There’s more than one James Bond watch — and it goes beyond even the Sub and the Seamaster. Let’s dive into the fabled world of 007 timepieces.
It may not be unique to say that James Bond got me into watches. Even long before my parents allowed me to watch the often PG-13 films, I was playing the N64 GoldenEye game. Through that, I fell in love with the Omega Seamaster.
Then I started watching the movies, reading the novels, and eventually buying James Bond watches. Of course, 007 famously wore the Rolex Submariner. In the past ten years, the Seamaster has taken up the mantle.
These two are the undeniable stand-outs, but he’s worn other timepieces, too. Truly, it’s fascinating to look at the two main Bond watches and his less famous timekeepers. It says a lot about men’s style per era and how Bond evolves while maintaining his archetypical ways.
Table of Contents
What Watch Did James Bond Wear?
The watch most associated with James Bond is the Rolex Submariner. Though the Omega Seamaster is the current Bond watch, the Submariner will always be the first. Both are dive watches, a hat-tip to the character’s time as a Royal Naval Reserve Commander. And both are elegant yet rugged, just like Bond himself.
Let’s take a look at the Sub, then the Seamaster.
Rolex Submariner: The First Bond Watch
The Rolex Submariner Reference 6538 is the George Washington of Bond watches. Though you can point to the Submariner and the Seamaster as the two lines that represent 007, no one specific reference is as quintessential.
And like George Washington, the 6538 is recognizable by its silhouette alone. It was called the Big Crown Submariner because of the oversized, guardless crown.
In Bond’s first cinematical outing, 1962’s Dr. No, Sean Connery paired a Submariner with his dinner jacket. The world saw a new way to wear a tool watch. It’s still tricky to pull off today (What if you’re at a banquet with dimly-lit programming and your lume activates?). Still, the tool-watch-black-tie combination fully entered the fashion zeitgeist.
Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels, was himself a Rolex fan. He mentioned that Bond wore an unidentified Rolex in his novel Casino Royale. Since Fleming wore an Explorer I, many assumed Bond did, too. Then, Fleming identifies 007’s Rolex as an Oyster Perpetual in Live and Let Die.
Fleming was heavily involved with the Dr. No film. He even rewrote the scripts. So, the choice to go with a Submariner was likely cosigned by him. Again, it makes sense, given Bond’s Naval Commander status.
Moreover, Fleming apparently thought Sean Connery was “too refined” to play Bond. Perhaps a rugged sports watch would balance out his Ken Doll good looks, whereas an Oyster Perpetual would highlight it. After Fleming saw Dr. No, he praised Connery’s performance and even retconned Bond as being half Scottish in Connery’s honor. Connery would go on to wear the Submariner in several Bond outings, including From Russia with Love and Goldfinger.
The Submariner Beyond Connery
George Lazenby wore a Submariner in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969. Perhaps it’s because he was only in one film, but Lazenby is a criminally underrated Bond.
His 007 wore a Reference 5513, now with crown guards, to his wedding to Tracy Di Vicenzo. (Note that Daniel Craig’s Bond was not the first to fall in love). Lazenby also wears a pre-Daytona chronograph in this film.
The next long-running Bond is Roger Moore. Moore definitely ushered in a new, comedic, self-aware vibe to the franchise. He’d eventually usher in some new seemingly un-Bond-like watches, too. However, producers decided not to frighten the horses for his first Bond outings.
Both 1973’s Live and Let Die and 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun featured Bond in a Submariner 5513. Moore’s Bond movies are the first time we see ‘Q’ add offensive superspy functions to the Sub. It was equipped with a handy buzzsaw, though, sadly, none of the real-life 5513s ever featured one.
Timothy Dalton, a precursor to the grittier components of Craig’s era, also wore a Rolex Submariner.
Omega James Bond Watch: A New Era
Then, of course, there was the Omega James Bond watch. The ‘90s saw a shift in Bond’s style. He went from worldly English gentleman to cosmopolitan deal-closer, likely a response to the Wall Street go-go ‘80s. He looked less like he was heading to White’s Club for a scotch after a day of grouse hunting and more like he was heading to a board meeting at a London skyrise.
So, of course, this called for a new watch. Enter the Omega Seamaster.
Pierce Brosnan debuted the Omega Seamaster 300, reference 2541.80, in 1995’s GoldenEye. It’s one of my favorite designs of all time. There’s the now-legendary blue wave dial, with its skeletal hands, scalloped bezel, and alternating-linked bracelet.
The watch plays several important roles in GoldenEye. Bond uses a laser beam from the lume pip to escape a train explosion. He uses the helium valve crown as a remote detonator button. And the movie’s villain, Alec Trevelyan, also wears a Seamaster. Trevelyan was a former 006, so this creates a parallel between him and Bond.
And speaking of parallel, check out the scene when Trevelyan compares his watch to Bond’s. When the camera pulls away from the close-up, you can see that the lume is activated. That’s how bright it is.
The Seamaster’s Journey to the Throne
Bond continued to wear the Seamaster from 1995 onwards. This was the legwork needed to ensure its place as “the other Bond watch.”
Brosnan sports his Seamaster in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies and in 1999’s The World is Not Enough, where Omega equipped the Seamaster with a grappling hook. Then there was Die Another Day. Between the infamous invisible car and the Madonna cameo, this movie was one degree away from being an Austin Powers romp.
So, the next chapter would have to be more serious. In my mind, this is when the Seamaster finally gets its flowers, so to speak. One of my favorite self-aware watch moments in film is in 2006’s Casino Royale, Bond’s origin story.
Vesper Lynd looks down at the watch that James Bond, now Daniel Craig, is wearing. “Rolex?” she asks. Bond replies flatly, “Omega.” “Beautiful,” Vesper says admiringly while raising one eyebrow. By name-dropping the original Bond watch and then ID-ing his Seamaster, this self-aware moment is an official baton pass.
He also wears a Seamaster Planet Ocean, Reference 2900.50.91, the first broad arrow variant to show up in the series. Craig sticks to the Seamaster Planet Ocean in 2008’s Quantum of Solace and 2012’s Skyfall.
Certainly, the wave dial variant brought the Seamaster into the Bond fold. However, Craig’s era brings in aesthetics from the original Seamaster (Reference CK 9213), with its flush indices, broad arrow hands, and overall aerodynamic aesthetic.
Which led to a sum of all Seamasters, the James Bond No Time To Die Watch.
James Bond No Time To Die Watch
I like to call the Omega No Time To Die Watch the sum of all Bond Seamasters. It combines elements of the two tentpole Seamasters: the wave-dial version that debuted in GoldenEye and the classic CK 2913.
The No Time To Die Watch features the scalloped bezel and skeletonized hands of the ‘90s GoldenEye Watch. However, the matte black and tropical palette reminisces a vintage CK 2913.
It showcases the Seamaster’s evolution. Importantly, it showcases how neither Bond nor the Seamaster line would be what they are, aesthetically, without each other.
The Other James Bond Watches
The James Bond saga (at least in the world of cinema) spans over almost 60 years and features 25 films. While arguably the most famous, the Sub and the Seamaster aren’t the only watches James Bond dons on his wrist. Are you curious about the other Bond watches in movie history? Here are the most notable ones.
The Watch Bond Wore First: The Gruen Precision 510
The Submariner may be the first “Bond watch,” but it wasn’t even the first watch he wore on screen. That honor goes to the Gruen Precision 510. I have a theory as to why Connery is wearing this traditional dress watch in his first scene.
Remember, Bond is supposed to be balanced: Elegance and class, but also ruggedness and danger.
The first time we met him was during the now-famous Immortal Introduction. You don’t even see his face immediately; it’s just his hands throwing cards during a gambling scene. All of this communicates a sense of danger. Moreover, after Sylvia Trench introduces herself to him, he lights his cigarette before giving her an answer (sans eye contact, by the way).
The gambling, the negging, and the too-cool attitude bring the ruggedness. So his wardrobe, along with the glitzy background, needs to be pure elegance to bring that balance.
Funnily enough, the Gruen Precision 510 is also known as the Sylvia Trench Watch. In a way, the watch doesn’t belong to Bond as much as it belongs to the scene. It was chosen to bring an aesthetic and vibrational balance to the entire scene.
Hamilton Pulsar from 1973’s Live and Let Die
As traditional as Bond can be, Roger Moore’s 007 wasn’t allergic to trends. Perhaps this is why he wore the Hamilton Pulsar P2 2900, one of the first digital watches in the world. Though Hamilton is no stranger to movies, fans were surprised to see the non-analog piece on 007’s wrist.
A modern version of this retro-futuristic piece, the PSR, is actually still available from Hamilton today. And it wouldn’t be Moore’s last digital timepiece.
Breitling Top Time from 1965’s Thunderball
I mentioned that Moore’s Bond wore watches that boasted the first ‘Q’ modifications that could actually do damage. However, technically, this Breitling Top Time is the first modification overall. It just can’t be used in a fight. Bond’s Top Time is also a Geiger counter used to measure radiation.
Someone found the actual Thunderball Top Time at an English flea market called a “car boot sale.” It sold for £25. In 2013, it crossed luxury auction house Christie’s block and sold for £103,875.
TAG Heuer Professional Night-Dive from 1987’s The Living Daylights
Tag Heuer based the Night-Dive on the classic dive template invented by the Submariner. It has a unidirectional bezel, triangular index at the 12, rectangular at all the cardinals, and circular everywhere else. It even had Mercedes hands.
In a way, the TAG Heuer Professional Night-Dive that Timothy Dalton wore during his inaugural Bond outing was the start of steering Bond back into a traditional diver style.
Seiko G757 from Octopussy
The Seiko G757 Sports 100 has that retro-cool man-of-mystery aesthetic you think a spy might wear in real life. As such, it’s become one of the more iconic non-Sub, non-Seamaster Bond watches.
Roger Moore uses its tracking device to track down a Fabergé egg. You see the watch in the pre-title sequence, at M’s office, at the Sotheby’s auction, and when he arrives in India. In fact, this watch even has a few dupes via Casio, like the LF20W-8A.
James Bond Casio Watch
James Bond never wore a Casio, but the AE1200WH looks like the Seiko G757. Its nickname is the Casio Royale. And hey, who does retro-cool better than Casio? The multi-panel, multi-section watch face looks like a full-on mini command center.
The best part? It’s not as hard to find as a Seiko G757, and it costs around $30 compared to around $500.
FAQs
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about James Bond watches.
What Was the James Bond Watch in GoldenEye?
James Bond wore the Omega Seamaster 300, reference 2541.80, GoldenEye.
What Was James Bond’s Favorite Watch?
It’s a toss-up between the Rolex Submariner and the Omega Seamaster since they’re the most commonly worn.
Does James Bond Wear a Rolex or Omega?
Bond wears both, starting with the Rolex Submariner in the first few films and the Omega Seamaster from 1995 onwards.
What Kind of Rolex Did James Bond Wear?
James Bond wears several references of the Submariner in the films, as well as a pre-Daytona Rolex chronograph. In the books, he wears a non-specified Rolex, though it may have been an Explorer, as that’s what the author, Ian Fleming, wore.
Conclusion: The Most Famous Watches in Cinema
There are actually far more James Bond watches than the ones listed here. Look beyond the Submariner and the Seamaster. You’ll realize that each iteration of Bond and each film is just a touch unique, and the watches represent that.
No fictional character has contributed as much to the culture and market of the watch industry as 007 has. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Submariner is the most famous watch in the world. I’m sure Bond had something to do with that.
What’s your favorite Bond watch? Is it one we left out? Let us know in the comments!
Connery wore a Gruen Percision 510.
You left out the Seiko from For Your Eyes Only with the analog display in the corner that doubled as a tracking screen. I actually had one of those.