Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/06/james-bond-always-has-the-best.html
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I like his Omega Seamaster Diver 300M from the upcoming film… but not enough to drop thousands of dollars on it.
Maybe Q could requisition one for me?
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The Bond watches are arguably the pioneers in movie product placement.* I’m amused how the sponsored watches went from mainly Rolexes in the 1960s and early '70s to lower-end Seikos during the silly and campy Roger Moore years in the late 1970s and early '80s, then to high-quality Omegas as the series went back to a more serious and tasteful tone.
[* at least in the form we now know it. Car manufacturers also liked making deals with Cubby Broccoli.]
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In the novels, Bond was a Rolex Explorer guy. 
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what the fuuuuuuug was up with that nato on Connery’s sub?
Bond was a Royal Navy commander and (at least in “Dr. No”) was in a hot tropical climate, so a NATO strap on a Rolex made more sense than a metal bracelet for the character and situation. It’s an interesting, versatile look, so I guess the costumers kept it up in the next few movies.
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Did you notice that his NATO strap in Dr. No was too small for the watch he wore? (You can see how the spring bar pins are exposed… not covered by the strap.) Story I heard was that someone (director? wardrobe?) didn’t like the look of the band that came with the watch, and the strap was (too?) quickly dug up and installed (as undersized as it was).
I also liked its look (black/gray stripes) and several years ago replaced the nylon dive band on my Seiko black face dive watch with the b/g NATO strap. It looks absolutely fabulous! And it’s super comfortable, too.
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I didn’t notice that. I guess that’s what @noahdjango was asking about. Based on the often ad hoc decisions made on movie sets, your answer makes sense.
I also agree that the NATO can be a good look on any watch except maybe the more formal eveningwear ones.
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So many other watchmakers jumped onto JB flick backs; I did not know that. Check out the Omega Seamaster he wore in Skyfall. Omega with NATO strap… back to its roots.
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James Bond wearing a watch emphasises the unreality of the whole thing for me. I can’t wear a watch myself, due to skin sensitivity, but I mistrust anyone who wears anything that is more expensive than functional. Rolex? Seiko? IMO you are a plutocrat and ergo an enemy.
One of the few Rolex watch models I like. The rest looks to bulky and knobbly. The “cyclops” is an atrocity.
Sorry, 007’s got nothing on 0008.
Unfortunately, I found no evidence a replica of Derek Flint’s watch was ever produced, so you can’t buy one. But you can see 0008’s iconic wristwatch on the cover of Harlan Ellison’s Flintlock, which was the screenplay for what was meant to be the third Flint movie. We only ever got the two, Our Man Flint (1965) and In Like Flint (1967).
That little thing sticking out is a silent alarm, btw; when it came time, it would poke out of the case and rock back and forth, tapping your wrist without making any noises for the bad guys to overhear.
Side note, although we never got a whole trilogy of Derek Flint films, you can watch The President’s Analyst (1967) for a third. Just imagine it’s an alternate reality where Flint didn’t become 0008, but instead a psychiatrist who gradually goes a bit crazy himself under pressure from his top-secret job. The movie is not only very trippy, but it also was prescient in that the ultimate bad guy turns out to be (and do NOT read the spoiler if you haven’t already watched the film, or otherwise don’t care cuz this is the Big Reveal at the end) The Phone Company (aka TPC), which seeks to rule all humanity via their new product, a phone so tiny it is implanted in the user’s head to communicate directly with (and secretly control) people’s brains..
James Coburn was brilliant in comic roles like these!
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Oh I dunno, Rolexes can be pretty nice. It’s a matter of taste of course, so nobody’s right or wrong when it comes to this stuff. I tend to like Rolexes though, although some get a little nuts. I do like Submariners, even if they are the default “ooooh I got a few bucks I’m going to get a fancy watch, how about the same one almost everybody else goes for” watch. 
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My Dad took me to see that for some odd reason. A wonderfully goofy movie with an insane ending.
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Rolex and Omega, OK but Seiko…?! I don’t see many plutocrats wearing Seikos…
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His definition of a “plutocrat” seems to be rather idiosyncratic and not particularly accurate.
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Here’s a shot from Goldfinger, with the black/green/red colour scheme that seems to be the generally-recognized Bond pattern.
Bond did wear a black/gray strap as well (from Spectre):
Why do I know this? What’s wrong with me?
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Seikos are available on Amazon for about $80.00 US, and rarely go for more than a few hundred, or the price of cleaning a Rolex. If you’re booking guillotine time, you might want to give priority to some of the more exotic brands.
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Perhaps not a proper sequel, TV movie, no Coburn, but there was a third:
The Bond watch that really captured my imagination was the Seiko TV-Watch used in Octopussy.
Which was a real thing, but sadly was nothing like its movie counterpart in real life. Yes, it was a TV screen in a watch but it was black and white, and needed an external tuner.
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