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NO TIME TO DIE NOTEWORTHY 007-TIMEPIECES
All images © Eon Productions/ their respective owners
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Ian Fleming left us in no doubt about which watch manufacturer Bond preferred. In his book ‘Casino Royale’, it is said that Bond “could not just wear a watch. It had to be a Rolex,” and in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ he writes that 007 wears “a heavy Rolex Oyster Perpetual on a metal watch bracelet.” When Bond made his on-screen début in ‘Doctor No’, lead actor Sean Connery prominently sported a Rolex Submariner, which would appear in all seven of his films. Connery is said to have worn watches from his private collection. Even to this day, this exact model (reference number 6538) is still referred to as a James Bond Submariner.
George Lazenby stepped into the role for the movie version of ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ and wore two Rolex watches; a Submariner 5513 and a Rolex Chronograph 6238, which has since become known as the ‘Pre-Daytona’.
When Roger Moore took over in “Live and Let Die”, he wears a gadget-laden watch, although the watch is never in plain view. However, Rolex is mentioned in the credits, so let’s assume it was one. In his second film, he wears the Submariner 5513 - before going ‘digital’ (see below). In 1987, Timothy Dalton wore a Tag Heuer Professional Night Dive wristwatch before returning to a Rolex in ‘A License to Kill’: A classic Submariner 16610. An interesting fact: Rolex never paid the movie company for product placement.
By the time Pierce Brosnan stepped into the role James Bond, product placement was very common and so the producers invited watch-manufacturers to bid for becoming the official watch of James Bond, and Omega won the war. Ever since, 007 sported an Omega watch and Daniel Craig was even involved in the creation of the new Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition.
A Breitling on Bond’s wrist? Yes, indeed! The ‘Top Time’ in Thunderball.
In Live and Let Die (1973) Roger Moore wears a Hamilton Pulsar P2 2900 LED (right). From 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me through to ‘A View to a Kill’ in 1985, Bond wore primarily Seiko watches, including the Seiko M354 (left) and the G757 Sports 100 (middle). He also used the famous Seiko Liquid Crystal TV Watch.
