be waterproof to a certain extent so that I would not have to take it off for a dip in the ocean or hotel pool, something that I could keep on my body at all times. An automatic movement mitigated the possibility of battery failure–something that always seems to happen at the worst time, i.e. day 2 of a 3 week trip. It had to be replaceable, from both a monetary standpoint but also from a sentimental point of view. Insurance solved the former, but the latter ruled out some watches that could not be replaced, such as a Jordanian Breitling Aerospace–a gift from the King of Jordan. Affordable Seiko, Photo James Rupley Something like a sub-$500 Seiko 5 Sports would satisfy these requirements and provide a great travel companion for any scenario. That said, I wanted to step it up a notch and bring a couple of unique pieces for my journey.  The Decision: I posted the following picture on Instagram @watchesofespionage and solicited W.O.E.’s (then) 60,000 followers for advice. 462 comments contained everything from “Bring the Rolex” to “Leave them at home and wear a Casio.” These comments were indicative of the scenario: the correct answer is, “It depends.” In reality, I had already returned from Africa when I posted this pic. If you think a former Spook turned watch influencer posts his travel plans in advance, you’re smoking crack. The Load Out:   Ultimately, I decided to travel with two watches, one “formal” watch that could be worn with a suit and one “informal” watch for adventures in the bush– something perishable and under $1,000. Tudor Black Bay 58 in its element; sundowners in the bush, Botswana. Black Bay 58:  As a big proponent of Tudor, I believe The Shield produces the best modern luxury tool watches. I quickly decided that the Black Bay 58 (BB58) would make a great travel companion. It was in. The watch had traveled with me to a few countries but was still relatively new and I had no real emotional ties to it. A classic steel sports watch, it was tough and had many of the benefits of a Rolex but without any of the drawbacks, and could be easily replaced for under retail price if needed. The BB58 is a relatively simple watch and an homage to the Tudor Submariners of the 1960s, which had been worn by Special Operations units both in the United States and abroad. Two tools, CWC SBS and Toyota Landcruiser. CWC SBS: I had recently acquired a Cabot Watch Company (CWC) SBS with a Tritium Dial from the late 1990s. The SBS was originally developed for the British Special Boat Service (SBS) in the late 1980s and is still issued to select British units today.  The watch was designed to military specifications, with a quartz movement and day/date feature. As a bonus, unless you are a “watch-guy,” the CWC is unremarkable and unlikely to stand out in a local market or hotel lobby.  It was unnecessary to bring two watches on the trip but they complemented each other well. I found myself wearing the (more affordable) CWC and the day/date feature was generally useful for everything from filling out customs forms to reminding myself the day of the week in the time warp that is African bush. The CWC has fixed spring bars, so I brought several straps along and changed them out frequently and with ease. The Tudor–one of my favorite watches– paired nicely with the CWC, but with no date or GMT feature, it was less practical as a travel watch.  Original Brodinkee Meme making fun of W.O.E. I can already visualize the “first world problem” @Brodinkee memes about the difficulty concerning the decision of what luxury watches to bring to the developing world. But for someone who is truly passionate about timepieces as a hobby, this is what collecting is all about. Shared experiences with these inanimate objects are what brings them to life. When I left for Africa, these pieces had little to no sentimental value.   But now, as I reflect on these tools, I remember wiping the dust off the crystal of the CWC as I scanned the sky for the Cessna Caravan that was late to the remote dirt airstrip, standing on the edge of Victoria Falls with mist drenching the Tudor dive watch and striking up a conversation at the hotel bar with a former British military officer that started with “Is that a CWC?” I never felt unsafe or targeted for wearing a watch, and in hindsight, I could have brought my Rolex GMT; it would not have been an issue. In fact, traveling to parts of Africa with a luxury watch is likely safer than walking the streets of London, Miami or Barcelona. That said, there were a couple of times that I pulled down my sleeve to cover the watch, and once or twice, I took it off and put it in my front right pocket with my passport and wallet.  Overall, the trip was a success and my watch choices proved to be perfect.  The watches are tools, like my Emerson knife, Swarovski binoculars, or Palladium boots. They are an extension of my persona, and had one been stolen, misplaced or damaged, I would have recovered. The risk/reward balance was there.  I did find myself needing a better travel case, which ultimately resulted in the creation of the W.O.E. Travel Pouch. A few other necessities for travel to Africa. Looking back at my selection, I would have appreciated having a GMT feature on either the Tudor or CWC.  Tudor makes a Black Bay Pro that would have satisfied this requirement and there are a number of sub-$1,000 GMTs on the market, including a new Seiko 5 Sports GMT for $475. I guess it's time to buy another watch.   -- If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our free weekly newsletter for further updates HERE.    Read Part I, Criminal Rolex Gangs and Traveling with Watches This newsletter has been reviewed by the CIA’s Prepublication Classification Review Board to prevent the disclosure of classified information.