It’s not every day you find a watch that can feasibly kill a man. The Rogue Warrior Red Cell is just such a watch.

The watch, designed by Richard “Dick” Marcinko AKA the Rogue Warrior, chairman of Red Cell International Corp., a security consulting firm. Mr. Marcinko (you call this guy “Mister” and “Sir”) has a Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat, and founded SEAL Team SIX, the Navy’s counter terrorist command and Red Cell, a group that could… heck. I’ll just paste this from his website:

Marcinko later was named commanding officer and founder of a second counter-terrorism unit, Red Cell. Commanding Red Cell, Marcinko was directed to use his team to test the Navy’s anti-terrorist capabilities. As a result he was able to infiltrate seemingly impenetrable, highly-secured bases, nuclear submarines, ships and other purported “secure areas”, including the U.S. Presidential plane Air Force One. In doing so he reportedly embarrassed several superior officers, whom he accuses of involvement in his subsequent conviction for misappropriation of funds and resources under his command.

Homeboy could sneak on board Air Force One. That is badass.


So what does a man who can throttle enemies in their sleep wear on his wrist? The Rogue Warrior Red Cell. This is one of the best quartz GMTs I’ve seen in years. It’s made of brushed steel and contains Krypton gas to ensure luminance and reduces internal condensation. It uses a Japanese GMT movement with separate date, second time zone, and time setting functions and also includes something called d3o. D3o is a non-Newtonian liquid that goes from soft to rigid in seconds on impact. The entire movement is contained in d3o ensures that your movement won’t break when you, say, are attacked by a team of terrorists.

The style is purely functional. The two bars protect the crystal and the bezel is bolted down. The crown screws down for water-fastness and the watch comes with a leather or steel band along with a nylon strap and, get this, a night ops cover for the watch to ensure you aren’t seen while infiltrating the corner bodega for a late-night box of Crunch ‘n’ Munch and sixes of Miller Lite.

The back of the watch has a freaking gun on it.

The watch comes in two styles, matte black and brushed silver (they also have a chrono model called the Avenger) and, best of all, they cost $400 on a leather or rubber band and $550 for a steel band. That’s right: this thing is much less than a nicer Swatch and it can seriously do some damage.

As I said before I’m not a quartz guy but I’ve worn this for a few days straight and I’m in love with it. The company wanted to create a watch anyone could feasibly service so they went quartz. $400 for a monster like this, even in quartz, isn’t that much.

I would say this piece is on par with the Chase-Durer Special Forces 1000XL piece that was popular a few years ago in terms of styling and is definitely more noticeable than a Fossil. Plus it was made by a guy who can feasibly sneak up behind you, Solid Snake style, and rip out your throat. Always a plus.

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The look of the Bell & Ross BR-01 92 is based on the simple, clean design used on airplane instrumentation panels. The hands and numeral markers on these watches are recognizable as those on analog altimeters or airspeed indicators. The infamous square case of the BRs, with its four visible fastening screws, reflects the way the airplane instruments are affixed to the panel via four screws in order to make their removal and installation quick and easy. With the BR-01 92 Heritage, Bell & Ross captures the allure of vintage watches and applies it to the square BR “Instrument” concept.


The vintage feel of the BR-01 92 Heritage is mostly due to the beige hour markers and hands. The color that the company uses mimics the tint obtained naturally on white paint over a period of several decades. The same way an old paper document or the trim on a vintage Gibson Les Paul does, white tritium paint used in the 1940s to 1990s on watch dials tends to fade over time. The “vintaged” color offers a unique soft hue that is often desired as proof of authenticity. The advantage that Bell & Ross’ replicated paint has over the real thing is its photo-luminescence. It is completely lost in Tritium dials that are over twenty-five years old. Bell & Ross’ paint is extremely bright when the lights are turned off and will remain this way indefinitely. The dial of the Heritage has luminous paint on the seconds hand as well for precision night reading.

The strap adds much allure to the Heritage. It is really well suited to the overall style, although it will fit on any of the other BR “Instruments.” The lightly tanned leather is decorated with some of the markings found on the back of the watch’s case. The decorations are burnt into the leather. The strap is thicker then the standard BR leather bands, which also reflects the styles of military pilot watches of the past. Regardless of its thickness the strap remains light and supple, and breathes well.

The case of the Heritage is no different then that of the other BR-01 92s. It is a 46mm square made with stainless steel and coated with Bell & Ross’ black carbon finish. Other features of the dial include a screw-locking crown, an anti-reflective sapphire crystal, and – of course – removable lugs that allow the watch to be mounted on a stand for use as a desk clock. A water resistance rating of 100 meters and a secondary waterproof nylon strap make the watch beach or ski-ready.

With the BR-01 92 Heritage, Bell & Ross makes a watch that captures the feel and the spirit of vintage pilot watches while creating a fashionable accessory for today. Adhering to their design principles, Bell & Ross released a watch that is beautiful in its simplicity and in line with the stringent requirements of professional pilots.

Marco is an expert of Bell & Ross watches at Matt Baily in Montreal

I’m going to apologize in advance for this review. There are some who may be offended by its content in that I am discussing, in relative depth, an erotic watch of the type made popular by randy potentates in the 18th and 19th centuries along with one aspect that I find utterly vile and revolting. It is important to state that I do not condone this aspect of the watch and I find it highly offensive to boot.

The bile is rising even as I write this, friends, for this $34 watch from eBay advertises itself as a tourbillon yet is as far from a tourbillon as humanly possible. If tourbillon were the sun and this watch were a meteorite, the meteorite would be five million light years from the sun. And exploded already. And in little pieces in some distant star field. That’s how distant this is from a tourbillon.

Note: This is kind of NSFW.

A man expects a few things in life – a lollipop in his mouth, for example – and when he is thwarted so viciously by a Chinese manufacturer of erotic jewelry he finds himself at an impasse. Should he go on? Should he keep writing? I will, friends, keep writing. I am a man and that’s what men do.

First, the presentation. The watch arrived from China in a wrapped black box with a small card that said something like “Do to not wind so much this watch or it will break!” Not much in the way of instruction. The watch has a manual wind movement with two registers that both essentially tell the same thing. The register at three o’clock shows the hour in 24-hour time while the moonphase shows the approximate amount of brightness outside. If the sun is up, it’s daytime. If the moon is up it’s night. It is, for all intents and purposes, an AM/PM indicator.

But what of that finely wrote and delicately beautiful balance wheel and bridge? Certainly that piece of metal hides a tourbillon!

It does not. It’s just an exposed balance wheel. Cute if you’ve never seen a watch before but when it says Tourbillon in poorly printed lettering under the AM/PM indicator, a body comes to expect a tourbillon. There is no tourbillon here. The tourbillon is a lie.

The watch, branded AOMEI WATCH, is not unhandsome. It has a nice etched face, silver numerals, and a steel-ish case. The crown would befit a more expensive watch. But what ho! Like a mullet, this watch is business sup front and party in the back.

Picture this, friends: You’re at a classy dinner party. You sidle up to one of your tipsy drinking buddies and unstrap your watch, elbowing him gently in the ribs.

“Mr. Magundus, I do say, care for a bit of the old wobbly wobbly?” you mutter into your Pimm’s Cup.

“By jove, I do feel a palpitation that would suggest to me that my nether quarters are in need of a good jostle. Do you have something for it?”

“Why yes, dear Mr. Magundus. A lass so fine and fair that butting a goat up agin her would be an insult to the horn, if you catch my indirect meaning. It is, Mr. Magundus, a clockwork device from the Shades of the Orient.”

“Heaven forefend! Produce this item at once posthaste afore my lady wife returns from the loo!”

And so you produce… this (click to embiggen):

That’s right: little figures copulating on a field of vaguely drawn nudity. If this does not define the gilded age of science, exploration, and sport, I don’t know what does. It’s not difficult to understand what’s going on here and uploading video of it will get us banned from YouTube but you generally see what’s up. The little man is giving the little woman a good rogering.

This type of watch has a long, long tradition and many famous watchmakers created watches of this type. However, AMOEI is not a famous watchmaker. This is, sadly, a novelty.

That said, I can’t report on the quality of this watch. I wore it a few times and, given my experience with Chinese watches, this will last maybe a week before the young couple is stopped in mid-stroke. However, for $34.99 you can definitely have a bit of a chuckle.

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The i-Toc is really what you would call a “mystery watch.” It has two overlapping disks that are graduated from light to dark and the point of absolute black – or whatever color you’ve bought – marks the hour and minutes hand. Pretty sly, right?

Designed by CG reader Sean, the i-Toc is a mere $99 and comes in six colors including silver, blue, purple, red, and orange. It has a 41mm case and has a silicone strap with butterfly clasp. Heck, they even have a screen saver so you can add a pink i-Toc to your PC or Mac.

The watch mechanism is housed asymmetrically within a solid piece of sleek and anodised aluminium and is available in six colours.
The i-toc watch adds two further elements beyond that of the unique clockface namely asymmetry and colour. The clockface is located off-centre in a rectangular case. The watch is available in six vibrant colours. This is a watch for people that want to express their individual style, for people who don’t want to be part of the norm.
Available in anodized aluminium in Red, Orange, Blue, Purple, Black and Silver with matching colour clockface, the i-toc is a fashion statement that matches the wearers mood or dress.
The i-toc is a reflection and a statement of the people who wear it, it lets the world know that they are cool, stylish, unusual and funky.
Although the i-toc is a radical departure from the ‘normal’ analogue watch it is still a functional and simple timepiece. It still utilizes the ‘big hand, little hand’ concept invented by Patek Phillipe which has been with us for over a hundred years.

Italo Fontana created the original U-Boat watches as a designer. The watches were mostly regarded as fashion accessories rather then high-end watches thanks to the use of Japanese quartz movements and K1 mineral crystals. Today, the company and their timepieces have evolved. While one of their most appealing aspects is still their look, this aspect is backed by all the features of high-end watch production, including modified mechanical ETA movements, sapphire crystals, hand-made straps, and sturdy well designed cases. I can attest to the quality of today’s U-Boat models, and will demonstrate it by examining U-Boat’s Classico series.

The stainless steel Classico watches are probably the best selling U-Boats. They capture the essence of the company’s popular style with the bold military-inspired design, wide dial, and a metal plate affixed to the strap. Looking past the styling a watch enthusiast will also find many high quality features. One feature that stands out to me is the crown. The screw-down protective crown cover works well and looks great, but the actual crown itself is even more impressive. It is quite large and easy to handle. A sturdy and decisive click is felt when moving through the crown’s three positions. Finally, the crown feels as rock solid at the third (date) position as it does when tucked into its first (winding) position.

The recently redesigned straps are fantastic. They are now all hand made in Italy using a wide assortment of materials. They have become more supple, and a lining of soft calfskin leather adds to the comfort. The strap benefits from a ‘deployant’ folding clasp, which requires a lot less effort to use then its pressure locking counterpart.

The way a watch feels on and off the wrist is a great indication of quality. Operating the crown and crown cap is smooth and solid. The case incorporates a thick sapphire crystal, and offers a water resistance rating of 100 meter. It is thick and well assembled. I am confident that any one who picks up a current U-Boat model will be convinced of the company’s grasp on high-end horology.

Marco runs the Baily Blog on MattBaily.ca

Starting your own watch company is hard. Unlike, say, hiring a factory in Taiwan to make a bunch of MP3 players for you, creating a watch takes patience, an understanding of the history of horology, and a willingness to risk failure. Thankfully, Buscum Ducis’ Svan van Der Zande has all of these attributes.

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Serket, formerly Scorpion, makes really nice dive watches. They’re not very flashy but they’re well-made and use real Swiss Movements inside an American-designed case. I’ve reviewed the 1.0 version of this watch and I really liked it.

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OK. I just suffered a fairly hair-raising situation with my new baby. Due to my own carelessness, I dinged the Jaeger a few times and wanted to polish them out. I got a few types of polish including one designed for delicate metals and tried to do it by hand. BAD IDEA. This created a fog of fine scratches that only I could really see but that drove me crazy nonetheless. So I tried Flitz by hand. More scratches. I was at wits end.

The only way to polish stainless steel is with a polishing paste and a low speed felt Dremel head. I began by cleaning the surface and I applied a very small amount – just the tip of a pencil’s worth – of Simichrome, which is available at auto stores. I then buffed the portion covered by the paste to a full shine. I continued this around the bezel and on the lugs where there was some fogging. The result? A clean, clear surface. I could keep going as there is a very small fuzz on the edges but I’d rather not. Polishing a case is like tanning – by the time you think you’re done, you’re already dead.

You can also use something like Green Rouge on a Dremel. This is a fine clay-like material that will rub off on a Dremel tip and the polish steel with a striking shine. I used both of these techniques.

You know me and my watch fetish. Well, there’s one rarified section of the watch industry where mere mortals dare not tread. While you and I can’t “go there,” MB&F certainly went, producing the Horological Machine #3, a dual read-out crazy clock with a large date wheel and an odd inverted power transmission system using bearings and disks.


What does that mean in Swatch terms? It means this is a piece of real innovation in a market saturated with the same old same old. Watchmakers like MB&F are kind of the funny car builders of the watch world: they strip everything out and then put it back together in odd ways and then make them belch fire.

MB&F will make 25 of these next year and they will, without a doubt, be purchased by men of some means. You and I will never see these and, sadly, we’ll probably never see the innovations within. But they sure are pretty.

HM3’s twin cones indicate hours and minutes respectively, with the hour cone capped by a day/night indicator. An over-sized date wheel – the wheel is actually a larger diameter than the movement – allows for large, clearly legible numbers, with the date indicated by a neatly engraved triangle.

Click to see it in more detail. This is the watch I’m writing about and it might be the most beautiful watch I’ve ever seen. To look at it up close is amazing – all of the complications are hidden, like a Mac. It actually couldn’t be set by hand. In fact, a master watchmaker had to set it if it wound down, which means this wasn’t a sports watch. The rock crystal is striking and that riot of gears was recreated, piece by piece, from only a few images and a description of the watch by an English collector. I’ve got some more images but I thought I’d put this one up as a treat to you guys. It was actually an honor to be in the same room with the old girl.