James Bond Watches Blog

Life magazine presents "James Bond watches and the Quartz Revolution" Timeline, sponsored by Rolex (Omega Seamaster courtesy Lewis Jewelers, Ann Arbor, Michigan)

This last installment from the Life magazine timeline, “James Bond watches and the Quartz Revolution,” gives us two new watchmakers — and two new actors in the role.

On June 29, 1987, Timothy Dalton made his first appearance as James Bond in the Eon Productions 007 film, The Living Daylights. For the sixth consecutive installment in a row, the James Bond watch here was a quartz.

Actually, both of them were quartz models.

For additional context, images from the Life magazine archives are indexed into this timeline, featuring Octopussy Bond-girl as she looked post-Bond in 1988, and The Spy Who Loved Me Bond-girl Barbara Bach, post-Bond, the following year.

The next and final quartz James Bond watch, then, was the Omega 2541.80 Seamaster that introduced Pierce Brosnan as Our Man in GoldenEye (1995).

Images available through Life online featuring continue reading…

"James Bond Watches Price Guide 2011," by Dell Deaton (Proteus Publishing), now available for immediate delivery from Amazon.com

For the first time ever, this James Bond Watches Price Guide is available to provide readers with exact sales price histories on all James Bond watch models confirmed to have been referenced by Ian Fleming and in the Eon Productions 007 movies.

See listing on Amazon.com for complete details.

We’ve offered dedicated coverage of James Bond watches here since 2005. Broken news with the first definitive identifications for models from several watchmakers. Done the exclusive, original research that’s set our James Bond watch website and blogs apart from every other information resource.

Having piqued the interest of serious collectors, and fans simply wanting to own this piece or that of Bond-related history, there’s always been a key piece missing — how much is this James Bond watch really worth?

So I started sampling actual, legitimately-completed transactions during the first week of January, 2008. Sources included online listings from watch forums and bidding sites, professional auction house catalogues, and person-to-person and brick-and-mortar shop sales that were shared with me through a network of enthusiastic supporters of our work here.

Thus the James Bond Watches Price Guide grew to include data for many wristwatches dating back to the 1990s.

Breitling, Hamilton (Pulsar), Omega, Rolex, Seiko, TAG Heuer: Over 600 individual transactions, spanning almost two dozen different models.

It’s a truly unprecedented reference that will help buyers make more informed decisions as they consider purchases, and help sellers price watches in ways that both respect the Bond pedigree and move toward closing deals in desired time frames.

In addition to our Amazon listing, a dedicated website has been set up for the James Bond Watches Price Guide to provide information on future editions and additional formats in which this content will be be offered.

Several photos of the Guide contents can be seen there as well.

Nicholas G. Hayek Sr., former CEO of Omega watch parent company Swatch Group, passed away at the age of 82 this past Monday.

We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends, and, indeed, the Swiss watchmaking industry for this loss.

In the world of James Bond watches, we know him as the man who was at the helm of Swatch when Omega first became the choice of timekeeper for Pierce Brosnan’s 007 in the 1995 feature film, GoldenEye. More broadly speaking, he is credited with revitalizing the watch industry in Switzerland against the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut of the quartz revolution.

Beyond the Omega Seamaster and Planet Ocean models featured on Our Man in the six most recent Eon Productions films, Swatch itself has also released a number of highly successful James Bond wristwatches under license.

In writing Nicholas Hayek’s obituary for Forbes, Stephen Pope nicely (and, uniquely, with great accuracy) weaves a thread of 007 watch history — illustrating the most recent adversities overcome — into his narrative.

Rest in peace, Dr. Hayek.