Editors' Picks -- 1 day ago
Words: Alex Doak
“I was dressing him in lots of blue shirts,” recalls Oscar-garlanded costume designer Lindy Hemming, “so the blue of the Seamaster matched perfectly. Plus of course, blue suited Commander Bond’s naval background.”
Hemming’s choice of wristwear for Pierce Brosnan’s debut as 007 in 1995’s GoldenEye was perfect. “Beautiful,” even, according to Vesper Lynd during the cringey dining-car scene in Casino Royale (2006) — where she blithely assumes Brosnan’s successor, Daniel Craig, wears a watch more suited to “former SAS types with easy smiles and expensive watches”. (In other words, James Bond’s historic pick of Rolex’s rival Submariner.)
As perfect as Omega’s pro-spec diver suited Messrs Brosnan and Craig’s twinkling eyes, the Seamaster really is default kit for Britain’s top- brass mariners. But with — spoiler alert! — Bond’s seemingly explosive demise in No Time to Die (2021), the historic watchmaker of Biel doesn’t seem too nostalgic when it comes to moving his trusty timepiece onwards and upwards. From blue to steely grey, and beyond.
In fact, things are decidedly pared-back when it comes to winter 2024’s surprise release: a (to borrow the cult hashtag coined by fans of Omega’s Swatch Group stablemate Longines and its own retro Legend Diver reissue) ‘#nodate’ version of 1993’s Seamaster Diver 300M.
The very first of these new iterations was spot- ted earlier last summer on the wrist of Daniel Craig, who wore a stainless steel version in black to the Olympic Games in Paris . That debut appear- ance ignited a more-than-significant wave of online buzz, especially given the Seamaster’s move away from its increasingly familiar ceramic-rendered rotating bezels of recent years.
Instead — taking inspiration from the Seamaster Diver 300M in No Time to Die — a laser-ablated titanium bezel with especially tactile ‘stippled’ texture is combined with suitable derring-do with domed sapphire crystal, giving each watch a nostalgically futuristic aesthetic.
The mesh bracelets are the militant cherry on the cake. ‘Milanese’ armour metalwork, if you’re being a pedant, but then again, James Bond never afforded much attention to Q’s particularities, did he now?
This article was taken from the summer 2025 issue of Gentleman's Journal, which you can read more about here.
This article was taken from the summer 2025 issue of Gentleman's Journal, which you can read more about here.
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