What Watch Does James Bond Wear? The Omega Seamaster Story
James Bond has worn an Omega Seamaster since GoldenEye in 1995. Why 007 left Rolex, which Seamaster is in each film, and the titanium No Time To Die watch.
Short answer: James Bond wears an Omega Seamaster, and has done since GoldenEye in 1995. Pierce Brosnan's first Bond watch was a blue-dial Seamaster Professional Diver 300M (ref. 2541.80.00). Daniel Craig's films added the Planet Ocean, the Aqua Terra and the Seamaster 300, and in his final outing, No Time To Die (2021), Bond went back to a Diver 300M — this time in titanium.
Before 1995, though, the answer would have been different. The cinematic Bond started out wearing a Rolex.
What is the Omega Seamaster?
The Seamaster is Omega's oldest and broadest product line. It was introduced in 1948 and drew on watches Omega had made for the British Royal Navy. The early Seamasters were not dive watches in the modern sense: they were water- and dust-resistant everyday watches, often slim and understated, like the example from around 1960 pictured below.
The professional dive models came later. The Seamaster 300 arrived in 1957, and in 1993 Omega launched the Seamaster Professional Diver 300M, the watch that would become synonymous with 007. Its extra crown at 10 o'clock is a helium escape valve; according to the watch press it was the first Omega dive watch to carry one.
Before Omega: Connery's Submariner
Sean Connery, the first film Bond, wore a Rolex Submariner ref. 6538 in his first four films, starting with Dr. No in 1962. In Dr. No and From Russia with Love it was worn on a leather strap rather than the Oyster bracelet. For the full story of that watch, see our piece on the Rolex Submariner.
For decades, that Submariner was the image most people had of "the Bond dive watch".
1995: why Bond switched to Omega
The switch came from the costume department rather than a boardroom. Lindy Hemming, costume designer on GoldenEye, chose the Seamaster for Brosnan's Bond. By most accounts, she wanted Bond to appear more "modern and European". Watch press accounts add that she had Bond's Royal Navy background in mind, and the Seamaster's naval roots suited the character.
The watch on screen was the Seamaster Professional Diver 300M Quartz, ref. 2541.80.00: a 41 mm steel case on a matching bracelet, with a blue wave-pattern dial, a blue rotating bezel and a battery-powered movement. In the film it hid a laser in the bezel and a remote detonator; the real watch, naturally, has neither.
For Brosnan's next three films — Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002) — Bond wore the automatic version of the same design, the Seamaster Professional Diver 300M Chronometer, ref. 2531.80.00. For a generation of viewers, that blue Diver 300M simply was the James Bond watch.
The Daniel Craig era
Craig's first film, Casino Royale (2006), gave Bond two Seamasters. A black-dial Diver 300M Co-Axial (ref. 2220.80.00) appears in the dressier scenes, while the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M (ref. 2900.50.91) is on his wrist as he emerges from the sea. The Planet Ocean had only joined the Seamaster family in 2005, as a tougher, 600-metre diver.
The films that followed rotated through the wider Seamaster range:
- Quantum of Solace (2008): Planet Ocean (ref. 2201.50.00).
- Skyfall (2012): a Planet Ocean, plus a more restrained Seamaster Aqua Terra.
- Spectre (2015): a limited "Spectre" edition of the Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial (ref. 233.32.41.21.01.001). Not to be confused with the Diver 300M, this is a separate, more vintage-styled model descended from the 1957 Seamaster 300.
- No Time To Die (2021): the Diver 300M returns, but in a very different form.
No Time To Die: the titanium Diver 300M
No Time To Die, released in September 2021, was Craig's fifth and final film as Bond. His watch, the Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition (ref. 210.90.42.20.01.001), looks unlike any Bond Seamaster before it:
- a 42 mm titanium case on a titanium mesh bracelet,
- a brown "tropical"-toned dial with no date window,
- a Broad Arrow at 6 o'clock, a nod to British military-issue watches,
- Omega's self-winding Co-Axial Master Chronometer calibre 8806.
The caseback carries mock military issue markings to complete the tool-watch look. Alongside the mesh-bracelet version, Omega also sold the watch on a NATO-style strap.
Omega's other famous watch
The Seamaster may be Omega's star on screen, but its most famous watch in history is arguably the Speedmaster — the watch that went to the Moon. Read its story in our Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch feature.
Frequently asked questions
What watch does James Bond wear? An Omega Seamaster, since GoldenEye in 1995. Brosnan wore the blue Diver 300M; Craig wore the Diver 300M, Planet Ocean, Aqua Terra and Seamaster 300. In No Time To Die it was the titanium Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition.
What watch did Sean Connery wear as Bond? A Rolex Submariner ref. 6538, in his first four Bond films.
Why did James Bond switch from Rolex to Omega? GoldenEye costume designer Lindy Hemming chose the Seamaster because she wanted a more modern, European Bond, and its naval heritage fitted the character's Royal Navy past.
Where is Omega from? Switzerland. Omega was founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, is headquartered in Biel/Bienne and belongs to the Swatch Group.
When did the Omega Seamaster 300M come out? The Seamaster Professional Diver 300M was launched in 1993, two years before it reached Bond's wrist in GoldenEye.
You can find all our Omega stories on the Omega brand page.
