MOD FOI Request - what watches are officially supplied? No CWC?

So, I bought myself a CWC SBS Diver which arrived today. Lovely piece of kit... VERY happy with it. Not much going on tonight, so decided to search for CWC SBS reviews and read up a little about their history, as a watch issued to SBS and "certain units"

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Cabot Watch Company have supplied this watch to the SBS since 1987 and is currently issue to certain units.

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Ref: https://www.cwcwatch.com/collections...e-divers-watch

I then stumbled on this... a Freedom of Information request to the MOD made this May by a Youtuber - asking, do CWC supply the MOD any watches. The answer?... No. Casio G-Shocks only! Hmmmm.... what's going on here then?

FOI Request: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/reque...watches_issues

To save you clicking and downloading the answer, here's the text:

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Dear Ministry of Defence,
I am a youtube content creator with a focus on Watches. I would be very interested to know for a future upload what the current watches are that are issued to the Royal Navy, in particular, if these are made my CWC the Cabot Watch Company (silvermans). If possible can you provide the number issued (volume) and if permitted the approximate cost of each watch. I'm compiling research for an upcoming video focusing on that particular brand. For reference, I think the MOD issue CWC SBS DIVER ISSUE (QS120-DD) watches to Navy divers.
Yours faithfully,
The Casual Watch Reviewer (youtube)

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And the response:

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DE&S Policy Secretariat



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xx

Defence Equipment & Support
Maple 0a #2043
MOD Abbey Wood
Bristol BS34 8JH
Mr S Speake
28 May 2020
E Mail:
Our Reference: FOI2020/05507
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx




Dear Mr Speake

Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000

Thank you for your email of 12 May 2020, in which you requested the following information
about a specific company that currently supplies watches to the Royal Navy:


I am a Youtube content creator with a focus on Watches. I would be very interested to

know for a future upload what the current watches are that are issued to the Royal

Navy, in particular, if these are made my CWC the Cabot Watch Company (silvermans).

If possible can you provide the number issued (volume) and if permitted the

approximate cost of each watch. I'm compiling research for an upcoming video focusing

on that particular brand. For reference, I think the MOD issue CWC SBS DIVER ISSUE

(QS120-DD) watches to Navy divers.
I am treating your correspondence as a request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

A search for the information has now been completed within the Ministry of Defence, and I can
confirm that the current watch issued to Royal Navy Divers is the Casio model GAW-100B-
1AER, with 135 watches issued.

Under Section 16 of the Act (Advice and Assistance), I can advise that previous watches
issued were the Casio, model GR-8900-1ER, with 508 issued before being replaced by the
GAW model. Prior to this the Citizen BN0000-04H was issued. All of the issued watches were
priced in the region of £80 - £200.

If you have any queries regarding the content of this letter, please contact this office in the first
instance.

If you wish to complain about the handling of your request, or the content of this response, you
can request an independent internal review by contacting the Information Rights Compliance
team, Ground Floor, MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail CIO-FOI-
xx@xxx.xxx.xx). Please note that any request for an internal review should be made within
40 working days of theYou are aware that we have been treating your correspondence as a
request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Defence Equipment & Support
Yours sincerely


DE&S Secretariat
Defence Equipment & Support

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Hahahaha. This is brilliant! Thanks for posting

The YouTuber didn’t ask whether CWC supply MOD, he only asked about the RN and was only answered wrt divers.

I get FOI requests relatively frequently and have never seen one where the question is so badly worded, to the point it becomes vague.

Apparently the Casio GR 8900 1ER was a 2014 model. So that’s the last six years covered.

Have the Walter Mittys been buying the wrong watch?

The key words in their response: "the current watch issued to Royal Navy Divers is...."

Thats not the SBS is it?

CWC have posted many times on Instagaram about supplying various MOD users. For example: https://www.instagram.com/p/BVXTVdcl...=1j0718afwxfqj

"MOD order dispatched today"

The results of the FOI requests pop up on MWR from time to time.

https://assets.publishing.service.go...0624/10030.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.go...OD_watches.pdf

Always strikes me as a fairly pointless waste of time, effort and public money.

I have a Citizen BN0000-04H, it’s a nice watch.
Dave

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Originally Posted by BillyCasper

The results of the FOI requests pop up on MWR from time to time.

https://assets.publishing.service.go...0624/10030.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.go...OD_watches.pdf

Always strikes me as a fairly pointless waste of time, effort and public money.

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Look at the first listed FOI link dated 23 August 2018. Line 4 in the table lists CWC SBSs as we know them (see below). Also, those familiar with the workings of MOD have previously said that information about UKSFs is not generally publicized.

Make // Model // Supplier
Cabot Co. Limited // CW5 // Carwood Motor Units Limited

Terry

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Originally Posted by BillyCasper

The results of the FOI requests pop up on MWR from time to time.

https://assets.publishing.service.go...0624/10030.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.go...OD_watches.pdf

Always strikes me as a fairly pointless waste of time, effort and public money.

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‘How much money is spent on such requests?’ would be an interesting one.

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Originally Posted by Kingstepper

‘How much money is spent on such requests?’ would be an interesting one.

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All a bit ridiculous IMO - what are people trying to achieve with this? Some sort of confected Bremont-style outrage?