A Timely Treat For Disappointed Bond Fans

The 5 stars below - minus one-off George Lazenby - have portrayed 007 on the big screen and in each one Bond has sported a watch of style, elegance and ingenuity - something we at Ogden of Harrogate wholeheartedly embrace with our own stunning collection of timepieces.

Read on for our in-depth look back at our favourite secret agent's wristwear of choice. 

Top row left to right: A) Daniel Craig B) Pierce Brosnan C) Sean Connery

Bottom row left to right: D) Timothy Dalton E) Roger Moore 

1962 Author Ian Fleming’s ultimate British spy James Bond first appeared on the big screen in 1962 in Dr No, starring Sean Connery. In the film 007 wore a Rolex Submariner, Reference 6538, without a date or display. Perhaps the choice of brand was inevitable given Fleming prized his own Rolex Explorer. Film buffs believe that the model seen in the movie was one of Connery’s personal possessions. Like many vintage steel Rolexes, the 6538 has soared in value and one in top condition can fetch as much as £400,000.

Sean Connery

1963 Bond stuck with Rolex for his second cinematic outing, From Russia with Love. The movie showed Connery again wearing a Rolex Submariner, Reference 6538. This model also did not feature anything but the time as Bond’s provider of spy gadgetry, Q, hadn’t yet equipped it with any special capabilities.

Ogden of Harrogate has a vintage Rolex from the same year, as seen below, which sports the kind of style Bond would surely appreciate. 

1963 Rolex Oyster Date Precision watch - stock no. 58-86-094

1964 Connery again wore the  Rolex Submariner in Goldfinger (below), where it was attached to a narrow textile strap.

1965 Connery's 007 wore a pair of timepieces in Thunderball - the Rolex Submariner to tell the time and a modified Breitling Top Time, which incorporated a Geiger counter - surely a must-have for any British spy of Bond’s calibre. The actual Breitling Top Time that featured in the movie resurfaced in 2013 when it was bought at a UK car boot sale for £25. With its provenance proven, it later drew £103,875 at auction at Christie's. An identical Top Time without the history is around £1,500 for one in good condition.

1967 The next incarnation of Connery’s super spy came in You Only Live Twice. Unusually for a Bond movie no one seems to know exactly which watch accompanied 007 on this outing but some aficionados suspect it was a golden Gruen and probably from Connery’s private collection.

1969 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service featured a new leading man - George Lazenby - in what proved to be his only outing as 007. In the movie Bond wore a Rolex Submariner (Ref 5513) and a Rolex Chronograph (Ref 6238), both of which have also rocketed in value.

1971 Connery resurrected his role as Bond in Diamonds Are Forever. While his watch is largely absent in the film one does make a fleeting appearance in one scene. Bond buffs think it might have been the same golden Gruen worn in You Only Live Twice.

1973/1974 Roger Moore’s debut as James Bond in Live And Let Die featured, in the opening sequence, a Pulsar P2 LED digital watch from Hamilton, which helped usher in the quartz revolution. He also had a Rolex Submariner, upon which Q had worked his department’s magic. This piece could be triggered to serve as a circular saw, useful for handcuff removal, and perhaps more importantly sported a built-in magnet to deflect incoming bullets. In Moore’s follow-up The Man with the Golden Gun a Rolex Submariner was also the order of the day.

Roger Moore

1977 Moore and his arch eyebrow were also the star in The Spy Who Loved Me, where 007 wears a Rolex GMT Master to assure accurate timekeeping and a Seiko 0674 LC, which operates as a pager. It also has a mini printer inside that ejects strips of paper carrying important messages from the office spymaster M. 

Ogden's vintage Rolex GMT below certainly captures the suave elegance of the British secret agent.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMT Master - stock no. 58-87-363

1979 Moore’s fourth outing as Bond came in Moonraker, which catapulted the suave spy into space. There he was aided by a Seiko M354 Memory Bank Calendar equipped with explosives and a remote detonator, which 007 used to escape from the Moonraker launch platform. 

1981 Moore was brought back down to Earth for his fifth Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Two Seiko watches joined him on his adventures in the Aegean Sea: the Seiko 7549-7009 and the Seiko H357 Duo Display. The 7549-7009 “tuna can” dive model is now regarded as a fully fledged classic.

1983 In Octopussy, Moore’s Bond came armed with a Seiko TV Watch on his wrist. In the same year, Connery gave his final performance as Bond in Never Say Never Again although the identity of his watch in this movie remains something of a mystery.

1985 A View to a Kill, Moore’s final starring role as Bond, found the spy on the Golden Gate Bridge, where he wore a Rolex Datejust. In other scenes, 007 wore one of three Seiko watches, including a Seiko Diver’s 150m.

Timothy Dalton

1987 Timothy Dalton took over as Bond in The Living Daylights in which 007 sported a TAG Heuer Professional Night-Dive, Reference 980.031.

Among Ogden's range of superb TAG Heuer timepieces, with its note to watery adventure, this one below would surely grace 007's steely wrist.

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Cailbre 5 Steel and Rose Gold Automatic watch 40mm - stock no. 55-11-001

1989 In Dalton’s second and final adventure as James Bond, License to Kill, Bond once again wore a Rolex Submariner.

1995 Pierce Brosnan’s Bond rang the changes in GoldenEye with a quartz version of the Omega Seamaster Professional 300M (Reference 2541.80).

Pierce Brosnan

1997/1999 An Omega Seamaster Professional (Reference 2531.80) was Bond’s timepiece of choice in Brosnan’s Tomorrow Never Dies and he was so attached to it, it accompanied him on his adventures in the next 007 movie The World Is Not Enough, where it featured a radiant light source and a rescue cable with a grappling hook. 

Although Ogden's Omega Seamaster below doesn't come with a grappling hook, it does capture the essence of the super spy.

Omega Seamaster Automatic - stock no. 51-27-100

2002 Brosnan remained faithful to the Omega Seamaster in his fourth adventure Die Another Day. This model came complete with an explosive charge in its helium valve that could be detonated via the bezel. A powerful laser in the watch’s crown also served Bond well in his battle against the baddie Gustav Graves.

Daniel Craig

2006 Bond loves variety, so when Daniel Craig debuted in a big-screen adaptation of Casino Royale, he alternately wore an Omega Seamaster Diver 300M (Ref. 2220.80) and a Seamaster Planet Ocean (Ref. 2900.50.91).

2008 In Craig’s next Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, the secret agent needed an exceedingly watertight watch and his Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M (Reference 2201.50) reliably resisted pressure at great depths.

2012 Craig again features in Skyfall, where his Bond wore several watches, including one specially built for the film. After the movie’s release, Christie’s sold that one, a Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M with a titanium case, unlike the serially manufactured stainless steel version, for almost £175,000.

2015 In the most recent Bond adventure, Spectre, also starring Craig, 007 wore an Omega Seamaster 300 Spectre, which hinted at a predecessor from the 1960s. He also sported an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra in the opening sequence.

Ogden's rare vintage Omega from the 1960s, below, also carries a taste of the era's elegance and cool sophistication.

Rare Omega Manual vintage 1960s watch - stock no. 58-86-097

Each Bond watch reflects its epoch: from robust mechanical timekeepers, through digital timepieces, to state-of-the-art chronometers, there is something for everyone - an outlook Ogden of Harrogate's collection of watches also embraces. Take a look at our full range here: https://www.ogdenharrogate.co.uk/pages/watches