James Bond Watches Blog

Earlier this week, I came across a book by Russell Smith titled Men’s Style: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Dress. It’s gonna get us started on a last remaining topic key to James Bond watch identification.

One of the things that’s lost in so many of the boysterous discussions of why James Bond “must” wear this watch or that — “because Rolex is known for…,” or “Ian Fleming served in World War II as an officer attached to…” — is a basic understanding of fashion.

The Rolex Precision worn by Sean Connery for his very first “Bond, James Bond” introduction at the Chemin der Fer table in Dr No was no accident.

That can’t be true! It was an oversight, a continuity error. It must’a been Sean Connery’s personal watch. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

James Bond only should’a been wearing the Submariner!

No way. Not in 1962. Not with Terence Young directing and attentive to such details (as he clearly was).

Fifty years ago, appointing James Bond with a diver’s watch in that situation would have surpassed the worst silliness anyone might care to highlight in, say, Moonraker.

As the 1960s unfolded, diver’s watch led, rather than followed “style” choice ubiquity. Probably started when highlighted by the flame of Bond’s cigarette lighter in Goldfinger. Then Rolex advocated it as a fashion direction.

Maybe that’s why Russell Smith doesn’t express much respect for recent James Bond watch choices.

In recent years, several of the world’s most famous watchmakers have launched spectacularly expensive advertising campaigns in an effort to imbue their scientific and technical watches with the glamour of war and adventure, thereby providing the closest contact to war or adventure most men will ever have. Omega paid untold thousands to a Hollywood studio to ensure that Jamesbondman Pierce Brosnan was wearing their Seamaster Professional Divers watch in Tomorrow Never Dies continue reading…

Did latest Omega James Bond watch announcement help or hurt local Authorized Dealers (who play by the rules)?

I wish I could say that the first new James Bond watch announcement for 2012 was merely a comedy of errors.

But it’s nowhere near that good.

Yesterday morning (that is to say, Eastern Time in the United States, where this James Bond Watches Blog is written), Omega sorta officially announced an upcoming James Bond Seamaster model. Actually, two.

Both “commemorate” 50 years of the James Bond films. There’s a 41mm watch, limited to 11,007 pieces; and a 36.25mm watch, limited to 3,007 pieces.

TimeZone broke Tuesday with full text of the formal communication from Omega, along with photographs.

Trouble is— they also broke with it last Friday. But that January 20 information was from an Omega Authorized Dealer in London. A dealer that had posted detailed information for both watches as items it was then-selling on a pre-order basis.

As a strong advocate for purchasing new Omega watches through Authorized Dealers, I’ll remind my friends here that we commonly see signs in display cases to warn us that genuine Omega watches aren’t sold new on the Internet. In particular, there’s reason to doubt warranties for sales via the web. Same thing at point of purchase for Rolex.

And yet the leak-source from last Friday blatantly promotes itself as an official part of the retail network for both. Ready to do business with all comers, apparently, via its website.

Those of you who follow my James Bond watch updates on Twitter @bondwatches saw my due diligence on this story as it unfolded continue reading…

Ian Fleming's James Bond watch: Rolex 1016 Explorer, with original letter written by Ian Fleming on Dr No letterhead supplied by Eon Productions

The original literary James Bond watch.

Original Dr No letterhead, courtesy of Eon Productions.

And, ironically— evidence that a Rolex Explorer reference 1016 wristwatch was formally associated with the movie Dr No before any other watch, of any other sort.

So to speak.

My latest release of computer wallpaper images featuring James Bond watches is focused on the only Rolex Ian Fleming is known to have owned and worn.

This is his personal Explorer model, in a photograph I made while it was concluding its display as part of the “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” exhibit at the National Watch & Clock Museum last year.

A further part of that display consisted of original 007 thriller manuscripts and papers. These were made available for loan courtesy of the Lilly Library, Indiana University at Bloomington.

We believe that our “Bond Watches” exhibit was the first time that the watch and letter have been together since Mr Fleming signed the latter.

Of additional interest continue reading…

Exactly one week ago today, Empire magazine posted this photo of Daniel Craig in-character as James Bond in "Skyfall." Would you buy an Omega watch now based on speculated identification based only on what you see here?

Last Friday the thirteenth must have been a happy one for James Bond fans, considering the number of Tweets and eMails I’ve gotten with requests to identify the Skyfall wristwatch — based on this movie set image released through Empire magazine, one week ago today.

“There it is!” read one subject line.

Sorry. I still don’t see it. And, from the watch forum threads I’ve watched spring up that day, only to crash for lack of substance the next, neither does anyone else.

Anyone “credible,” that is. Of course there are those wish-watch experts who “see” without a doubt a blue titanium Seamaster Planet Ocean by Omega in this Skyfall image.

Nobody buys that. Or, rather: Nobody’s gonna buy based on that.

With all due respect, ask yourself: Why on earth is anyone looking in the first place?

I for one wasn’t even hell-bent to break news with the Quantum of Solace James Bond screen-worn watch model identification. Beyond that, I believe the difference in time between whoever actually did, versus the blogger from Timbuktu who picked it up as old news, could be measured in hours.

The Skyfall Omega won’t be any different.

Unfortunately, product placement partners are playing by 2005 rules, operating on assumptions based on what they saw with James Bond watches tied to Casino Royale.

Let’s remember some of the James Bond watch factors that had us watching 7 years ago:

• “The James Bond Omega” was ostensibly continue reading…

James Bond watch in context: Heuer 980.031 PVD Night Dive, a'la The Living Daylights and pre-title training exercise over Gibraltar

This photo was actually released about two years ago — first accompanying the article I wrote on the discovery that David Chalmers, Paul Gavin, and I had made in identifying the James Bond watches worn in The Living Daylights.

But now this layout is available for download as computer wallpapers, in a variety of screen-aspect ratios.

Again, this is the Heuer model 980.031 professional Night Dive wristwatch. The example shown here is in mint condition, which is exceedingly rare for any PVD-coated watch from the 1980s.

Timothy Dalton wore a similar watch as James Bond during the pre-title sequence. The watch has also been identified as the timekeeper on two other characters in The Living Daylights as well, one of which was Felix Leiter (played by actor John Terry).

Reminiscent of the training exercise on Gibraltar, I set this shot up to show the watch above water. Not a particularly challenging setup, but nice looking.

(That said, lighting a light-dial, black-case watch is completely different from black-dial, silver-colored casing approaches, if that’s what you’re used to.)

These continue reading…