The limited edition Omega Seamaster James Bond ‘Quantum of Solace’

Every couple of years we are treated to a new James Bond movie. Young and old look forward to seeing what kind of daring duty Bond must fulfil, which Bond girls are featured, what type of villains we will see, what car he drives and of course, what type of gadgets and accessories 007 will use. (We’re always most excited to see the latest Bond watch of course). We’re also graced with limited edition Omega models to celebrate this partnership, however, i’ll get to that shortly.

 

 

 

The Omega Seamaster’s worn by James Bond

Ever since the birth of Bond we’ve seen interesting timepieces however since 1995, it’s always been Omega.

Everyone recognises the blue dialed Omega Seamaster as the iconic ‘Bond Watch’, however, in more recent years, Bond has been experimenting with various models throughout the Omega range. We’ll get to that in part two of this blog, for now we’re talking Seamasters.

As any Omega and/or James Bond fan would tell you, the collaboration between the two “brands” started over 20 years ago. The 2 movies starring Timothy Dalton were, let’s just say, not particularly successful. The producers realized that they had to shift gears and adapt to the different times the early 90’s brought. They redesigned the character of James Bond and teamed up with several major global companies; BMW, Ericsson and last but not least, Omega.

 

A persistent rumour is that someone close to (or related to) Omega or Swatch Group offered – besides the official partnership – a 7-digit amount to have the famous “Nice watch. Is that a Rolex?” (and Bond replies: “Omega”) quote in the Casino Royale (2006) movie script. Whether it is true or not, we don’t know, but it did the trick in any case.

Golden Eye

The first instalment of this collaboration was with Golden Eye in 1995. The story was built using those Bond clichés we know and love; space technology, Russians as bad guys and a Roger Moore-type suave, Pierce Brosnan. Throughout the movie he is seen wearing the Seamaster Quartz Professional 300M.This was the building block of one of the greatest commercial partnerships in history.

Tomorrow Never Dies

Just 2 years after the first of the Pierce Brosnan-era movies, United Artists (the studio behind the franchise) were ready to amaze us with yet another picture, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), by this time Bond upgraded his quartz to the Omega Seamster 300M Automatic Chronometer: a truly outstanding, future classic watch.

 

 

The world is Not Enough/ Die Another Day

In the third (The World Is Not Enough, 1999) and fourth (Die Another Day, 2002) movies there were no upgrades, James Bond was still wearing his trusty Omega Seamaster 300M. However, the best was yet to be seen.

 

Casino Royal

11 years later, Casino Royal (2006) gave the story of Her Majesty’s Secret Agent yet another twist. Daniel Craig was chosen to play the new James Bond and brought a completely different attitude to the screen. Craig is more of a Connery-type muscle guy versus the sharply dressed businessman like Brosnan. This new beginning also meant a new watch. Screen time was split between the Omega Seamaster 300M similar to the previous models but now with the Co-Axial escapement and the larger 45.5mm diameter Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean on a rubber strap. The Planet Ocean was a new addition to the Omega family and matched Craig perfectly. When James Bond dressed up for a poker game he was seen sporting the smaller, classic 300M but when he was taking care of business, he required a tool watch. The Planet Ocean proved to be that rugged watch and became a worldwide success for the brand. More on this to come.

Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace (2008) was the title of the next Bond movie but it could have been Casino Royal Part 2.

The villain is different, but the story continues. Here’s where our latest addition to our stock comes in, and the reason for this article. Another tribute to the infamous partnership, number 593 of 10007, the limited edition Omega Seamaster 300m Quantum of Solace. This stunning watch comes with a stunning black dial with “007” on the bottom of the second hand and is in mint condition (It hasn’t had the life of a bond watch, thankfully). It’s case size is 41mm making it just the right size for anyone.

Here at Edinburgh Watch Company we’re always on the lookout for interesting timepieces and the Bond limited edition watches are simply ones we just can’t refuse. If this isn’t the exact bond watch for you, then let us know which one is and we will do our best to source it.

There have been several other films since Quantum of Solace, in part two of this blog we will be looking at the various other models Bond has been sporting within the Omega range. For now we’ve done a short video review on the Quantum of Solace Omega Seamaster we have in stock for you to enjoy.