BULLET POINTS
  • Omega
  • “Seamaster Planet Ocean Big Size: ‘Casino Royale’ – Limited Series” in 316L stainless steel, on OEM rubber strap [1]
  • Reference 2907.50.91 [2]; Caliber 2500 [3]
    • alt 29075091
  • Released in 2006; production limited to 5,007 sequentially numbered pieces
  • Authority: Omega
PRESENTATION

Watchmaker Omega itself released this watch with the intent that it be taken in commemoration of the EON Productions Casino Royale motion picture which premiered that same year [4].

Reference 2907.50.91 shared specifications with the screen-worn 2900.50.91 James Bond watch, having differed only in certain cosmetics [5]. Unique packaging and materials were also included when these watches were purchased new from Authorized Dealers [6].

“OUT THERE IN THE FIELD”

In June of 2010, a “Casino Royale” Limited went on display for ten months as part of “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” at the National Watch & Clock Museum [7]. Candidly, it competed quite impressively against the Ian Fleming watch for visitor interest (based on visitor feedback). It then joined that timekeeper for “Ian Fleming’s Own” until July of 2012.

Then, over a decade after the premier of Casino Royale, it was made a part of the “James Bond Originals” Kiosk and the National Watch & Clock Museum “Wristwatch Gallery.”

INSIGHTS

This was the second”James Bond watch” produced by Omega that never appeared as worn on-screen (first was the “40 Years of James Bond“). This was the first tied to a specific motion picture.

PERSONAL

The period surrounding release of this watch was pivotal in terms of marketing, mechanical wristwatch technology, and the James Bond movie franchise. “The Internet” was both an onslaught and a chaotic mystery [8]. Omega had just gone all-in on “Co-Axial” escapement tech [9]. And the sudden switch from Pierce Brosnan to Daniel Craig as Agent 007 was not taken well [10].

I saw this Omega Limited Series wristwatch as a metaphor for all of that.

And I still do.

It was four years and a new actor in the lead-role later, but the “40 Years” commemorative still largely dictated expectations among aficionados. Yes— there were at least two James Bond watches to come on-screen in Casino Royale, and “probably” a new limited edition to boot. But Omega had established that that would be another blue-blue Seamaster 300m (which, of course! was what Daniel Craig would then wear through the balance of his tenure).

I can literally count on one hand the number of people willing to even consider something movie-specific, let alone a 45.5mm tool watch that looked like a tool watch.

Thus, this timekeeper begat the short-lived “breaking news” and meaningful “exclusives” period of James Bond watch identifications. I mark the 2012 premier of Skyfall as the end of it [11], when it became clear that the intra period between films post-reboot was not going follow the pace maintained by Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton, or Roger Moore. “Scooping” a watch ID by a week, a day, or, more likely, just a few hours, didn’t come with the sort of well-deserved bragging rights that we’d seen peak during the “‘Casino Royale’ Limited” hunt.

For posterity, here’s what that looked like from my involvement in the race, reporting contemporaneously through James Bond Watches, and how that timing and content appeared.

  1. October 16, 2006 — Existence of this “Casino Royale” limited was published on James Bond Watches Blog [12].
  2. October 29, 2006 — Purchasing information published on James Bond Watches Blog [13].
  3. November 11, 2006 — Omega released its official Press Kit on “Casino Royale” limited [14].
  4. November 14, 2006 — Casino Royale motion picture world premier, in London [15].

One month later, on December 11, Omega announced that its “Casino Royale” Seamaster Planet Ocean Big Size 5,007-piece limited had sold-out in the United States [16]. By way of anecdotal perspective some seventeen years later, twenty-one Omega Seamaster 300 limiteds tied to SPECTRE are listed for sale today on Chrono24 [17].

I went on to purchase my own Omega 2907.50.91 “Casino Royale” James Bond watch in 2006, new, via arms-length transaction from Authorized Dealer Lewis Jewelers [18].

After initially keeping it reserved as more of a pristine showpiece, I found greater call to wear it more frequently in 2008 — especially throughout early proposal and development meetings the led up to the “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” exhibition at the National Watch & Clock Museum. It then “migrated” to the wrist of my friend Abby Krause, then Museum gift shop [19] manager, during the NAWCC National Convention in Grand Rapids [20]. She insisted that it was “merely” to promote the growing importance of James Bond watches to fulfilling the mission of that institution [21]; but the ever present smile on her face told me that it was a lot more than that.

For the most recent display of my personal “Casino Royale” Limited as part of the “James Bond Originals” kiosk, Museum Director Noel Poirier [22] arranged an impressive premier where I gave a formal two-hour presentation in the main auditorium before the opening, proper, on November 18, 2017.

Incredibly, when the group then moved out onto the floor where the kiosk was located, that “Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale Limited” one again grabbed the spotlight, without missing a beat, like some sort of physical manifestation of what I’d experience in the virtual world back in October of 2006.

— Dell Deaton
Last updated: April 1, 2024
Published: January 19, 2024

OFF-SITE REFERENCES
  1. “29075091: Seamaster – 45.5 mm, Steel on Rubber Strap”
    2006 / Omega (accessed January 20, 2024).
  2. “Omega – 2907.50.91: Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Co-Axial 45.5 Casino Royale”
    WatchBase: The complete online watch database (accessed January 20, 2024).
  3. “Omega caliber 2500”
    WatchBase (accessed January 20, 2024).
  4. “Very Rare Casino Royale Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean”
    June 8, 2016 / Edinburgh Watch Company (via YouTube, accessed January 19, 2024).
  5. “Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Casino Royale 600M 007 Limited Edition 2907.50.91 Omega Watch Review”
    October 8, 2020 / WatchBox Reviews (via YouTube, accessed February 3, 2024).
  6. “Omega 2907.50.91 purchase inventory”
    December 4, 2006 / delldeaton.com (via Internet Archive, accessed January 22, 2024).
  7. National Watch & Clock Museum
    (accessed January 6, 2024).
  8. The Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Study 2013: Time for the future
    2013 / Jules Boudrand, Howard da Silva, Jean-François Lagassé, and Karine Szegedi; and Dennis Brandes and Michael Grampp (accessed January 20, 2024).
  9. “Confirmation of new James Bond ‘Co-Axial’ Omega wristwatch”
    January 9, 2006 / Dell Deaton / James Bond Watches Blog (via Internet Archive, accessed January 20, 2024).
  10. “Blond Bond stirred by criticism, but not shaken”
    March 9, 2006 / Today (accessed January 20, 2024).
  11. “Omega AD identifies Skyfall James Bond watch as Aqua Terra model”
    March 13, 2012 / Dell Deaton / James Bond Watches Blog (via Internet Archive, accessed January 21, 2024).
  12. “Exclusive: Omega ‘Casino Royale’ Planet Ocean Limited Number revealed”
    October 16, 2006 / Dell Deaton / James Bond Watches Blog (via Internet Archive, accessed January 19, 2024).
  13. “Purchasing the Omega ‘Casino Royale’ Limited wristwatch”
    October 29, 2006 / Dell Deaton / James Bond Watches Blog (via Internet Archive, accessed January 19, 2024).
  14. “Official Omega SA Press Kit: ‘Casino Royale’ Limited”
    November 11, 2006 / Dell Deaton / James Bond Watches Blog (via Internet Archive, accessed January 19, 2024).
  15. “The Films: ‘Casino Royale’”
    007 (accessed January 22, 2024).
  16. “Omega 2907.50.91 Casino Royale Planet Ocean sold out in US!”
    December 9, 2006 / James Bond Watches Blog (accessed January 22, 2024).
  17. Chrono24
    (accessed February 3, 2024).
  18. Lewis Jewelers
    (accessed January 22, 2024).
  19. “The Importance of Gift Shops”
    February 24, 2023 / Museum of African American History (accessed March 24, 2023).
  20. “Watch, clock collectors spend some time meeting in Grand Rapids”
    June 11, 2009 / Lance Wynn / The Grand Rapids Press (via mLive, accessed January 22, 2024).
  21. “Visiting the Museum and Library & Research Center”
    National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors (accessed February 3, 2024).
  22. “About Me” Noel B. Poirier
    The Lazy Family Historian (accessed February 3, 2024).