James Bond Watches Blog

Moonraker (1979)

A two-page, full-color magazine ad from 1978 heralded the Seiko Memory-Bank Calendar as ‘the first LC digital quartz memory bank calendar’ wristwatch. Its mode can be switched to display a full calendar for any month from January 1930 to December 2009. ‘Memory-Bank’ refers to an option where users can pre-program not-to-be-forgotten dates, up to 12 months hence. No alarm sounds at this stage of development; reminders come by way of flashing LCD segments.

In Moonraker, Moore exclusively wears the M354-5019, model SFX003. Already 27-percent thinner than what Bond wore in the previous film, it further illustrates the momentum building behind the quartz revolution. More options were being added then, without increasing case or cost size, which the power needed to run them had been reduced by 60 percent over the half-dozen previous years.

The definitive list of James Bond watches from Seiko UK, by Dell Deaton, in Revolution magazine, 2010

For the first time ever, a 6-page feature article in the current Revolution magazine authoritatively labels and describes all 8 James Bond watch models supplied by Seiko UK to Eon Productions for its 007 films (so far).

Based on exclusive access to personnel and records through Seiko UK, James Bond Watches has finally ended guesswork — and outright misrepresentations — that have frustrated researchers, collectors, and James Bond fans for literally decades.

Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli, et al., first put a Seiko watch on the wrist of Roger Moore as James Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me as part of an innovative cooperative marketing arrangement with Seiko UK. That film was released in 1977, and the deal continued through a total of 5 films, until the 1985 feature A View to a Kill.

Mark Mills, FBHI, joined Seiko UK in 1977 and ultimately became point-man for the supplier of these James Bond watches.

Yet despite the number of insistant discussions about these watches on fan forums, and self-proclaimed “experts” who’ve set up shop to continue reading…