James Bond: License to Kill The Omega Seamaster?

Rolex? Omega. Beautiful. This tete-a-tete from Casino Royale (2006) between Vesper Lynd and James Bond is of course integral to the plot and in no way paid product placement. Actually, I really hope this is not paid product placement since this exchange emphasizes how in the minds of most people, Omega is always behind Rolex.  Now maybe it’s not meant as a watch nerd line but a Bond nerd line, a nod to the fact that in the books Bond wore a Rolex. Although everything from Rolex to Seiko has been seen on Bond’s wrist, Bond has been an Omega man since Goldeneye (1995). However, I cannot help but wonder, has this product placement made or ruined the Seamaster line?

I am willing to bet that when you picture the “Seamaster” you picture the Seamaster Professional 300m, the “SMP.” Arguably, the SMP has been the dive watch for Omega since Q gave one to Pierce Brosnan’s Bond in Goldeneye. The original SMP is a well-designed watch and likely would have become a cult classic but without the deal to become James Bond’s watch the SMP may have just come and gone.[1] I own a SMP reference 2541.80 as worn by Bond in Goldeneye. The reference 2541.80 is a quartz model but hey it was the early 90’s and quartz still reined supreme.

Now the James Bond connection with the Seamaster is important because it brings not only watch fans to Omega boutiques but Bond fans too. A fact that Omega is not shy about capitalizing on, with the 25th Bond film, No Time to Die, hopefully releasing this year Omega has been in full on Bond mode.[2] Omega launched a new SMP with a titanium case with an available titanium mesh bracelet called the 007 edition.

Scottish Watches and TOCKR Watches

This 007 edition SMP is apparently the watch Bond will wear in No Time to Die. The 007 edition SMP is a good-looking watch with the primary talking points being the heavy-handed use of faux-patina and the price. On the bracelet this 007 edition costs $9,200. I am not going to say anything else about the price; I am just going to leave that fact there for you to make of it what you will.

While the 007 edition SMP makes sense since it will be the watch Bond wears in No Time to Die, Omega has also released a 50th anniversary watch for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. For those of you who are not Bond fans I can confirm that On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is in fact one of the twenty-five canonical Bond films and the reason why you may not have heard of it is because it is arguably the worst of the twenty-five films and George Lazenby’s first and only outing as Bond. Needless to say, it is a little strange for Omega to do a special edition watch honoring what is arguably the most forgettable Bond film. Even stranger, as you mathletes out there already realized, 1995 was not 50 years ago, so if Omega’s official relationship with James Bond started with 1995’s Goldeneye what Omega did Lazenby wear in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service? Well, the truth is Omega does not want you to ask about such things since Lazenby famously wore a 6238, which is of course a pre-Daytona Rolex chronograph.[3]

One of these:

Not one of these

Did Omega really launch a special edition to commemorate a film that starred Rolex?[4] I would like to give Omega the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe they just forgot they have only been in Bond movies since 1995 but I am sadly too jaded for that.[5] The On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is clearly just a cash grab aimed at collecting on the Bond relationship. The watch is a good looking piece but doing a limited edition specifically for a movie that Omega has no connection to represents the worst of the Bond-Omega relationship. However, the Bond-Omega relationship has also allowed Omega to introduce some interesting new watches like the Seamaster Planet Ocean (“PO”) to the public.

After Pierce Brosnan’s stint as Bond came to an end Daniel Craig took up the mantle. New Bond means new watch. Coinciding with Daniel Craig’s debut as Bond in Casino Royale (2006) Omega debuted a new Seamaster too, the PO in measuring in at a Panerai-esque 45mm.[6] Now it’s no secret that I happen to be a fan of the PO line.[7] The PO has become a bit of a cult classic but impressively the PO seems to have achieved this cult classic status without the help of the Bond fandom. My theory is this is due to the fact that Craig’s Bond is a more serious Bond. Craig’s Bond is a Bond that is more of a blunt instrument rather than a suave gadget dependent agent like Moore’s Bond or Brosnan’s Bond. In fact it was not until 2015’s Spectre until Craig’s Bond got a gadget watch with an exploding Seamaster 300 appearing in Spectre.[8] This exploding Seamaster 300 perhaps highlights the problems with the Seamaster range better than anything; Omega feels that they need Bond to sell the watch.

 

The Seamaster line has become permanently tied to the Bond franchise, which Omega has exploited as would be expected.[9] However, I believe the Seamaster Bond connection has caused harm to the Seamaster line by leading Omega to expand the line without a clear direction and without clear delineation between the lines. Bond famously takes his vodka martinis shaken not stirred but the Seamaster line has ended up muddled.

I believe the muddling started when Omega launched a redesign of the original Bond SMP wave dial in ceramic in 2018.[10] With the new ceramic wave dial SMP the Seamaster line appears to be competing against itself. The SMP grew to 42mm and now houses the in-house co-axial 8800 movement. The problem is the 39.5mm PO houses the same movement and the Seamaster 300 houses the older 8400 movement both watches cost more than the SMP, i.e. you can get more or the same for less money with the new SMP. It’s not until you jump up to the 43.5mm PO that you see a difference with the 8900 movement. The 8900 movement only gains an extra 5 hours of power reserve and a jump hour feature over the 8800 movement. However, the difference between the 8800 and the 8900 movements are arguably not worth the $1,350 difference in price between the SMP and the PO. Further, since I am willing to bet most wearing a PO are desk divers the increase in water resistance in the PO is also an unnecessary difference between the two watches as the SMP’s 300m water resistance is just as effective at your desk. The new SMP even has the same on-the-go adjustment push system in the bracelet that was previously only available in the PO bracelets. The new SMP is the clear no brainer in the Seamaster line. The Seamaster 300 also becomes less relevant in general as it is the dressy version of the Seamaster line and the vintage design in the line with an older movement and the highest retail price.

So the question becomes, how to bring order to the Seamaster line? First, I believe the SMP is perfect as is in steel; its specs, fame, cultural relevance, and price make it beyond repute. Noticed my limitation to the SMP being perfect in steel? The first change I would make to the Seamaster line is to make the SMP only available as a steel sports watch with only two-tone gold models available as a limited edition every couple of years. Good thing Omega knows how to do a limited edition.  The SMP is Omega’s stainless steel Submariner, not in luxury status but in fame and watch nerd credibility. Thus, the SMP must be the dominant stainless steel sports watch in the Seamaster line and that needs to be the focus of the SMP line.

For me, the Seamaster line issues are generally with the Seamaster 300 and the PO. First, lets deal with the PO. If the SMP is going to be the stainless steel sports watch in the Seamaster line the PO should be the titanium, ceramic, gold, tantalum, well you get it, anything that’s not stainless steel sports watch. The PO line already has titanium and ceramic models these just need to be made the standard for the PO line. This would negate the overlap caused by the newly redesigned SMP. Further, this distinguishes the PO and gives it an interesting niche in the luxury diver’s market. Once again, this leaves Omega with a limited edition opportunity. Omega could do yearly stainless steel PO editions in different color ways, an opportunity I know Omega will love. Importantly, I would limit the stainless steel PO limited editions to 600 a year. Why 600? Simply because Omega would need to protect the regular PO line with low numbers since I would do this as a yearly limited edition and 600 works since it relates to the watch’s water resistance rating.

Now, lets deal with the 300-pound gorilla in the line, the Seamaster 300. My recommendation to save the Seamaster 300, kill the Seamaster 300. The Seamaster 300 is clearly trying to be Omega’s answer to the luxury dressy-tool watch that is the new ceramic Submariner. I would not end the Seamaster 300 forever but would end it as a vintage inspired watch. If Omega is serious about having a dressy luxury tool watch to match the Submariner, the vintage esthetic, i.e. faux patina, needs to end since faux anything is antithetical to the notion of luxury. I would also change the name to further separate it from the SMP. Seriously, who at Omega thought it was a good idea to have two different watches similarly named with the Seamaster Diver 300m and the Seamaster 300? What would I name this dressy watch? I would name it the Seamaster, just the Seamaster. If this watch is meant to be the top of the line dressy tool watch part of the line, then everything else should be defined in relation to this watch. Meaning that if this dressy watch is just the Seamaster, it finally puts a single watch to the iconic name and defines all the other watches in relation to the top of the range. Meaning the SMP would make sense because it’s the “Professional” version of the line, the PO is the deep diving watch, etc. Then I would wait to re-launch the line as a new model in the next James Bond film. New Bond actor, new Omega watch. Allowing Omega to change the conversation from “Rolex? Omega. Beautiful.” To, “Omega? Seamaster. Beautiful.” See what I did there? The Seamaster line would come back around to Bond, James Bond and give Bond the chance to save the Seamaster line in a way he was never able to save Vesper.

By: Sean O’Tormey

IG: @the_complicated_wrist

[1] https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/watches-james-bond-why-they-matter-in-depth

[2] https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-omega-seamaster-diver-300m-007-edition-live-pics-and-pricing

[3] https://www.watchtime.com/featured/watches-james-bond/

[4] http://www.scottishwatches.co.uk/2019/09/24/new-watch-the-very-unlimited-limited-edition-omega-seamaster-james-bond/

[5] https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-omega-seamaster-diver-300m-for-the-50th-anniversary-of-on-her-majestys-secret-service

[6] https://www.ablogtowatch.com/planet-ocean-full-story-omegas-iconic-modern-dive-watch/

[7] http://www.scottishwatches.co.uk/2020/02/12/watch-review-the-planet-ocean-omegas-depth-charge/

[8] https://gearpatrol.com/2019/12/07/james-bond-watch-guide/

[9] https://monochrome-watches.com/retrospective-omega-seamaster-james-bond-007-history/

[10] https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/omega-seamaster-professional-diver-300m-master-chronometer-introducing

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