Review: Rogue Warrior Red Cell Watch

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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