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Cartier 2961 Santos Carrée

Made by Cartier International AG, late-1970s to mid-1980s [1]

The James Bond watch configuration was housed in a round-cornered, square, stainless steel case with an 18-karat yellow-gold bezel held in place by eight screws matched to its case. Each was worn on a model-associated bracelet, featuring links matched to case, two solid-gold screw-heads visible on the top of each link. A square, white lacquer dial featured black, painted upper-case Roman numerals at eleven of its twelve hour-markers (a date window appeared at its 3 o’clock position. The only text on its face read: “Cartier.” It had blued hands [2].

See link to “Exclusive Images,” below.

James Bond’s Watch

Screen-worn wristwatches were provided by Cartier for the outset of filming in Vienna in October of 1986 [3-4]. Cartier was specifically acknowledged among a limited number of partners on The Living Daylights (1987) credit roll.

As Seen in the Movie

Worn on-screen by Timothy Dalton as Agent 007 in one EON Productions motion picture, The Living Daylights, 1987.

The Santos Carrée can be seen during upper-room sniper-assignment preparations for the defection of Georgi Koskov, and on through completion of escape via pipeline transport. Moreover, 007 wore it in at least two sequences where he appeared along side Saunders, Head of Section V, Vienna (who himself was both times shown wearing a reference 980.013 TAG Heuer).

The versatility of this Cartier [5-6] was also appropriately showcased later in the motion picture during sequences in Tangiers [7-13].

Development / Technical / Retail

“Les Montres Santos Carrée, Grande Modèle” [14-15] was part of an entirely new line introduction unveiled on October 20, 1978 [16]. That offering initially consisted of wristwatches in square and round cases; two “large” and two “small” models. Case options included all-steel, steel and gold, and all-gold [17].

The James Bond watch (large) case measured 29mm across.

Observations

Pierce Brosnan was originally set to debut at 007 in The Living Daylights — although the particulars of that story (like so much of James Bond legacy) depend upon who’d been asked [18-21]. At that time he was playing a lead role in the Remington Steele television series, where he notably wore “the watch of the 1980s,” a Cartier Panthère [21].

Mr Brosnan wore a 27mm Panthère [23] for his 1986 screen test with EON Productions [24-25], but was not ultimately given the role when Remington Steele was picked-up for another season in the wake of interest in him as the next 007 [26].

Director John Glen conspicuously wore a 2961 Carrée at various points on-set while filming The Living Daylights.

Insights

Timothy Dalton was cast as James Bond relatively late in pre-production, announced for the role in early August 1986 [27-28]. Vienna was selected as venue for start of filming and kick-off press conference on October 5 of that year [29-31]. That location was also said to have doubled for Bratislava, Czechoslovakia.

The Cartier display case off the lobby of Im Palais Schwarzenberg Hotel Vienna may serve as indication that the jeweler had a broader promotional interest in its affiliation with this motion picture than that limited to watchmaker. But the fact that care appears to have been taken to properly coordinate the 18-karat bezel and bracelet screws with the solid yellow-gold cufflinks worn with multiple dinner suits suggested a level of attention to detail that would have been inconsistent with having simply duplicated the Saunders TAG Heuer for Agent 007 [32-36].

Two-tone wristwatches are considered an advent of the late-1970s and the 1980s [37]. On top of that, the fact that the Seiko James Bond dress watch in A View to a Kill was not a one-off, and had appeared just one movie prior to The Living Daylights, was hardly a surprise.

By measure, the Cartier 2961 Santos Carrée is among the smallest James Bond watches ever to have appeared in the movies — if not the smallest. Keep in mind, however that this watch was has the same dimensions as the solid gold Cartier worn by Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko [38] in the 1987 film Wall Street [39]. And just before Christmas 2024, Christian Zeron of Theo & Harris renewed his insistence that the Cartier 2961 continued to be “a great choice for those seeking an elegant sports watch for around $5000” [40].

Despite the absence of remarkable timekeeper appearances even insofar as came elsewhere with the Night Dive during the pre-title, I believe that the Cartier 2961 Santos Carrée served as primary James Bond watch throughout The Living Daylights.

— Dell Deaton
Updated: January 17, 2025
July 31, 2024 [41]

off-site

Exclusive Images

References

  1. “La Nuit Santos” (original press materials folder) / October 20, 1978 / Cartier.
  2. “Thermal Bluing Steel Watch Hands” / November 17, 2021 / DIY Watch Club (via YouTube, accessed January 17, 2025).
  3. For My Eyes Only / 2001 / John Glen (pages; 175-176; Brassey’s: Washington DC).
  4. “The Living Daylights: The New James Bond / Vienna Press Conference” / October 5, 1986 / IMDb (accessed September 2, 2014).
  5. “Cartier Santos: A Brief History” / February 24, 2021 / Revolution magazine (accessed July 30, 2024).
  6. “Cartier Santos: The Ultimate It-Boy Watch” / June 1, 2022 / Austen Chu and Sean Wong / Wristcheck (accessed September 5, 2024).
  7. “Bond, James Bond …” (image 1 of 2) @niccoloy) / October 24, 2021 / Nick Gould (via Instagram, accessed July 31, 2024)
  8. (image 2 of 2).
  9. “A production still of Timothy Dalton on location in Tangier, Morocco during filming for The Living Daylights” / Thunderballs (accessed July 31, 2024)
  10. “Dossier: The Living Daylights 1987.”
  11. “A production still of Timothy Dalton on location in Tangier, Morocco during filming for The Living Daylights.”
  12. (alt 1).
  13. (alt 2).
  14. “What is the differenced between Cartier Santos Carrée and Cartier Santos Galbee – explained” / July 29, 2021 / kabawatch (via YouTube, accessed August 31, 2024).
  15. “The First Pilots Watch, A Cartier Santos Carree Watch Review | Wristwatch Check” / January 28, 2023 / Huntington Company (via YouTube, accessed August 31, 2024).
  16. “La Nuit Santos.”
  17. “Cartier Santos Carre 2961 Spotlight – An Underrated Sports Watch?” / March 4, 2024 / KP’s Watches (via YouTube, accessed August 31, 2024)
  18. When the Snow Melts: The Autobiography of Cubby Broccoli / 1998 / Albert R Broccoli with Donald Zec (page 280; Boxtree: London).
  19. For My Eyes Only.
  20. “Unfinished Business” / November 1995 / Lawrence Grobel / Movieline (pages 41-42; Line Publications: Los Angeles).
  21. “The Search for Bond: Pierce Brosnan” / Graham Rye / 007 Magazine (accessed August 31, 2024).
  22. “The On- and Off-Screen Watches of Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan – Reprise” / January 3, 2010 / Martin Green /  Quill & Pad (accessed August 31, 2024).
  23. “Panthère de Cartier Watch” / Cartier (accessed January 16, 2025).
  24. The Art of Bond / 2006 / Laurent Bouzereau, with Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall (page 136; Abrams: New York).
  25. “Pierce Brosnan’s watch collection is as stylish as his 007” / May 16, 2021 / Alfred Tong / GQ (accessed July 31, 2024).
  26. “Pierce Brosnan was left ‘heartbroken’ after his first James Bond screen test” / July 29, 2023 / George Simpson / Express (accessed September 5, 2024).
  27. “On this day in 1986, …” / July 29, 2023 / 007 (via X, accessed September 5, 2024).
  28. For My Eyes Only (page 176).
  29. “The Living Daylights: The New James Bond / Vienna Press Conference” / October 5, 1986 / IMDb (accessed September 2, 2014).
  30. “The Living Daylights locations” / Visiting Vienna (accessed September 5, 2024).
  31. “Plan Your Trip to Vienna + James Bond Film Locations” / May 4, 2022 / Peter Brooker / Carl Thompson (accessed September 5, 2024).
  32. “Style Shrink: Matching metals” / October 8, 2010 / Robert Johnson / GQ (accessed July 9, 2024).
  33. “Bond Wardrobe Review 15: The Living Daylights” / September 18, 2023 / Matt Spaiser / Bond Suits (accessed September 5, 2024).
  34. “This is a mission, not a fancy dress ball: Shawl Collar Dinner Suit in The Living Daylights” / September 28, 2011 / Matt Spaiser / Bond Suits (accessed September 5, 2024).
  35. “A Notch Lapel Dinner Jacket for the Opera and Wurstelprater in The Living Daylights” / December 1, 2011 (accessed September 2, 2024).
  36. “The Briefly-Seen Double-Breasted Dinner Suit” / September 5, 2013 (accessed September 5, 2024).
  37. “The rise and fall of two-tone watches” / August 25, 2020 / Russell Sheldrake / A Collected Man (accessed March 16, 2024)
  38. “Cartier Santos Or Massif ‘Gordon Gekko’ in 18k Yellow Gold Unpolished” / November 21, 2023 / Wind Vintage (accessed January 16, 2025).
  39. “Wall Street (1987)” / IMDbPro (accessed January 16, 2025).
  40. “Forget Rolex: Here’s Why this $5000 Watch is the Better Choice!” / December 10, 2024 / Theo and Harris (via YouTube, accessed January 9, 2025).
  41. “Cartier 2961 Santos” / September 5, 2024 / James Bond Watches (via Internet Archive, accessed September 5, 2024).

© 2026 – 2005 Dell Deaton, All Rights Reserved. USA

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