SPOILER ALERT!

Why—?

This is the one question quite likely asked more than any other.

Who cares what kind of wristwatch is worn by a made-up character?

Regardless of how it is phrased, or, for that matter, the perceived motivations of the individual who’s asked, the list of compelling reasons to answer is substantial.

In short, “James Bond watches” provides a versatile framework for organizing interests, as well as serving to stimulate ongoing discovery of new ones. On this site, responses are organized under three groupings.

  1. History Lessons
  2. “Clothes Make the Man”
  3. Res Ipsa Loquitur

History Lessons

Through a remarkably continuous thread of stories that spans 1953 to present day, James Bond watch selections highlight, explain, and occasionally affect changes upon myriad historic intersections with their appearances.

  • Early descriptions in the writings of Ian Fleming matter-of-factly described instrument luminescence that would carry a very different meaning among “The Radium Girls.”
  • Within five years of checking the time on a Rolex in a Latin American night club by glow of a cigarette lighter flame, the line between diver’s and dress watch was forever blurred.
  • Seiko memorialized the key iterations of quartz, from expensive novelty to the source of accuracy (without compromise to style or application), and defined product placement for wristwatches.

George Daniels launched what may have been the first salvo in a “mechanical watch counter-revolution,” commercialized by Omega for debut in the second big-screen Casino Royale (2006). By 2015, a new “METAS” standard both validated this superior standard in accuracy, but went further in raising the bar on protecting mechanical watches against magnetic fields that are now ubiquitous in modern society.

“Clothes Make the Man”

Although the Odyssey by Homer pre-dates even the most nascent of personal timekeeping initiatives, its sentiments about clothing that makes the man is remarkably applicable to an appreciation of what wristwatch choices have said about the fictional James Bond character over time.

  • Evidence supports the idea that EON producer Albert R Broccoli was quite involved in the selection of several watches for their role in defining 007; differences in approach subsequent to his last involvement, with GoldenEye (1995), can also be seen.
  • Contrasting watches were thoughtfully selected to distinguish personal life from mission assignment in Dr No (1962) and Live and Let Die (1973).
  • The degree to which cover was to be considered can be seen in discussion of the gold pocket watch with family crest that was issued to Agent 007 in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963).
  • More recently, the implied question of “What if you had to choose only one watch to meet your every need throughout the variety challenges you’re likely to encounter?” was addressed in Licence to Kill (1989), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Quantum of Solace (2008).
  • The organization for which James Bond worked has also been defined through these means, as in the standardized “company issue” triple-blue Seamasters from GoldenEye (1995) through Casino Royale (2006).

And, since the most ardent James Bond fan is not likely to wear every consumer counterpart to these in rotation, his choices, too, are likely to speak volumes about his lifestyle, work, and passions.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Here, application of the legal precept which states that “the thing speaks for itself” would hold that James Bond watches are important, simply, because they are important.

Other wristwatches have their own categories, of course (eg, “moon watches”); some watches even have informal names that have continued to stick over the long haul (eg, “The Paul Newman Daytona”). But “James Bond watches” stand out against even these stalwarts in several key attributes.

  • Almost anyone, anywhere can carry on a reasonably intelligent, ad hoc discussion of “James Bond watches” (making this anything but “a WIS thing”).
  • The “James Bond watch” moniker is aggressively sought, but continues to defy becoming owned: It’s organic, and self-perpetuating.
  • “The James Bond Omega,” “The James Bond Submariner,” and “The James Bond Seiko” do not exist — and yet, all almost any affiliated watchmaker that can lay claim to the label has done so, and, along with a lot of their customers, continue to do so, to this day.

Last but not least, there is this site, James Bond Watches, exclusively and expansively dedicated to this one topic, frequently sought out, cited, and regularly updated since 2005.

— Dell Deaton
Updated: January 12, 2024
September 6, 2009

off-site

Bibliography

© 2025 – 2005 Dell Deaton, All Rights Reserved. USA

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