SpotlightNo Time Like The Present: Omega’s Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition For No Time To Die

If there are two brands that you’d instantly associate with the world’s most famous spy today, they would have to be Aston Martin and Omega. However, the official Bond car and the official Bond watch weren’t always associated with 007. Omega, in fact, became James Bond’s timepiece in 1995, with GoldenEye, starring Pierce Brosnan as Bond for the first time. This was a part of renewing the cinematic image of the suave gentleman spy, a character originally created by Ian Fleming. It was Lindy Hemming, the Welsh, Oscar-winning costume designer, who was responsible for casting the Omega Seamaster. “I was convinced that Commander Bond, a naval man, a diver and a discreet gentleman of the world would wear the Seamaster with the blue dial,” she says. And so, it’s the Seamaster collection that has been the source of 007’s timekeeping instruments seen in all the James Bond films ever since, four starring Brosnan, and four with his successor Daniel Craig in the role. Craig now stars in his fifth and final outing as the super-spy in No Time To Die, which is finally releasing this week, two years after it was originally intended to.

Slated for a November 2019 release, the film got delayed because of changes in the team behind the scenes, and was pushed to April 2020. As we all know, that was when the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading the fastest and widest, which demanded complete lockdowns worldwide, resulting in theatrical releases being postponed. It was no time to release No Time To Die, which was pushed to November last year, and twice more after that, with September 30, 2021 being set as the final release date. Now while the Omega Seamaster made for this film will only made its silver-screen debut this week (at yesterday’s world premiere of the film), the watch has already been available for quite some time, considering that everything surrounding the picture was already set in motion before all the delays. Bond actually wears the watch in the film, so obviously the watch was finalised and ready for production, which, one can say, was literally years ago. And, as it turns out, this new Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition has become quite a hit, not only because it was ‘made for Bond’, but because of its amazing utilitarian quality as a tool watch—in a big way owing to its titanium construction.

Omega’s Bestseller In Titanium—The Ultimate Military Tool Watch

The Diver 300M is anyway one of Omega’s most popular watches, and certainly among their most iconic offerings. It’s an extremely durable dive watch, with a solid construction that allows it to withstand the rigours of daily wear. The most basic Seamaster Diver 300M comes in steel of course, it being such a functional metal. Now, if the same functionality and robustness comes in a metal that is several times lighter than steel, but even more durable, that would enhance the utilitarian appeal of the timepiece significantly. And that’s what this 007 Edition does, with its 42mm case made from grade-2 titanium. The choice of titanium was made during the development process, through which Omega worked closely with the producers and with Daniel Craig himself. Choosing titanium was a part of making this watch suitable for military needs, and the final design was even influenced by Craig’s own experience as Bond, in the previous four films, as his insights and advice became critical in creating this timepiece.

The Diver 300M is an extremely durable dive watch, with a solid construction that allows it to withstand the rigours of daily wear. This one comes in titanium, making for enhanced robustness

₹9,80,300

Check Our Selling Price

Titanium is several times lighter than steel, but even more durable, increasing the utilitarian appeal of the Diver 300M significantly

₹9,80,300

Check Our Selling Price

The choice of titanium was made during the development process, through which Omega worked closely with the producers and with Daniel Craig himself

₹9,80,300

Check Our Selling Price

Choosing titanium was a part of making this watch suitable for military needs, and the final design was even influenced by Craig’s own experience as Bond. This one has the NATO strap

₹8,68,900

Check Our Selling Price

01

The case is water-resistant to 300m, as the name suggests, and like the basic Diver 300M model, it also has a helium escape valve at the 10 o’clock position on the case. Offset against the sublime grey tone of the titanium case, is the deep brown aluminium ring on the unidirectional-rotating dive-timer bezel, which features beige numerals and other markers on the 60-minute scale. Filled with luminous material, the bubble on the 60-minute marker of this scale glows green in the dark, like the minute hand on dial, while the luminescence of the others markers on the bezel and dial are more bluish. The distinction of the green luminescence is meant to facilitate the quick reading of dive time, in minutes, after the green bubble on the bezel is set to the position of the minute hand to mark the start time of the dive.

Offset against the sublime grey tone of the titanium case, is the deep brown aluminium ring on the unidirectional-rotating dive-timer bezel

₹9,80,300

Check Our Selling Price

The case is water-resistant to 300m, as the name suggests, and like the basic Diver 300M model, it also has a helium escape valve at the 10 o’clock position on the case

₹9,80,300

Check Our Selling Price

A Distinguished Touch For The Distinguished Gentleman

The dial’s dark brown hue, which Omega are calling ‘tropical brown’—seen on the bezel as well—is almost black. In fact, one might even think it’s like looking at the colour black through a sepia filter. With the beige-hued vintage Super-LumiNova of the hands and indexes, the dial gets an even more distinguished look, which is perfectly in keeping with the present popularity of retro-inspired aesthetics. These applied hour markers and skeletonised hands are blackened, as they complement the grey of the titanium. Amid the grey, brown and beige, what really stands out are the striking red accents of the dial, seen on the tip of the lollipop-style seconds hand and the word ‘Seamaster’ right below the brand emblem at 12 o’clock. This dial is protected by a domed sapphire crystal glass with antireflective treatment on the inside.

The dial’s dark brown hue is called ‘tropical brown’—seen on the bezel as well. With the beige-hued vintage Super-LumiNova of the hands and indexes, the dial gets an even more distinguished look, which is perfectly in keeping with the present popularity of retro-inspired aesthetics

A Master Chronometer For James Bond

Behind the vintage-inspired look of the dial is a mechanical movement that is as modern as they get. The Omega co-axial Master Chronometer calibre 8806 is an automatic movement that can store a power reserve of up to 55 hours. With a Master Chronometer certification, this watch offers the highest level of accuracy you can find. It’s a distinction that is awarded to a watch that already houses a movement certified as a chronometer by the COSC (Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute), which means it is precise with a maximum deviation of -3/+6 seconds a day. This is then put through eight stringent tests, and finally certified as a Master Chronometer by the METAS (Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology). The certification means that the watch will be precise with a maximum deviation of 0/+5 seconds a day, even in the face of magnetic fields of up to 15,000 gauss—the same level as that of a typical MRI scanner. It really doesn’t get better than this. And it was only fitting for 007’s latest watch to be a Master Chronometer, which is a distinction that all the Seamaster Diver 300Ms now come with, ever since the 2018 update of the series, while the last Bond film before this was 2015’s Spectre.

The 007—Discreet Enough For A Spy

Though the movement is as decorated and resplendent as any Omega calibre is, it is hidden behind a closed titanium caseback, featuring the ‘007’ emblem, which is the only Bond element you can find on this watch. However, it does appear in more than one place as it can be seen on the loop of the NATO strap with dark brown, grey and beige stripes that complement the case and dial. The NATO is an alternative to the default titanium mesh bracelet that you’ll see on Craig’s wrist in No Time To Die.

James Bond’s symbolism made a bigger appearance in a limited edition that was launched earlier to celebrate Omega’s association with the cinematic phenomenon. That Seamaster Diver 300M does not make an appearance in the film, so the design could be a little more indulgent, even featuring the ‘gun barrel sequence’ motif on the dial. In steel and limited to 7,007 pieces, this watch was later even launched in platinum—a limited edition of just 007 (seven) pieces. Other traits of these limited editions were quite similar to any other Seamaster Diver 300M you can find today.

James Bond’s symbolism made a bigger appearance in a limited edition that was launched earlier to celebrate Omega’s association with the cinematic phenomenon

That Seamaster Diver 300M does not make an appearance in the film, so the design could be a little more indulgent, even featuring the ‘gun barrel sequence’ motif on the dial

In steel and limited to 7,007 pieces, this watch was later even launched in platinum—a limited edition of just seven pieces (seen here)

Other traits of these limited editions were quite similar to any other Seamaster Diver 300M you can find today

01

No Time Like The Present For No Time To Die

The watch that you will see in No Time To Die will be the titanium one above. It will be presented to Craig’s Bond by Q (Ben Winshaw), the head of the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service, who usually provides the tools and gadgets that are issued to 007. This obviously takes place after Bond—who, at the beginning of the film, is no longer with the service—is recalled for a critical mission, which includes having to rescue a kidnapped scientist. As Bond follows the trail of a villain who is armed with dangerous new technology, he has his Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition on him, just as he’s had his Seamasters in all of his eight previous missions.

Meanwhile, even other characters can be seen wearing Omegas. New agent Nomi (Lashana Lynch) wears a Seamaster Aqua Terra 38mm, with a black dial and NATO strap; and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) is seen wearing a De Ville Prestige 27.4mm, paired with a hunter green leather strap.

In a world that has gone smart in so many ways with devices and gadgets that would have probably featured as science fiction elements in earlier James Bond films, it’s almost refreshing to see Bond wearing a mechanical watch. A reliable and sophisticated, yet rugged timepiece is the only fitting kind for the quintessential gentleman spy—albeit one who isn’t too proper to get his hands dirty every once in a while. With Daniel Craig having completed his stint as James Bond—over Casino Royale (2006), Quantum Of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and now, No Time To Die (2021)—there is still no certainty about who might succeed him. The production house have stated that there won’t be any casting talk until 2022. Whoever it is that does fill Craig’s shoes eventually, we certainly hope that they will also wear an Omega to go with those shoes.

For now, here’s a little glimpse of the watch in No Time To Die: