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What Will Be the New Bond Watch?
Any and all fans of the world’s greatest fictional superspy will be well aware there are big changes afoot in the life of the franchise; not least because James Bond needs to be resurrected for his next adventure after being blown to smithereens at the end of his last one.
Daniel Craig’s final scene in 2021’s No Time to Die saw him getting on the wrong end of a whole bunch of Aster missiles fired from a Royal Navy destroyer, sent to obliterate bad guy Lyutsifer Safin’s secret island lair (yes, really), with not even 007’s legendary luck and cunning enough to save him.
Well, there have been significant goings-on behind the scenes since that fateful occurrence. The biggest shakeup happened just last year when Amazon MGM (insert your own Jeff Bezos/Bond villain joke here) paid EON Productions head Barbara Broccoli a reported $1B to acquire creative control over the franchise—meaning for the first time in over 60-years the secret agent’s life is in the hands of a non-Broccoli.
Of course, the news everyone is waiting to find out is who the next actor in line to don the perfectly tailored tuxedo might be. Candidates range from one of three Jacks (Lowden, Barton or O’Connell) to Masters of the Air’s Callum Turner and Gladiator II’s Paul Mescal.
As of writing, no decision has been made public, but with October 5th marking the official Global James Bond Day, chances are we won’t have to wait too long.
But for us watch nerds, there’s another question we’re chomping at the bit for the answer to.
Bond and His Watches
No other screen character is so closely associated with his timepiece. Bond’s choice of watch is absolutely integral to his persona, and has been chosen with the requisite care for each one of his so far 25 movie outings.
In the books, of course, 007 was a Rolex man, as was his author, Ian Fleming. As former Naval Intelligence and a man of unimpeachable taste, Fleming wore an Explorer, a ref. 1016 to be exact, the perfect understated gentleman’s watch. Connery carried the brand over in his original Dr. No mission, although with a Submariner, and Rolex went on to star in a total of nine movies on the wrists of Lazenby, Moore and Dalton (along with Honor Blackman in Goldfinger).
1995 witnessed a shock change of marque when the newly licensed to kill Pierce Brosnan sported Bond’s first Omega, the brand’s debut Seamaster Professional Diver 300M. And there’s been an Omega on every Bond mission ever since.
But, with such a massive upheaval in ownership, might we be about to see another change in wristwear?
Higson’s Bond Goes Very Old School
English actor, comedian and author Charlie Higson is the writer behind the critically acclaimed Young Bondnovels, a series of five works following a teenage James Bond during his school days at Eton College.
More recently, Higson also produced a novella called On His Majesty’s Secret Service to commemorate the coronation of Charles III in 2023 featuring an adult Bond and, just last week, a second, King Zero, with a contemporary 35-year old 007 investigating the murder of a former double agent in Saudi Arabia.
In that, Bond is seen very much varying from the norm when he chooses to wear a wartime piece supposedly inherited from his great-uncle, formerly of the 6th Airborne Division which took Normandy’s Pegasus Bridge on D-Day.
The watch in question, a Vertex Cal. 59 W.W.W, was the only one of the so-called ‘Dirty Dozen’ to be made by a British watchmaker.
The Dirty Dozen were the first standardized watches designed and built specifically for the British Army in World War II, with the contract spread between 12 manufacturers. The majority of those were Swiss (with IWC, Longines, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Omega among them) and with a strict set of technical criteria to adhere to. These included a black dial and bold Arabic numerals, a small seconds sub dial, a railroad-style minute track, luminous hands, shatterproof crystal and water resistant case.
As the first non-civilian wristwatches ever issued to the British armed forces and, some might say, the first ever tool watches, the Dirty Dozen represent some of the most hunted down military models in existence today.
Bond’s Vertex Cal. 59 W.W.W (standing for Watch. Wristlet. Waterproof) is one of some 15,000 the company made between 1943 and 1944. And, in some ways, it is the ideal Bond watch.
It is British, first and foremost, and few things in life are more British than James Bond. The military connection is also an obvious one, and the piece has a rugged elegance—functional but with taste and style, much like the man himself; the fact Higson describes it as ‘slightly battered’ ties in well with the character too. And it harks back directly to the Fleming era, with Bond very much a product of post-war life and sensibilities.
So it works beautifully for the literary character. But will it transfer to the silver screen?
Bond’s Movie Choice
As yet, not much is known about Bond 26, the next film in the long-running, uber-successful series. In fact, casting has yet to be confirmed, with no lead actor announced. All we know is that Dune’s Denis Villeneuve has directing duties and Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight is in charge of the screenplay. Production is reported to start early next year.
So, we are a long way from knowing the watch or watches we might expect to see. However, as always, there have been rumors. Some have speculated that the new proprietorship might bring about a change in timepiece brand partner, with Rolex alleged to be back in contention. To be honest, that sounds speculative at best.
Omega CEO, Raynald Aeschlimann, stated in 2024 that he expected the next Bond to continue with Omega, although he did allow the company does not disclose the length of its contract with the franchise.
His assertion is backed up by Omega releasing a 007 First Light Seamaster in collaboration with Amazon MGM for the release of the Bond video game last May. And the brand has also released a mysterious teaser on to their website in the last week. Search ‘Bond’ and you will be presented with the five previous 007 tie-ins, as well as a new one with no image but with ‘James Bond Edition’ above the product name. Watch really closely as you click on it and you’ll notice the ‘Omega’ logo at the top briefly transforms into the octopus-like emblem of the dastardly Spectre crime syndicate. Check out the source code and that too comes in the shape of Blofeld’s secret organization. There are practically no details on the watch, reference number 210.30.42.20.03.004, but it appears to be part of the Seamaster Diver 300M line, steel on steel, with a 42mm diameter and thickness of 14.23mm, a blue aluminum dial, and possibly a mesh-type bracelet.
On the other hand, this new model might have nothing to do with the next Bond movie at all. 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Casino Royale, the film which introduced the world to Daniel Craig’s Bond portrayal, and it would be a strange occurrence for a birthday to slip past Omega without a special edition of some sort.
So, are we likely to see a 007 for an all-new generation don an 80-year old WWII standard issue watch on the big screen, or will he stick with his tried and trusted Seamaster? In all likelihood we’re at least 12-months away from knowing for certain, but should any information be leaked in the meantime, you can rest assured we’ll keep you updated.
Featured Photo: Mixed art by Oriol Mendivil for BKT Archive.
