How do you organize and talk about watches based on film appearances?

There are several commonly understood systems for grading the the quality of watches. But I found myself needing something more as I started to write about watches used in movies. For example, how would you readily communicate the difference between the various Rolex watches associated with the 1973 James Bond film, Live and Let Die?

Well, if you’re me, you create a system and use it consistently. Here it is.*

M-10:   Complete Modification. This is a watch often modified beyond its ability to function as a timekeeping device. In the case of Live and Let Die, an original Rolex Submariner 5513 was altered to apparently function as a circular saw via rotating bezel. So valuable is this piece that the production drawing used to make it sold at auction for $11,453 in 2001.
M-9:  

Functional Modification. This covers any and all modifications of a watch short of compromising its timekeeping performance. It might include removal of the crystal to facilitate extreme close-ups, or application of external fixtures to imply or produce additional function, such as the shroud on the Breitling in Thunderball.

More modestly, the Omega Seamaster featured in the “Archangel Chemical Weapons Facility” sequence in GoldenEye had been functionally modified when it was worn by 007 on a strap (the original watch came on a bracelet).
M-8:   Worn Issue. These are among the one or more watches that were actually worn in the film. After Casino Royale was released a thematic auction titled, “Omegamania,” held by Antiquorum in mid-April 2007, sold as one of these a Planet Ocean reference worn by Daniel Craig as James Bond in that film.
M-7:   Commemorative Edition. These are limited and special-run editions of film property watches. They typically carry with them some overt or subtle marking on the timepiece itself, along with corroborating documentation of authenticity: Sometimes so-different as to be legitimately rejected as of the kind actually worn in the film. The Omega 2537.80 Seamaster is an example.
M-6:   Pre-Contemporaneous. This would be any consumer watch of the exact same specifications that “could” have been used in the film. This would also include consumer watches authentically altered** to replicate M-9 criteria (eg, fitting an appropriate Breitling Top Time model on a bracelet, as worn by Sean Connery in Thunderball).
M-5:   Contemporaneous. This is a watch of the exact same specifications as the watch worn in the film, but produced any time after the release of the film. For example, the Hamilton Pulsar P-2 on stainless steel bracelet, as worn in Live and Let Die.
M-4:  

Successor. This is a direct generation developmental replacement to the M-5 (and, more importantly, the M-8). Typically, this represents a technology- and/or broader marketplace-driven change, eg, from domed plastic on the Rolex Submariner 5513 (M-6 or M-5) to flat sapphire on the 14060M model (its M-4).

Alternations, regardless of justification, made due to maintenance, repair, upgrade, et cetera, that deviate from original specifications also move M-5 watches to this class (eg, a Live and Let Die vintage Rolex Submariner 5513 with dial replacement featuring marker surrounds).
M-3:   Alternatives. Unlike Fakes (M-1), these are watches that carry their own brand names, honestly, regardless of how closely they dance to the line of copying the M-6. The O&W (Ollech and Wajs) model M4 Precision Diver and even the Timex 29781 could be considered M-3 alternatives to the classic Rolex Submariner M-6.
M-2:   Generic labels. These are pieces where the brand has been confused, corrupted, or confiscated for use as short-hand identification of similarly styled pieces. It has become common to hear any model of the numerous Seiko watches with digital and pseudo-analogue liquid crystal displays referred to as “the Bond watch” (from Octopussy). In other words, these are not 007 time pieces.
M-1:  

Fakes. The euphemism may be “replica,” but I have too much respect for the professionalism and hard work that goes into branding to let these imposters off that easy. The pieces here steal logos and indicia in an effort to pass as truly authentic, invariably from disreputable sources who haven’t even produced the equivalent quality of an entry level department store issue. Wearing such a piece as if it were the real McCoy speaks even more lowly of the person who bought it.

“Franken” watches (as collectors call them) fall into the same category. These are perhaps genuine, high quality watches, modified to replicate other issues, eg, a 2531.80 with dial, caseback, and deployant clasp replaced to
pass for a 2537.80 Limited Edition.
     
*  

The complete range of scale may not apply to every sort of film watch, of course.
**   By “authentically altered,” let me be clear that I am talking about taking an original watch and changing it, as opposed to taking a fake and making it up to look like an adjusted original.