Do Navy Seals really wear a Rolex, if so why? | Page 4 | FerrariChat

Do Navy Seals really wear a Rolex, if so why?

Discussion in 'Fine Watches, Jewelry, & Clothes' started by robert_c, Feb 26, 2009.

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  1. fish78

    fish78 F1 Rookie

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  2. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
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    IIRC - and - relevant to this discussion, "Tudor" is the key branding word.
     
  3. TestShoot

    TestShoot F1 World Champ
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    #78 TestShoot, Jun 10, 2009
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    Negative, SEALS do not wear Rolex. They don't make that much money in the first place, it is not like the Enron CEO kind of salary. Everyone I met out at a Camp in a godforsaken part of the CA desert (my buddy has been stationed there for three years) wore the Luminox line.
    oops just saw your post.
     
  4. Patrick_Bateman

    Patrick_Bateman Formula Junior

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    Damn, the skills these guys have are amazing. I just read 60 SAS men were able to capture a base defended by over 1000 men. :O
     
  5. fst929

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    #80 fst929, Dec 17, 2010
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2010
    I know this is an old thread...but....I was just having a conversation with an old Marine buddy from back in the day about this very subject. Google search took me here. My input comes from 3 yrs Active Marine infantry and 3.5 Force Recon and 4 years Army reserves as Arial Recon...

    SEAL's..Special Forces...Recon..etc...wear whatever they want to. There are A LOT of nice well made time pieces out there, including the luminox. Basic needs: Durable, accurate, visible at night. There ARE U.S. military issue watches. The former Navy SAR guy here may have used or seen the nearly "hammer proof" Marathon J-SAR with a swiss ETA movement. It is an example but they are few and far between. As mentioned...lots of guys in the the community wear G-Shocks. Durable, cheap and depending on model can be loaded with all sorts of usefull stuff (depth meter, dive logs, altimeter, tide phases etc...) Look up the G-Shock Frogman...or more expensive Suunto X-10 with a GPS built in!

    When I was in... after destroying a timex and a citizen diver, I wore a Seiko 7002 Automatic or Seiko Tuna can Automatic. I like the analog dial as its easy to read and I like a bezel instead of a beeper for my dive timer...plus they never run out of juice. I still have them and they continue to work perfectly after nearly 20 years! Have them serviced and timed and they will be just fine. Mine took an absolute pounding while I served and never failed me. I think either of the former Navy or military guys chatting on this thread will back up this post.

    As for the affordability of a $6K watch on military pay?? Do-able ..... but not erally practical or wise. Its still alot of $$ for most guys in the enlisted ranks regardless of occupation ar additional pay.

    Nice forum btw...it kinda sucked me in. I do not own a ferrari...but I sell luxury cars and I''m a total car guy!

    D
    USMC 85-92
    US Army 92-96
    Wanna be Ferrari owner
     
  6. fst929

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    Thanks.....lots do
     
  7. caseykimma

    caseykimma Formula 3

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    1. Just because an item has the trident or Seal name on it does not mean its worn by the Seals. A certain percentage maybe, but not 100%. (Are they all using the SOG Seal knife, Tactical Rescue 3 Seal knife, or Boker US Navy Seal rescue knife, etc.??) Or items that were designed for the Seals, such as the H&K Mk23. It won out in the contest they had, met all specs, etc., but its not necessarily used by all Seals. They have the flexibility to choose what they want, many supposedly carry the Sig P226.

    2. As many have said here, im sure there are Seals that can afford, and do own, a Rolex. They make decent $$ with all their extra pay, moreso if they are overseas and getting it tax-free. Saving $5-6K for anything is not an impossible task, especially if they make the $$ they do. Its just a matter of priorities. But i somehow doubt many of them are actually wearing them in combat. And i dont see why a Luminex or similar quality watch for $200-500 isnt capable of taking a beating and accurately telling time. so i would belive many of them would wear these as well.

    3. As someone else also said, foreign militaries may train with the Seals, but that doesnt make them Seals. And i think when we're talking world militaries and special forces groups, there is only one "Seal", whether some other military groups call themselves that or not.
     
  8. etmracing

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    Ive seen lots of G shocks with special ops guys.

    Theres also times where a certain group of guys in a unit will all go out and get the same type of watch.
     
  9. TG

    TG F1 Veteran

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    #84 TG, Dec 23, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Seems historical more than anything else...


    It stands to reason the U.S. Navy SEALs would have been the ultimate target market for wearing the Rolex Submariner and SEA-DWELLER models as actual tool watches. After all, Rolex co-developed the Rolex SEA-DWELLER with the U.S. Navy SEA-LAB for their DEEP-SEA Divers.

    When exploring the U.S. Naval history in the context of Rolex history, it is also important to note the special Rolex DEEP-SEA prototype was attached to the outside of the U.S. Navy Bathyscaphe Trieste submersible, when it set its all-time depth record in 1960.

    For more of this & everything Rolex: http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/
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  10. nerd

    nerd F1 Rookie

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    I can see Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (SEAL training facility) out my front window across Glorietta Bay; want me to go to the front gate and ask? Most of the Rolex wearers on Coronado Island are from Mexico or retirees from Arizona, not obviously SEALs or Naval Aviators.
     
  11. robert_c

    robert_c F1 Rookie

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    Yeah, thanks.
     
  12. LetsJet

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    Robert, why is this important to you? I'm trying to understand....

    Forgetting about what the SEALS wear, or any special forces team, for that matter, let's think about it practically.

    A mechanical watch, automatic or not, has hundreds of precision parts. It is designed to be accurate within a certain delta, defined by different standards. That said, do you think there is a mechanical watch today that can keep better, consistent time than a good quartz watch? If you do, then I guess that's the end of the discussion. Good luck with it. Further, do you think all those mechanical parts can withstand forces greater than a quartz watch? I personally don't think so. There was a time, early in the days of quartz watches that they weren't that accurate. There was also a day, prior to good quartz watches that maybe wearing a Rolex made sense. That day is long gone. Rolex...great brand...solid watches...but still jewelry, IMO. Wear it and get noticed, fantastic. Maybe if you're a SEAL and stranded you can sell it to get back home. Then it would make sense to wear one. Otherwise wearing an expensive, relatively delicate item doesn't seem practical.

    If I was in the field, I would look for lightweight, accuracy, function, and durability. Also, one other thing - redundancy...

    So, forgetting about what was issued. What brand paid what, to whom, to get sponsored, I'd keep it real simple.

    Probably titanium case quartz watch with back light and I'd carry two. Maybe only one on a band.

    How about you?
     
  13. nerd

    nerd F1 Rookie

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  14. WRXracer112

    WRXracer112 Karting

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    I can say with 100% certainty they do not wear Rolex's or any nice watches.

    They wear.

    Suunto
    Casio G Shock Pathfinder
    Timex
    Luminox
    and a few scattered other brands, some even from Target.

    but mainly casio g shock or Suunto.

    The movies have all these SF (team guys), Seal's, Rangers etc..wearing these nice watches, but its horse **** because they beat the living crap out of these things. Plus they get a lot things for free, so the wear what the get.
     
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  15. Ace119

    Ace119 Rookie

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    I just ask my Father, SEAL Team 2 Little Creek Va. '66-'77, and Yes up until the mid 80's New SEALS were issued Rolex Submariners, after that Rolex was stopped and G-Force watches are issued. SEALS are paid no differently than any other Navy Personnel, Sea Pay, Hazardous Duty Pay (which covers any hazardous duty, like any kind of deployment ie. War on Terror, etc). The ONLY difference would be the Re-up Bonus, that is determined by the rate and you are, My Dad was a BMC, back then SEALS did not have their own rate or Job Code Classification as they do now. Sir I do not know where you get your information and or speculation from but I suggest that before you go speculating and posting you should get your facts straight. In the mid '60s to mid '80s would YOU trust your life to anything but a Rolex?
     
  16. JP365

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  17. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    I have to imagine the Navy issues some type of Apple Watch nowadays.


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  18. WPOZZZ

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  19. MarkPDX

    MarkPDX F1 World Champ
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    The problem with an Apple Watch is that you can’t wear it into a vault or other areas where classified material is accessed. There was a big crackdown on those sort of devices a couple years ago after Fitbit data (I think it was the one) inadvertently revealed the locations of a number of clandestine military bases. A lot of mil people like to track their workouts and there are OPSEC issues with a number of those wearable devices.

    As you know I’m not a SEAL but the one Apple product that gets widely issued amongst flyers are iPads as the DoD has finally gone away from paper pubs/charts for flying. It is, in some ways, a lot better than hauling around a bunch of paper pubs. A couple years ago when I circumnavigated the earth we took along a single paper copy of everything we might need and it was about a 40lb bag which fortunately wasn’t needed. The military can even manage to make an iPad buggy and unreliable.
     
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  20. MarkPDX

    MarkPDX F1 World Champ
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    I would say I’m little way up the military pay scale and while I could buy a Rolex or similar (I would actually get a Breitling Navitimer) it’s a lot more than I would casually spend. I’m not a watch guy, couldn’t even tell you the last time I wore one, so really not something I would bother to save for. For most military people a Rolex would represent a significant sacrifice that isn’t really justifiable if they have a family.


    I would believe yours is real... most of them I see mil folks wearing were the knockoffs they sold in the souqs.
     
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  21. MarkPDX

    MarkPDX F1 World Champ
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    Depends on a lot of things, mostly how much is money is available when the Government Purchase Card holder goes to pick up stuff for people. There are a lot of different things available at supply and even more if you wanna order it. I have a Marathon mechanical stopwatch that I was issued years back, it sits in my flight bag and I have only used it once when there was a dual INS failure along with GPS dropping out.

    For practical purposes most people opt for pricy stuff they can actually use and we aren’t gonna get issued Rolexes. A fancy Yeti cooler is definitely something people want. Same with stuff like Benchmade auto knives.
     
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  22. DrStranglove

    DrStranglove FChat Assassin
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    WTH was the "Mod edit" in 2017 on my post?
     
  23. ylshih

    ylshih Shogun Assassin
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    The history on that is gone. But as there's no reason for it to have P&R, profanity, or private info (the usual reasons we edit a user post), then it may have been a malformed post that was fixed up to present correctly.
     
  24. DrStranglove

    DrStranglove FChat Assassin
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    My first thought is it got edited to remove the face of the Marine in the photo. But then in doing so the face of the other Marine laying on bed back is clearly visible.
     

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