Celebrity Watch Watch – James Bond!

We have already covered Iron Man, of course, and our latest celebrity watch watch features 007 himself!

So, which watch does James Bond wear? Now that is a loaded question and one, of course, with many answers!

Over the years, many different models (watches, that is!) have adorned the Bond wrist and horologists the world over have been falling over themselves in an attempt to identify them.

The namesh Bond, Jamesh Bond

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Yes, you need to read that header in your best Connery accent!

The first, and in many people’s opinion, the best Bond was, of course, Sean Connery. The first Bond film, ‘Dr. No’, appeared in our cinemas as far back as 1962 (even before I was born – just)! And the first watch to appear in a Bond film? It was a Gruen Precision caliber 510, which also made an appearance in ‘From Russia With Love’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘You Only Live Twice’ and ‘Diamonds Are Forever’. Wow, the watch was in almost as many films as Connery himself! Gruen were an American family-owned Company, although the family sold off the business prior to the release of the film. Whata mistakea to makea!

Moving onwards (and upwards), the famous Rolex Submariner Oyster Perpetual 6538 also first appeared in ‘Dr. No’ and, subsequently, in ‘From Russia With Love’, ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Thunderball’.

The third watch you may have seen Bond wearing in the Connery era is the rather beautiful Breitling Top Time, into which Q incorporated the geiger counter (not available in commercial models!). Interestingly, this watch turned up at a car boot sale in 2013 and was purchased for just £25. The lucky person then proceeded to sell  the watch at auction, where it fetched a staggering £103,000. I have been scouring car boot sales fervently ever since!

George who?

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Sandwiched in between Sean Connery and Roger Moore was George Lazenby. Now George only got to make one film, ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’, but he did introduce us to the Rolex Submariner Oyster Perpetual 5513, an updated version of the timepiece worn by Mr Connery.

The 5513 was also seen on the wrist of Sir Roger in ‘the Man With the Golden Gun’  and ‘Live and Let Die’ (complete with magnetism and buzz-saw attachments)!

Are those eyebrows real?!

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The next incarnation of 007 was, of course, the aforementioned Roger Moore.

Moore introduced us to the Hamilton Pulsar “Astronaut” in ‘Live and Let Die’, then, after a brief flirtation with Rolex (see the ‘George who?’ section), he turned to a procession of Seiko’s:

• LC Quartz DK001 in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’
• Quartz LC-Memory Bank in ‘Moonraker’
• Alarm-Chronograph duo-display and Professional Divers 600m in ‘For Your Eyes Only’
• Sports 100 pseudo-analogue in ‘Octopussy’
• Divers 150m, Quartz Chronograph and Quartz two-tone in ‘A View to a Kill’

Various gadgets were attached to some of these watches to fight off the likes of Blofeld, Jaws, etc.

A golden era for some watch-lovers and indeed some Bond-lovers but, in my opinion, this was the cheesiest era on both counts!

Timothy is not a Bond-esque name

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Apologies to all Timothy’s out there with that heading!

Next on the 007 production line was Timothy Dalton, who faired slightly better than George Lazenby, but only just, with two films to his name!

And, for the first time in a Bond film, we saw an appearance by TAG Heuer, with the Professional Night-Dive and Professional 200m both appearing in ‘The Living Daylights’.

For Dalton’s second (and last) Bond film, it was back to the trusty Rolex again, with the Submariner Oyster Perpetual Date 16610.

Omega Rules!

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With the introduction of Pierce Brosnan into the role, we also saw Omega take over the role of sole watch suppliers to the Bond franchise! Not that I’m complaining or anything!

Brosnan’s first film, ‘Goldeneye’, saw him wearing the exquisite Omega Seamaster 2541 “Diver”.

This was followed swiftly by the Omega Seamaster 2531, which saw Pierce through to the end of his Bond career, appearing in ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, ‘The World is Not Enough’ and ‘Die Another Day’.

Bond has widely been credited with turning around the fortunes of Omega, with a resurgence in sales following the release of Goldeneye and it’s not difficult to see why.

Want a Seamaster yourself – no problem! You may not be able to pick up the same watch as Mr Brosnan was wearing (unless, of course, you get lucky at a boot sale), but you can buy yourself the latest model here.

Oh, Danny boy

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Yes, the most recent Bond, of course, is Mr Daniel Craig. A shift in character compared to previous Bond’s, no doubt, but he kept the Omega flag flying high and proud.

The Seamaster Planet Ocean appeared in various guises in ‘Casino Royale’, ‘Quantum of Solace’ and ‘Skyfall’ (two versions in the latter, the ‘standard’ and the ‘titanium’).

The Seamaster SU in ‘Casino Royale’, the Aqua Terra in both ‘Skyfall’ and ‘Spectre’ and the Seamaster 300 in ‘Spectre’ complete the impressive line-up.

So, that is that, then. Whoever takes on the mantle next will probably be fortunate enough to continue the timepiece legacy.

The Omega brand now appears to be as synonymous with Bond as Aston Martin. An Omega and an Aston – I’ve died and gone to heaven!