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Up until how, perhaps the biggest impediment to
creating a
comprehensive list of every James Bond watch featured in an
EON Productions film has been the lack of a clear way of identifying
each and clearly differentiating it from all of the others. Simply
referring to "The
Dr. No wristwatch" risks finding only the
Rolex
Submariner most frequently seen, but missing
"The Sylvia Trench watch"
in those early scenes with actress
Eunice Gayson that established Sean
Connery as James Bond.
Same thing holds true with
For Your Eyes Only.
Or did you think the
SEIKO Duo-Time was the only wristwatch Roger Moore
officially wore as James Bond in that one?
Both mechanical and quartz watches might be called
"The Pierce Brosnan
Omega." Even if we were clear on that
technical
difference, how would we differentiate the Arkangel version, worn on a
strap during the
GoldenEye pre-title sequence, as opposed
to the model worn by 007 on a bracelet throughout the balance? And
that's before we start exploring the Q-Branch options
à la Danjac property masters.
In developing this list for the
James Bond Watches website, we decided that looking at the question from
that very studio properties department standpoint best captured things for all
possible angles of inquiry. Take for example the entries above for
Live and Let Die. At least three different presentations of
the Rolex watch were made: There was the watch simply as worn by James
Bond, and as it worked in gadget-function for magnet and buzz-saw
applications (thanks to Q Branch). All three are here, although from a
story (and movie-goer) standpoint, the audience is supposed to think of
it as the same one wristwatch.
One of the other challenges we've overcome here is in
"counting" the watches. It's immediately impractical to number the
watches one per movie (sorry, Q, who appears to have done just that in
Die Another Day). Many films featured more than one James
Bond watch. Similarly, some very intense researchers may argue that the
same physical watch — or perhaps just what should be
inferred to be the same watch, based on some implied continuity of
reality or consistency of storyline within the world of 007 — appears in
more than one film, and thus "should only be counted once." By
providing a complete list on the James Bond Watches website, we've
provided the foundation for others to count by whatever criteria they
choose.
This also side-steps sequence issues
related to the order in which EON Productions made its James Bond films,
versus the order in which
Ian Fleming originally wrote the books. We've
even heard arguments that the 2006
Casino Royale watch
should be considered the "first" watch, due to the series re-boot.
Thus, each discernable watch
variation is named.
A different name will apply to the same
James Bond watch even if appears to be the same physical piece in different films; or if it appears in
the same film, but in different configurations.
Most if not all of the names originated
with the James Bond Watches website, although anyone is free to use them in making their
own references (with attribution, please). Criteria for choosing names included, obviously, a
desire to avoid confusion (eg, chart illustrates how limiting
the label "Sean Connery Rolex" would be for many researchers).
Controversial claims and confusing debates were avoided, so the first James Bond
Omega Planet Ocean model is not referred to as the "Pre-Double-0 Watch,"
despite widespread errors on the Internet and elsewhere insisting that 007 wore that
wristwatch only until he earned his License to Kill.
Potential confusion with licensed
products has led us to avoid naming watches after the movies themselves.
Yes, there was only one model of Omega watch featured in
Quantum
of Solace. But that's a watch not even close in case size to the
"Quantum of Solace" limited edition watch also produced by Omega SA.
Swatch has produced watches tied to movie names as well, and a
"Villains" collection. So, just to be on the safe side, we've
pro-actively avoided getting close to leading bad guy names, and leading
ladies as well (a/k/a "Bond girls," can they be far behind?).
Yes, "The Vesper Lynd Omega" was a close
contender for the Omega Seamaster noticed (and inexplicably confused
with Rolex) in that train sequence from Casino Royale.
Finally, we've tried to come up with
signature names that at the same time were not limiting. The "Peter
Franks Watch" could have as easily been called the "Elevator Watch,"
because of the great way in which James Bond uses a seemingly innocuous
interest in checking the time as a ruse to get his arm into position to
start the classic close-quarters fight in
Diamonds Are Forever.
But there are and may be in the future other elevators. The
Pulsar P-2
featured in Live and Let Die was a real challenge. It's
the archetype LED. But the "Parrot Watch" in For Your Eyes Only
appears to have an LED messaging capability (not to be confused with the
Labelmaker feature on watch from
The Spy Who Loved
Me — a
technology we're willing to risk won't be used in the future). "Miss
Caruso Watch" as a name for the Pulsar risked confusion with the Rolex
Submariner with its magnet feature, used in Live and Let Die
to unzip her dress.
Makes sense, now, why this list has been
so long in coming. From any quarter.
Standing on the shoulders of giants.
Efforts to ID "the James Bond watch" have been going on
before there were James Bond movies. Wonderful experts who know their
brands have weighed in as tangent interests to the 007 phenomenon, and
proven themselves to be incredible resources for discerning detail down
to model numbers on some pieces, and doing so most accurately at a time
when VHS tapes were the only reference sources available for
freeze-frame looks. As a result, we here at James Bond Watches recognize
that "The James Bond Rolex," "The James Bond Omega," and, we're sure, a
great many other James Bond shorthand notations have found their way
into both ubiquitous use by horology collectors, and jewelry store
insurance appraisals.
It's great to see our passion spread; we welcome the
attention and connection.
But this definitive list of James Bond movie watch
references, such as it is, in no way is meant to criticize those efforts
which have come before us. Indeed, anyone under the age of sixty most
likely started out with one or more of those sources as his first point
of research. So we thank those original researchers and honor them as
giants for their own contribution to this field of study.
Moreover, we've alerted various Forums to
the release of this list, and have been open to discussion, explanation,
and even the occasional healthy debate when it occurs.
Here's where you'll find
"James Bond watches: 'The list' of EON Productions movie wristwatches." |
