What makes Jame Bond tick? From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, 007 and his watches

Bond has always killed it in the style stakes — with cool timepieces to match. Ken Kessler chronicles half a century of horology with a licence to thrill
Timeless cool: Bond has always been a fan of a statement timepiece
Ken Kessler16 November 2015

Hero worship being what it is, the watch industry knows how to use its ambassadors — whether paid for or incidental.

From Paul Newman to JFK to Steve McQueen, a sprinkling of stardust gives a watch a level of appeal that all the technological might in the world cannot endow.

The best thing ever happen to any wristwatch was the benediction of a fictional character, rather than a flesh-and-blood celebrity.

For more than a half-century, boys of all ages have wanted to be James Bond. None of us will own his Beretta or Walther PPK. A lucky few might secure an Aston Martin.

But his wristwatches are accessible, and there’s a delicious buzz when looking at the time and seeing what one of the Bonds — whether in the books or in one of the 24 films — saw when he needed to know the hour.

What most people do not realise, unless they’re fans of both the books and the entire cinematic canon or above a certain age, is that 007 was issued a plethora of watches other than Omegas.

James Bond wax figures unveiled

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That brand, however (which celebrates its 20-year association with Bond with the release of Spectre), has done more to exploit the connection than any other, so for an entire generation, an Omega is the Bond watch to own. But before we deal with the latest, here’s a look back at what Bond wore, and what you might like to look for in second-hand shops or at auction.

Literary Bond

Purists such as me, who think of Bond as a figure from books, regard his first watch as the definitive. Although only identified as a Rolex, the money is that it was an early Explorer, because that is what author and Bond creator Ian Fleming wore.

I’m happy to go along with it: my Explorer dates from 1956 (admittedly a few years later than the publication of the first Bond novel, Casino Royale, as was Fleming’s), but I suspect that the Bond/Fleming connection has upped its value considerably.

Why the Explorer? Because it fits the description, and the model was born around the time of Casino Royale, based on a Rolex worn by Sir Edmund Hillary when assaulting a mountain called Everest.

Photos show Fleming wearing his Rolex Explorer, which still exists. Now called an Explorer I so as not to be confused with the later, more butch Explorer II with second time zone, the first Explorer was and is a model of horological purity, an automatic with only hours, minutes and seconds on display, with a “Mercedes” hand and numerals at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, a stainless steel case and Oyster bracelet.

Bond on screen

In the early Sean Connery-era Bond films, he was wearing a watch now so lusted after that I am kicking myself for flogging at least a half-dozen for under £300 before the craze for it materialised.

It is the early Submariner, the model without the protective guards on either side of the crown. According to legend, the watch belonged to the movie’s producer, Cubby Broccoli, when Rolex declined to be involved with the films.

Timeless cool: Rolex Submariners, such as the one worn here by Sean Connery, can fetch upwards of £15,000 at auction
Allstar

(Anorak Detail: Instead of a bracelet, Bond’s had a striped over/under cloth strap, incorrectly called a “Nato strap” when it is nothing of the sort: Nato straps didn’t appear until 1973 and are issued only in shades of grey.)

Prices for Submariners without crown guards are all over the place: it depends on who’s bidding in the auction, or who has deep pockets and no concept of restraint. I’ve seen them as low as £6,000 this past year, but double or treble that is more likely.

And if the actual watch worn by Connery went on sale, I have no doubt it would crack the £1,000,000 mark. And why not? Someone paid more than that for a Rolex once owned by Eric Clapton, of which three exist.

The actual Breitling Top-Time used in Thunderball was found at a boot fair for £25 and then sold in an auction in 2013 for £103,875

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Bond watch experts suggest that Connery may have worn any one of four models, including the references 6538A, 6538, 5510 or even the 6200 with “3/6/9” numerals.

Even today’s high res and Blu-ray playback do not allow one to zoom in on the dial, but all versions lack crown guards and any would serve the enthusiast well.

Rolexes continued to feature into the Roger Moore era, while the list of detours for Bond and others used as plot developments embrace brands you might not suspect as 007-worthy.

The Breitling Top-Time seen in Thunderball was an early example of a gadget watch, as it featured a Geiger counter. The actual watch was found at a boot fair for £25 and was sold in auction in 2013 for £103,875.

Moore’s Bond — which signalled the more commercial and deliberate product placement we now take for granted, as opposed to watches and cars that were actually right for the role — wore Seikos.

Enduring Bond: Sir Roger Moore in his pomp, sporting a Seiko from The Spy Who Loved Me
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It’s in the Moore era, too, when many of the watches were “weaponised” — but not all. Hard-core watch connoisseurs might balk at Seiko’s digital timepieces, but the prop-masters of the films were always cognisant of the latest “tech” and digital watches define the Roger Moore era.

Spectre has brought about a change because, for the first time, Omega has issued a limited edition precisely like the one Bond wears in the film, as opposed to a model simply festooned with 007 logos. And it’s a honey

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Bond wore Rolex Submariners in Dr No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Live and Let Die (the one with magnet and buzz-saw) and The Man With the Golden Gun.

Seiko emerged as the Bond watch for The Spy Who Loved Me (the watch featuring a ticker-tape printer), Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only (presaging the Apple watch with a Seiko that included a satellite phone), Octopussy (again, the prescient Seiko included a homing device) and A View to a Kill.

In The Living Daylights, Timothy Dalton had a TAG Heuer Professional Night Dive, while Licence to Kill brought back the Rolex Submariner Date.

Watch this: Pierce Brosnan models an Omega Seamaster in The World Is Not Enough
Allstar

From Goldeneye onward, Bond has worn Omegas, Pierce Brosnan donning Omega Seamaster Professionals, usually gadget-equipped, for Tomorrow Never Dies (the watch featured a detonator), The World Is Not Enough (an Omega fitted with piton wire) and Die Another Day (with a watch-based detonator and laser cutter).

A serious diving watch, Daniel Craig's Omega Seamaster has all the classic touches needed to make it suitable for the task, including rotating bezel and high legibility, with superior resistance to water ingress. Inside, however, is the latest Omega Co-axial movement, while the film’s logo is engraved on the caseback

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A decade into the Omega era, in the first film to star Daniel Craig, product placement reached its apotheosis — or should that be “crossed the line” — in the scene where Vesper asks Bond, “Rolex?” and he replies, “No, Omega”. Some feel that it ought to go down in the annals of product placement as a watch too far.

Seamasters and Seamaster Planet Oceans have served Craig’s Bond since Casino Royale, through Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. But Spectre has brought about a change because, for the first time, Omega has issued a limited edition precisely like the one Bond wears in the film, as opposed to a model simply festooned with 007 logos. And it’s a honey.

The best Bond watch of them all?

By now, you know that Spectre just may be the best Bond movie ever. Yeah, I’m still a Connery fan, and feel that Messrs Brosnan and Dalton are underappreciated, but Spectre nailed me to my seat.

Always on time: Daniel Craig wears an Omega Seamaster 300 in Spectre, which can be bought as a limited edition of 7,007
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And when I saw it at a showing hosted by Omega, the chap next to me was a customer who had just purchased one of the fabulous Seamaster 300s as featured on screen — but I will not spoil the plot by saying what the watch does for Bond, beyond telling the time.

Along with an Omega Seamaster AquaTerra 150M worn in the early scenes, Craig sports this sublime, revised version of the Seamaster 300, launched in 1957. A serious diving watch, it has all the classic touches needed to make it suitable for the task, including rotating bezel and high legibility, with superior resistance to water ingress. Inside, however, is the latest Omega Co-axial movement, while the film’s logo is engraved on the caseback.

Omega has paid homage to the Connery era by fitting it with a cloth strap in the same stripes as the watch in Dr No. One might speculate how Omega will top this, but we’ll have to wait two years or so for the next instalment.

Precious moments (L-R): the Omega Seamaster worn by Daniel Craig in Spectre; Roger Moore's Rolex Submaster from Live and Let Die which sold for £240,000 at auction recently; and the Omega Seamaster Co-Axial divers' watch worn by Craig in Casino Royale
Omega/Rolex

Alas, the Spectre model is a limited edition of 7,007 watches. If it doesn’t sound all that limited to you, factor in that the Bond movies form the longest-running franchise in history, and the third most successful after Harry Potter and the collective Marvel films.

Then think about how all those 10-year-olds who have been hooked on Bond since Dr No are now senior citizens who can raid their pensions.

Trust me, 7,007 — as Bond once said of the world — is not enough.

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