On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Bond is back for the 24th time this winter in the hotly anticipated SPECTRE – directed by Skyfall’s helmsman Sam Mendes, the ever-craggier Daniel Craig reprising the lead role, and Omega duly donned; a bang-on-target product placement commemorated by a new Aqua Terra Seamaster, limited to 10,007 pieces (left; £4,630). After all, as our timeline of killer timepieces shows, Q Branch has particular form when it comes to kitting out 007’s wrist…
1962
Ian Fleming’s literary spy only ever wore a Rolex (an Explorer I) and Dr. No’s props team went for a Rolex too. But the Swiss watchmaker didn’t want anything to do with it, so producer Cubby Broccoli loaned his personal Submariner diving watch to Sean Connery – the ref. 6538 model, now known simply as the “James Bond” Sub’.
1964
The Submariner’s most famous cameo was in Goldfinger, given a screen-filling close-up when Bond checks to see when his bomb will explode. Oddly, it’s fitted to a mis-sized nylon strap.
1965
Desmond Llewellyn’s Q kits Bond with a Breitling Top Time in Thunderball, fitted with a Geiger counter. The original prop was discovered at a car-boot sale in 2013 for £25 and sold on by Christie’s for just over £100,000. Someone obviously wasn’t paying attention, 007…
1973
Bond enters the quartz era in Live and Let Die with a Hamilton Pulsar P2 – the first digital watch on the market. LCDs hadn’t been invented, so the display was in red LED – push to view.
1977
As quartz laid waste to traditional Swiss watchmaking, The Spy Who Loved Me saw the start of Bond’s extended affair with Japanese maker, Seiko. His first “0674” featured a built-in tickertape printer.
1987
Extensive pausing and rewinding of The Living Daylights reveals Timothy Dalton to be wearing a (just visible) TAG Heuer Professional Night Diver. Normal service resumed come Licence to Kill, with a Rolex Sub’.
1995
With Pierce Brosnan’s arrival in Goldeneye, costume designer Lindy Hemming chose the blue-dial Omega Seamaster, as it matched his eyes and was especially appropriate to Commander Bond’s naval background.
2006
Daniel Craig’s 007 wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty, which went for his Omega too. A scuffed-up Planet Ocean Seamaster from the set of Casino Royale fetched a staggering CHF250,250 at Antiquorum’s Omegamania sale in 2007.
2012
The 50th anniversary of James Bond on the silver screen called for a commemorative Seamaster, complete with pistol rifling and bullet casing on the caseback
2013
Skyfall became the most successful British film ever made, and Daniel Craig’s portrayal of a moody Bond is refected by a black-dial, black-bezel Omega Planet Ocean 600M.