Watch Industry SITREP - March 2025

Signal Chats Gone Wild, Stranded Astronauts Return To Earth, FBI Deputy Director Has Expensive Watch Taste, Kristi Noem LARPs Wearing A Daytona, & Jonny Kim Wears A Rolex To Space (Maybe)

By Benjamin Lowry

Let’s face it, no matter what side of the aisle you land on, the regular news cycle can be challenging. Even so, at W.O.E., we believe in staying informed about current events, especially those current events related to watches, espionage, national security, and more. In our monthly Watch Industry SITREP (Situation Report), we do the hard work for you, taking in as much information as our mental health can tolerate from traditional news media, the watch world, social channels, and sketchy alternative platforms, and refine it all into a concise amalgamation of only those stories we think you’ll find interesting and informative.

Before delving into the maelstrom that is Watches and Wonders next week, we reflect on an action-packed month of March including not only a leak via a Signal group chat, but also the safe return of two stranded US astronauts, a $100k watch on the FBI’s new Deputy Director, astronaut/former Navy SEAL Jonny Kim having great watch taste, and a whole lot more. As a reminder, W.O.E. is an apolitical platform. Watches are the lens through which we view history and current events, and this past month provided no shortage of material for analysis and discussion. Let’s dive into the SITREP.

Signalgate: The Counterintelligence Risks Of Technology

US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, a former Army Special Forces member and known Rolex GMT-Master II wearer, has taken full responsibility for the leaked Signat chat.

You probably don’t need us to tell you this, but Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal chat containing top U.S. national security leaders. The topic of discussion? The White House’s plans for targeted strikes on Houthi targets across Yemen. As any editor-in-chief will do, Goldberg broke the story, and officials including SECDEF Pete Hegseth have been facing no small amount of ire ever since. According to The Associated Press, a day before the bombs fell, the Department of Defense issued a warning about the vulnerability of Signal, saying that Russia in particular is working to compromise the popular messaging application.

A leak of this magnitude underlines the importance of operational security or OPSEC, a matter W.O.E. recently commented on in an open letter to Vice President JD Vance questioning his use of an Apple Watch, an exploitable connected device:

“As Vice President, nearly everything you say and do is of interest to foreign intelligence services (FIS). This includes not only strategic-level discussions with the President and National Security officials but also conversations with your wife, political donors, and college friends. While the Apple Watch has security features in place, you must operate under the assumption that it can be compromised and exploited."

Unfortunately, there is no timepiece at the center of this particular story, but the leak does once enforce the age-old nautical adage that “loose lips sink ships”. Let’s keep Signal confined to NSFW memes and Rolex Watches and Wonders release speculation like the good old days.

Jonny Kim - Navy SEAL, Medical Doctor, Astronaut, & Watch Collector?

If you’re unaware of our pick for the real Captain America, Jonny Kim is a current NASA astronaut, former Navy SEAL, and a Harvard-trained physician. Born in 1984, Kim served with SEAL Team 3 as a medic, earning both a Silver Star and a Bronze Star (with a combat “V”) for valorous actions in Iraq. After his military service, he earned a degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego and later an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. In 2017, he was selected as a NASA astronaut and is currently training for Expedition 73, a long-duration mission to the International Space Station set to launch on 20 April.

Kim’s career is a remarkable blend of military, medical, and space exploration achievements. But more importantly, he’s a watch nerd. In addition to having been photographed wearing a Rolex GMT-Master II, he has also been seen wearing the Omega Seamaster SEAL unit watch. I can’t think of anyone who embodies “Use Your Tools” more than Kim, and here’s hoping that one or both of these watches make their way into space on Kim’s wrist.

If anyone knows how to get in touch with Jonny, let us know. We’d love to do a Dispatch about his life and watches.

Finland’s PM Gives Volodymyr Zelensky A Watch Made From A Russian Tank

Zelensky and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on 19 March. (Photo Credit: Jari Kovalainen / Yle)

There is no shortage of W.O.E. content and watches continue to play a role in diplomacy. On 19 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a unique gift from Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, a wrist watch with a case made from metal scrapped from a Russian tank. The watch, known as the CRTL-Z, was designed and manufactured by Finnish watchmaker Leo Winter under his brand, Rebuild Watch Company. Winter was able to connect with Ukrainian soldiers who provided armor plates from a destroyed Russian T-90 tank.

The CRTL-Z from Rebuild Watch Company is made from a Russian T90 tank.

Produced as a limited series of 55 pieces, Winter donates half of the proceeds, €3,750 per watch, to the Ukrainian Red Cross. Watch number one was given by Winter to the Finnish PM who later presented it to Zelensky through his people. Whether he’ll wear it or not is unclear, but Zelensky has been known to wear a TAG Heuer Calibre HEUER 01 Chronograph but seems to have gone watch-less since the Russian invasion began in 2022. Sometimes, watches are tools of communication more than telling time.  

Newly Sworn-In FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino Wears A $100k Vacheron Constantin

On 18 March, Dan Bongino, a former NYPD officer, US Secret Service agent, and media personality, was officially sworn in as the Deputy Director of the FBI by Director Kash Patel. We discussed Patel’s 46mm titanium Breitling Cockpit B50 in our look at the watches of the Trump Administration, but Bongino one-upped his boss on this day. During the swearing-in ceremony, Bongino left his Secret Service Breitling at home and wore what we assess with medium to high confidence to be a Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon, a watch that will set you back somewhere around $100k (in steel) if not more. In the business, we call this a big boy watch.

Bongino’s new FBI salary, which some outlets report is $221k, pales in comparison to the estimated $4.9M he was making from Fox News in 2024, according to The Day and several other sources. Luckily, it appears Bongino showed up to his new job having already handled his watch shopping business. The Overseas is a legendary integrated bracelet sports watch with roots dating back to the Vacheron Constantin 222 unveiled in 1977. The fact that Bongino opted for the tourbillon version either means he deeply appreciates Swiss watchmaking and mechanical complications or perhaps just wants people to know he balls hard. Our guess is the latter.

Stranded Astronauts Return To Earth

Wilmore and Williams photographed onboard the ISS with Wimore’s Omega X-33 in view.

In our August SITREP, we discussed two stranded US astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who had to overstay their planned week-long space flight amid concerns about a troubled Boeing space capsule. We also noted Wilmore’s use of the Omega X-33, an analog-digital watch designed specifically by Omega for astronauts to use inside the International Space Station. Nine unplanned months later, on March 18th, Wilmore, his X-33, Williams, and her “good solid head of hair” were once again safely on Earth, having returned from the ISS on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Butch Wilmore wearing his Omega X-33 on 18 March after a very long space mission.

In photographs from the astronauts’ return to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, we quickly noticed Wilmore was still wearing the X-33, a quartz-powered watch whose battery life could have been in question during the unplanned nine-month mission. This begs the question: Are mechanical watches more practical for space flight because of the possibility of unplanned lengthy delays like the one experienced by Wilmore and Williams?

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem LARPs With The Coast Guard & A Gold Rolex Daytona

Not much needs to be said here, but during a recent visit by newly-minted Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to United States Coast Guard units in San Diego, we couldn’t help to notice what appears to be a yellow gold Rolex Daytona reference 126508 on her wrist. Not one to sit back and watch DHS’s only military organization in action, Noem suited up with Maritime Security Response Team West. Of note, Noem’s Rolex has also drawn a lot of attention during a recent visit to a prison in El Salvador.

A former governor of South Dakota, Noem has been spotted wearing other Rolex models in the past, including a 41mm Datejust, but the $47k (at retail) 18k gold Daytona is on a different level. To be completely transparent, I wrote this part wanting to say something snarky, but Noem already looks more tactical than I ever did during my USCG service. It is what it is.

Final Thoughts

Every time we dig into another edition of the Watch Industry SITREP, we are once again reminded that the link between watches, espionage, the military, and national security is strong and getting stronger all the time.

From a monumental US defense official Signal chat snafu to an astronaut wearing an Omega designed for space travel to a $100k Vacheron for the FBI’s Deputy Director to a gifted watch made from a Russian tank to the legend that is Jonny Kim and even the Secretary of Homeland Security clearing spaces with a fancy plate carrier and a gold Daytona, it’s been one hell of a SITREP. We’ll be back next month.

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