Daniel Craig in-character as James Bond on the set of "Skyfall," courtesy Empire magazine

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 unchanged since the brand became product placement partner with Eon Productions for the 1995 movie, GoldenEye. The first-outing quartz 2541.80 looked to most viewers just like the 2531.80 Seamaster that Pierce Brosnan wore throughout his last three 007 films. Things only sparked when a very small minority of us saw the marketing value of using the introduction of newcomer Daniel Craig to expand the line.
  • The licensed 2002 Omega James Bond watch limited to 10,007 pieces that’d come out around the time of Die Another Day provide a frame of reference for special-run pieces. Customer demand (Laurent Bouzereau reported in his The Art of Bond that it sold out in just 4 days). Value in driving traffic to Authorized Dealer showrooms.
  • On the technology front, the George Daniels co-axial movement was being aggressively deployed through an increasing number of Omega models. It was (and remains) an exclusive Omega offering. Then came the announcement while Casino Royale was still being filmed that the 2531.80 would be discontinued in 2006.
  • On the soap opera front, Omega was publicly stating its intent to unseat the long-held position of Rolex among luxury watch brands. (This ultimately became reflected in a bit of dialogue for the final cut of the movie, where Vesper confuses one of James Bond’s Omega watches in Casino Royale for a Rolex.) Additionally, likenesses of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond continued to appear on the Omega website well-into 2006 as brand Ambassador. That drove significant Internet chatter, speculating that it meant perhaps bets were being hedged in case Daniel Craig didn’t work out.

None of that impulse or momentum exists for Skyfall.

Today, Omega continues to offer both Casino Royale models as current. The 42mm Seamaster Planet Ocean 2201.50 reference associated with Quantum of Solace is also available new from Omega Authorized Dealers.

So— whether you read about the Skyfall watch or watches first on this James Bond Watches Blog, or elsewhere; whether you are among the first to see the news break realtime, or you don’t find out until the information literally appears in the print edition of Empire magazine — you’re not gonna miss out on getting this watch. If you want it, you can have it.

There is no benefit whatsoever to prospective buyers in trying to trying to identify any James Bond watch worn by Daniel Craig for Skyfall based on photos. No one is gonna buy one of these James Bond watches based on anything less than 100% certainty. Increased sophistication and a continuing abysmal economy with little hope of recovery this year have really gelled that mindset.

Which brings me to the flip side: The longer a screen-worn watch disclosure is delayed, the more Omega watch sales are harmed.

All sorts of impulses to buy are coming up and passing buy now. Wish-watch threads that spring up after photos like the one from Empire last Friday, as I said, flash and die like ignited magnesium. If anything, they frustrate. Market share is lost among those demographics that’d need to budget for an expenditure of this sort, because the impetus to start saving-up now so that Mr or Mrs James Bond fan can have “the” watch on his/her wrist when Skyfall premiers isn’t there.

Perhaps more important than anything else, competition for building brand awareness is at its lowest point currently. Let’s face it: Discussions related to the photo above are gonna be limited to Daniel Craig’s physique, the swim trunks he’s wearing, or James Bond’s watch.

Might not be a bad idea for Eon Productions to give a loyal product placement partner like Omega as much opportunity to leverage its investment as they’ve already given to a number of car makers now.

It also couldn’t hurt to establish Skyfall James Bond watch models now, in anticipation of the multiple Omega limited editions we’ll undoubtedly see later in 2012.

Quell any concerns, too, that we’ll have a repeat of 2008, when neither of the Bond-related Omega watch releases was cased in anything like what appeared on screen in Quantum of Solace.

Hmm. We might not need to know James Bond’s Omega watch ID now.

But team Omega certainly does.

Image courtesy Empire magazine