Every Seamaster Worn by James Bond in the Omega Era, From "Goldeneye" to "No Time to Die"

Omega became the official watch of the world’s most famous cinematic superspy, James Bond, in 1995, with star Pierce Brosnan sporting a Seamaster Professional watch in the first of his four films as Agent 007. Today — 30 years, nine movies, and two lead actors later — the Omega Seamaster retains its strong association with Bond’s signature style along with his penchant for exotic adventure. Here is a chronological rundown, movie by movie, of every Omega Seamaster model that James Bond has worn in his silver screen exploits during the last three decades. 

Goldeneye, 1995 (Pierce Brosnan): Seamaster Professional 300M Ref. 2541.80

When Irish actor Pierce Brosnan came aboard for Goldeneye, the first new Bond film in six years, Oscar-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming came with him. It was Hemming, according to Omega, who suggested that an Omega Seamaster would be the perfect watch for Bond, despite the character’s established affinity for Rolex, which came from Ian Fleming’s original novels. “I was convinced that Commander Bond, a naval man, a diver, and a discreet gentleman of the world, would wear this watch,” Hemming said in an interview. At the time, the watch she chose was one with a quartz movement, the Seamaster Professional 300M Ref. 2451.80. In the movie, the 300-meter water resistant diver with blue dial is equipped with a built-in laser beam in the bezel, which Bond uses for a desperate escape from an exploding train car, and a remote detonator button (which in reality is the watch’s screw-down helium release valve). 

Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997; The World is Not Enough, 1999;  Die Another Day, 2002 (Pierce Brosnan): Seamaster Automatic Chronometer 300M Ref. 2531.80.00

Brosnan is said to have been very fond of his Goldeneye watch and its blue dial, and in his next three movies as Bond he wore one very similar to it, the Seamaster Professional Ref. 2531.80.00, whose major difference was that it was equipped with an automatic chronometer-rated movement, the Omega Caliber 1120, rather than a quartz one. In each of the films in which it appeared, Bond’s Seamaster was pressed into duty not only as a timekeeper but as a repository of hidden weapons and life-saving tools. In 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, it’s equipped with a built-in detonator that sets off a remote hand grenade; in 1999’s The World is Not Enough, it releases a grappling hook with a piton shooting up from the crown; and in Brosnan’s last film, 2002’s Die Another Day, the watch, with yet another remote detonating device, is just one of that movie’s host of barely believable high-tech plot devices, including, at one point, an Aston Martin that can turn invisible. 

Casino Royale, 2006 (Daniel Craig): Seamaster 300M Co-Axial Ref. 2220.80.00, Seamaster Planet Ocean Ref. 2900.50.91

The James Bond cinematic mythos received a hard reboot in 2006. The producers not only cast a new actor in the lead role but went all the way back to the beginning for the next movie’s storyline — adapting Casino Royale, Ian Fleming's very first Bond novel from 1953, for the first time to the big screen. Portraying the younger, harder-edged version of Bond that this new era called for was Daniel Craig, an English stage and movie actor known for bringing both charm and intensity to his roles. Despite the “back-to-basics” approach, it was still Omega, not Rolex, that was on board as official watch supplier. (For any viewer who wasn’t sure, there’s even a line in Casino Royale where one of Bond’s traveling companions mistakes his wristwatch for a Rolex and he instantly corrects her.)

Craig’s Bond wears two Seamasters in the movie, a 45.5mm steel Planet Ocean Ref. 2900.50.91, mostly in outdoor action scenes, and a Seamaster 300M with blue dial (Ref. 2220.80.00, above), very similar to Brosnan’s signature watch, albeit without any built-in grappling hooks or lasers, as per the more serious, less-gadget-heavy turn the series had taken.

Quantum of Solace, 2008 (Daniel Craig): Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Co-Axial Chronometer Ref. 2201.50.00

Bond opted for a Seamaster Planet Ocean as his sole watch in 2008’s Quantum of Solace, which was largely a sequel to Casino Royale. The watch Daniel Craig strapped on for this film was  the 600-meter water resistant Ref. 2201.50,00 in steel, with a matte black dial, which at 42mm in diameter was slightly more modest in size than Bond’s previous Planet Ocean. Once again, there was a distinct dearth of extra gadgets in the timepiece, or a need for them in the plot; as the shortest Bond movie yet made, at a tight 106-minute running time, perhaps there just wasn’t an opportunity to add such elements. 

Skyfall, 2012 (Daniel Craig): Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Ref. 232.30.42.21.01.001, Seamaster Aqua Terra Midsize Chronometer Ref. 231.10.39.21.03.001

In Skyfall (2012), another branch of Omega’s far-ranging Seamaster family (I cover it in detail here) makes its first appearance in a James Bond movie. One of the watches Daniel Craig wears in his third outing as 007 is an Aqua Terra “Midsize” Chronometer (Ref. 231.10.39.21.03.001), outfitted with Omega’s co-axial Caliber 8500 and featuring the familiar Aqua Terra teakwood-pattern dial. As in Casino Royale, Bond sports one watch for the more elegant “indoor” scenes, another for the action-oriented “outdoor” ones. The dressier Aqua Terra served as the former, while another Planet Ocean 600M (232.30.42.21.01.001), does its duty as the latter. The actual watch Craig wore during filming was a unique piece made specially for the movie, with a 42mm titanium case (the commercial version was in steel). After Skyfall was released, Craig’s battered movie-worn watch sold at a Christie’s auction for more than $250,000.

Spectre, 2015 (Daniel Craig): Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M Ref. 231.10.42.21.03.003, Seamaster 300 Ref. 233.32.41.21.01.001

Master villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his worldwide criminal organization Spectre, staples of 1960s and ‘70s Bond films but absent from the screen for decades due to legal disputes, finally returned in 2015’s Spectre. Perhaps inevitably, audiences were also introduced to a new, younger version of Q, which meant that Bond’s classic gadgets, including ones built into his watches, were also back, at least to an extent. Again, Daniel Craig wears two Omega Seamaster models: an Aqua Terra (Ref. 231.10.42.21.03.003) in the memorable “Day of the Dead” opening sequence in Mexico City, and a steel Seamaster 300, with a fabric NATO strap. The latter is a fairly obvious callback to the Rolex Submariner that Sean Connery’s Bond famously wore in 1964's Goldfinger. In keeping with Omega’s technical watchmaking advances in recent years, both these watches are equipped with Master Chronometer movements notable for their industry-leading magnetic resistance to 15,000 Gauss. In the movie, the Seamaster 300 has another high-tech feature built in: a timed explosive activated by twisting the bezel, which Bond uses to escape Blofeld’s clutches in a climactic scene.

No Time to Die, 2021 (Daniel Craig): Seamaster Diver 300M Master Chronometer "007 Edition"

Craig’s final Bond film, the much-anticipated and COVID-delayed No Time to Die, marked the end of another era of James Bond movies, and it also featured, once again, multiple Omega Seamasters on the screen — this time, distributed among several characters. Craig wore the Seamaster Diver 300M “007 Edition,” a watch for which Omega says the actor had substantial input on the design, with a titanium case, a scalloped-edge rotating divers’ bezel with an aluminum insert, and a brown “tropical” dial with vintage-hued lume and a British armed-forces-inspired “broad arrow” marking above 6 o’clock. Bond’s temporary replacement as Agent 007, Lashana Lynch’s Nomi, rocked a 38mm black dialed Aqua Terra, and Naomie Harris’ Eve Moneypenny sported a 27.4mm De Ville Prestige with a quartz movement and hunter green leather strap. While the next actor to portray James Bond has yet to be chosen, and the release date for the next film, which will now be helmed by the team at Amazon, has yet to be set, one can rest assured that an Omega Seamaster will play a role.