(Help support this site! If you buy stuff through my links, your clicks and purchases earn me a commission from many of the retailers I feature, and it helps me sustain this site—as well as my menswear habit ;-) Thanks!)
Go back through the majority of my photos from the last 6 years and you might notice something: I’m wearing one particular watch in them all.
Since I’ve been thinking more about watches lately, I thought I’d put together a little gallery of photos spanning the last 5 years of the many times I’ve taken a photo wearing my all time favorite watch: the Omega Seamaster Professional 300m, aka the Bond watch. By no means does this watch need any more press, a new introduction or more publicity, but if it’s new to you, here’s a quick intro.
In 1993 Omega introduced this new watch, a dive watch intended to compete with the all-time king of the category, the Rolex Submariner. Omega had been making dive watches for decades, but this watch has the design language that put it most directly in competition with the Sub. Fortuitously for the brand, in 1995 Goldeneye costume director Lindy Hemming decided to give James Bond the watch in that film—not a Rolex, as Ian Fleming had described Bond as wearing in the original 007 novels—because her father had served in the Royal Navy during the time that Omega Seamasters were standard issue to servicemen. The resulting publicity made this watch instantly iconic and one of the best-selling watches of all time.
My own story with the watch starts 7 years after Goldeneye. My dad and brother shared the love of watches more so than I did (which I wrote about a little bit about in this post). And so for his high school graduation, my parents bought my brother the automatic version of the watch, in 41mm. He was over the moon. I didn’t mind nor was I jealous, it wasn’t my particular interest at the time. The next year, while on a trip in Colorado, my dad ran across the same watch in a jewelry store for a heavily discounted price, and he pounced, buying it for himself.
Even though watches weren’t an area I was extremely interested in, I still always loved this watch. And so my dad always let me wear the watch whenever I wanted to. It was sized to his wrist, so it wore a bit loose, but throughout the last 17 years I’ve had it on my wrist off and on as he and I would trade it back and forth.
Today, you can easily find this particular model, reference 2531.80.00 (which references the automatic model) for sale in the $2,000-3,000 range. The quartz model, which was the version featured in Goldeneye, is 2541.80 and can be found even cheaper (the ticking of a quartz second hand being its obvious huge downside).
I’ve considered buying one for myself, so that I no longer have to borrow it off my dad’s wrist. If I did, I’ve contemplated which version of the watch I might buy. The original design was updated in 2006 with an improved mechanical movement inside and tweaked design choices outside (this version is reference 2220.80). Most importantly, the movement was given Omega’s coaxial technology, which is a proprietary innovation of theirs that reduces mechanical friction and improves accuracy (here’s a primer on escapements that I found helpful).
Externally, the watch got slightly more luxe by making the logo and hour markers applied on the dial, instead of painted on. The result makes the dial more three dimensional, without changing it too much. The trademark Seamaster wording was also made red and moved just under the Omega name. This version of the watch made a final cinematic appearance in Casino Royale, Daniel Craig’s first turn in the role. After that, every new Bond film featured a new Omega (namely the Planet Ocean, the Aqua Terra, the Seamaster Master Coaxial 300, and a special Seamaster Professional 300m designed with input from Daniel Craig).
I’ll write a bit about the newer models of this watch in a different post (the 2012 version and the 2018 update), but for now, check out the photos of it in action. I personally think it’s one of the most versatile watches there is. It looks great dressed up or dressed down, and even on a NATO strap has some character.
If you want to buy this watch, here are links to search for it on eBay. When buying on eBay, look for watches that are guaranteed certified authentic (which means the seller ships it to an eBay authenticator, then they ship it to you once they determine it’s bona fide). The fakes these days are unbelievable and tough to spot.
(Help support this site! If you buy stuff through my links, your clicks and purchases earn me a commission from many of the retailers I feature, and it helps me sustain this site—as well as my menswear habit ;-) Thanks!)
