By Andrew Court
There’s a lot of marketing bullshit in the watch world.
Omega sponsors the Olympics, giving the impression that the 100-meter butterfly is timed on a graduation present Speedmaster. Rolex’s Explorer is way more likely to go on expeditions below 14th street than to the dark heart of Africa. The only thing the majority of dive watch owners jump into is a Chipotle burrito bowl. In most cases, the association between watches and history is tangential at best and artificial nonsense at worst.
There are, however, exceptions, and this is where things get interesting.
Outside the hype, boutiques, and press launches, watch companies do, in fact, make pieces that serve a real purpose. These are created for men on the frontlines. For the most part, they aren’t available to you unless you happen to get lucky and find one on eBay.
What started this rant was a link sent by Charlie Benton. I tend to roll my eyes when someone tells me why this or that Rolex is special compared to all the rest, but the “Shadow” South African Milsub is the real deal.
The 1970s were a wild time in Africa; a giant game of Risk was taking place between the Commies and the good guys. Angola was on the front lines. In 1975, Portugal decided to give up the colony, and, since nature abhors a vacuum, a power struggle ensued. Two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements, the communist MPLA and the anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, vied for dominance in the new nation.
In an effort to aid the anti-communists, South Africa launched “Operation Savannah” to take on the Russian and Cuban-backed MPLA. But white South Africans had a problem, they didn’t exactly fit in with most of the Angolan population. In a very un-PC move, they resorted to blackface.
You’re probably thinking, what does this have to do with watches?
A Shiny Rolex tends to stick out on a special operator rocking blackface. To this end, the South African military commissioned The Shadow, a Rolex Submariner Ref. 5513 that was Teflon-coated. While not black, this watch was more gunmetal gray, allowing warriors to tell the time without sticking out.
Very few of these still exist so it is hard to know how much they’re worth, but my educated guess is a fuck ton. The Shadow is also important for who it inspired, especially Bamford Watch Department and Pro Hunter, who became famous for producing custom blacked-out Rolexes. If you lived in London circa 2007 and went to Mahiki Mondays, then you probably know a lot about these watches.
The Shadow isn’t the only watch designed for special operators. Probably the most famous example is the Panerai Radiomir.
In 1916, the Italian Navy had a problem: Sailors were struggling to see their instruments at night. Panerai had a novel solution: an encapsulated radium-based powder that glowed in the dark.
This innovation came to the watch world in 1935 when the Italian Navy set up a secret program for underwater assault operators. Using Rolex movements, Giuseppe Panerai was commissioned to create dive watch prototypes for the unit.
What followed was the Ref.3646, the instrument that we know today as the “Radiomir” watch. The pieces had a cushion-shaped steel case with a diameter of 47 mm, luminescent numerals and indexes, wire lugs welded to the case, and a manual mechanical movement. The Italians never skimp on style, so the watch came on a tanned, water-resistant leather strap.
It was waterproof and plenty visible in the dark, perfect for underwater night raids.
Its moment came in 1941 with the raid of Alexandria. Members of the Decima Flottiglia MAS, which operated manned torpedoes, infiltrated the Egyptian port city’s harbor. They successfully damaged two British warships before being apprehended by Egyptian and British Forces.
When the Egyptians arrested the Italians, they were impressed by the watches. In the 50s, they commissioned their own version for their new independent military.
Back in the more modern era, we get to my personal favorite, the Blackwater Breitling. Thanks to Watches of Espionage, we know the story behind it.
In November of 2004, a Presidential Airways Turboprop crashed into the mountains of Afghanistan. The Blackwater-operated flight was transporting soldiers and mortar rounds from Bagram Air Force Base to Farah. Most passengers died on Impact, but some didn’t. Unfortunately, it was difficult to locate the crash survivors, and they ultimately died from the mountain cold and the high altitude.
Blackwater CEO Eric Prince realized he needed a better way to locate his people. The company had expanded rapidly after 9/11, with thousands of personnel deployed in hostile zones around the world.
Around this time, Prince received a gift from a Middle Eastern monarch: a Breitling Emergency with the nation’s royal crest. Beyond looking cool, this quartz watch contains an antenna that, when activated, broadcasts an emergency signal, enabling rescuers to find an individual’s location anywhere in the world.
Prince commissioned a Blackwater-crested Breitling Emergency.
This solved two issues. First, it provided his men with a means of being rescued. Second, it improved the esprit de corps of the contractors in that the specialized watch could be gifted for loyalty to the organization. The first batch of 100 arrived in 2006. In the end, Blackwater would become Breitling’s biggest private client, spending over $700,000 on the watches.
The Breitlings cost Prince $4,700 each, but today, on eBay, they are going for over $25,000.
All these watches were created for a purpose and not as a gimmick. They weren’t part of ad campaigns, they were integral to military campaigns. It’s why they’re coveted by collectors as the real deal. You just can’t fake authenticity.
