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He’s the world’s most famous secret agent, and the selection of watches on his wrist is at least as varied as the parade of “Bond girls” at his side. Each watch reflects its epoch: from robust mechanical timekeepers, through digital timepieces, to state-of-the-art chronometers. Our timeline presents an overview of 007’s wrist-wear.

1962
James Bond first appeared on the silver screen in 1962 and has remained there ever since, but the Bond character was born 10 years prior to 007’s cinematic debut. Ian Fleming wrote Casino Royale, his first novel about the adventures of the charming MI6 agent, while on his honeymoon in 1952. Although Bond immediately showed extraordinarily good taste in automobiles and clothes, his wristwatch wasn’t identified until Fleming’s second novel, Live and Let Die (1954). Bond wears a Rolex in this book, which is not surprising, because Fleming himself wore a Rolex Explorer, Reference 1016, on an extensible Oyster riveted strap. Fleming’s affection for Rolex is apparent in the first James Bond film, where Bond, played by Sean Connery, casually straps on a Rolex Submariner without a date display while hunting the nefarious Dr. No, for whom the movie is named. Reference 6358 has a leather strap here. Film buffs believe that this model was one of Sean Connery’s personal possessions.

1963/1964
James Bond remained faithful to Rolex in his second cinematic adventure, From Russia with Love. The movie shows Connery wearing a Rolex Submariner, Reference 6538, which still shows just the time because Q, the famous master of innovative weaponry, hadn’t yet equipped 007’s watch with any other special capabilities.

Connery again wears Reference 6538 in Goldfinger, where it’s attached to a much-too-narrow textile strap. Pussy Galore, the aviatrix with the politically incorrect name, relies on a classical pilots’ watch: the Rolex GMT Master, Reference 6542.

1965
James Bond wears two watches in Thunderball. He uses his Rolex Submariner to tell the time, but he relies on a modified Breitling Top Time when he needs a Geiger counter. This watch was rediscovered in 2013 at an English flea market, where the authentic prop from the classic flick changed hands for a paltry 25 pounds – and was soon afterwards auctioned for a five-figure sum.

1967
The phrase “You Only Live Twice” is perhaps more appropriate for James Bond than for anyone else. In the movie of that name, the dapper agent battles his archenemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. No one knows exactly which watch accompanied 007, but some aficionados suspect it was a golden Gruen, which probably came from Connery’s private collection.

1969
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service featured a new leading man, but this film would be Australian actor George Lazenby’s only stint as James Bond. As if to recompense him for his short-lived tenure, he has the good fortune in this film to wed the actress Diana Rigg, whom you may remember from the TV show The Avengers. In the movie Bond wore a Rolex Submariner (Ref. 5513) and a Rolex Chronograph (Ref. 6238).

1971
A familiar face returned to the silver screen in Diamonds Are Forever, where Sean Connery, back as Bond, turns his attention not only to girls, but to girls’ best friends. Bond fights the good fight mostly without a watch, although one does make a cameo appearance in one scene. Connoisseurs think it might be the same golden Gruen worn in You Only Live Twice.

1973/1974
Roger Moore’s debut as James Bond, in Live and Let Die, and its follow-up, The Man with the Golden Gun, inaugurated a new era spiced not only with more humor, but also with a Rolex Submariner 5513 equipped with practical additional functions. For the first time, the agent’s watch hosted gadgets added by Q. The watch could be triggered to serve as a circular saw, which comes in handy when handcuffs need to be removed. It also had a built-in magnet to deflect incoming bullets or, when necessary, help to suavely disrobe a lady. In Live and Let Die, Bond wore another watch in the opening sequence, one of the power-hungry Pulsar LED digital watches from Hamilton, which helped usher in the quartz revolution.

1977
East meets West with a bang in The Spy Who Loved Me, in which sparks fly between Bond and Major Anya Amasova. A Rolex GMT Master assures precise timekeeping, while a Seiko 0674 LC functions as a pager: a label-making printer inside the watch ejects strips of paper bearing important messages from the office spymaster M.

1979
Moonraker catapults 007 into outer space, where he’s assisted by a Seiko M354 Memory Bank Calendar, which conceals an explosive secret that blasts the way clear for the agent and his appealing flightmate.

1981
Moore dives into the Aegean Sea for his fifth Bond adventure, For Your Eyes Only. Two Seiko watches join him: the Seiko 7549-7009, above, and the Seiko H357 Duo Display, above right.

1983
The risqué name of the next Bond film, Octopussy, caused a furor in England. In it, Moore’s Bond, with a Seiko TV Watch on his wrist, turns his attention to a young lady who works as one of Q’s assistants. The same year, Connery gave his final performance as Bond in Never Say Never Again. The identity of his watch in this movie remains a mystery.

1985
A View to a Kill finds Bond on the Golden Gate Bridge, where both he and his nemesis Zorin wear Rolexes (Bond’s is a Datejust). In other scenes, Bond wears three Seiko watches, including a Seiko Diver’s 150m.

1987
After Timothy Dalton’s debut as James Bond in The Living Daylights, critics nicknamed this actor “Rambond.” In the movie, Agent 007 wears a TAG Heuer Professional Night-Dive Reference 980.031.

1989
In Dalton’s second and final adventure as James Bond, License to Kill, Bond wears a Rolex Submariner.

1995
Pierce Brosnan wears a quartz version of the Omega Seamaster Professional 300M (Reference 2541.80) when he takes over as James Bond in GoldenEye.

1997/1999/2002
An Omega Seamaster Professional (Reference 2531.80) is again the ticking costar in Tomorrow Never Dies.

The World Is Not Enough for this secret agent, so he escapes its confines aboard a rocket bound for outer space. In his battle against Elektra King and her cohorts, Bond relies on Reference 2561.80 as a radiant light source and as a rescue cable with a grappling hook.

Pierce Brosnan remains faithful to the Omega Seamaster in his fourth adventure. This chronometer saves 007’s life in Die Another Day thanks to an explosive charge in its helium valve that can be detonated via the bezel. A powerful laser in the watch’s crown serves Bond well in his battle against the evildoer Gustav Graves.

2006
James Bond loves variety, so when Daniel Craig debuts as everyone’s favorite secret agent in a big-screen adaptation of Casino Royale, he alternately wears an Omega Seamaster Diver 300M (Ref. 2220.80) and a Seamaster Planet Ocean (Ref. 2900.50.91).

2008
It seems as though Bond needs an exceedingly watertight watch in Quantum of Solace. His Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M (Reference 2201.50) reliably resists pressure at great depths.

2012
James Bond wears several watches in Skyfall, including one that was specially built for this film and which Christie’s auctioned for nearly 200,000 euros in 2012. Bond’s Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M has a titanium case, unlike the serially manufactured version, which is stainless steel. Both are fitted with Caliber 8500. For more information on the Skyfall watch, click here.

2015
In the most recent Bond adventure, Spectre, Daniel Craig returned to the screen, this time wearing an Omega Seamaster 300 Spectre, which alludes to a predecessor from the 1960s. He also sported an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra in the opening sequence. We cover that watch in detail here.

This article originally appeared in WatchTime magazine.

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26. Casino Royale (1967)

Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Even a cameo from Orson Welles couldn’t lend lustre to this pointless and unfunny spoof, a dire tongue-in-cheeker that slipped past the franchise control of the producers, Eon. David Niven saunters unsexily as the retired “Sir James Bond” in this chaotic film.

25. Die Another Day (2002)

Oh lawdy. The Bond franchise was looking lost in the grim and joyless new “war on terror”-era, and this movie featured the worst gadget in the history of 007: an invisible car. What on earth is the point of that? You can almost see the P45 being pressed into Brosnan’s hand.

24. The Living Daylights (1987)

This was the turn of straight actor and RSC stalwart Timothy Dalton. He was supposedly there to give Bond a hard and gritty new seriousness, but always just looked a bit humourless. This was during the Aids era of sexual restraint, too, so Bond only cops off a couple of times.

23. Licence to Kill (1989)

Bond goes rogue, and Dalton stays dull. This one is notable for the young Benicio del Toro as a humble henchman. After this, legal copyright rows caused a six-year production hiatus during which Dalton quit.

22. For Your Eyes Only (1981)

You can hear a whistling and a crackling in the air as Roger Moore begins to tune out. The stunts hold up, but Moore is on the exit ramp and his flaccid relationship with 24-year-old Carole Bouquet is a deathly embarrassment.

21. Never Say Never Again (1983)

The title is what Connery’s agent should have shouted at him when he was offered the comeback: (“Never”! Say “Never”! Again!) Connery lumbers back for the remake of Thunderball that no one wanted or needed. He was never a six-pack guy at the best of times, but he’s out of condition here. One to forget.

20. Quantum of Solace (2008)

Much mocked at the time, this film wasn’t as bad as that – despite the silliest title in the series’ history. Craig is always watchable and Mathieu Amalric is a very eccentric oddball villain.

19. The World Is Not Enough (1999)

Not bad, but some of the fizz has gone. In this film, the distinction between villain and henchman seems to collapse with three bad guys: Robert Carlyle, Robbie Coltrane and, erm, Goldie, who was very big in those days.

18. GoldenEye (1995)

Was it a Bondaissance? A Brosnanaissance? Whatever. Stylish yet assertive smoothie Pierce Brosnan had already made an impression in the TV caper Remington Steele. He took to Bond like a duck to water: virile, cool, nice suits. Judi Dench made her debut as M. Bond was back!

17. A View to a Kill (1985)

Quite unexpectedly, Moore pulled it back a bit for his last hurrah. (It was also, sadly, the last hurrah for Lois Maxwell’s Miss Moneypenny.) Christopher Walken was always destined to play a Bond villain and it came to pass in this film, as the evil electronics mogul Max Zorin. A good note for Moore to bow out on.

16. Moonraker (1979)

A whopping, megabudget Bond in its day, clearly influenced by the Star Wars-led sci-fi revival. It is all about the theft of a space shuttle, but this excursion into space can’t conceal the fact that Moore is looking a bit jaded.

15. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

George Lazenby’s sole appearance wasn’t a bad Bond. Had he done more, Lazenby might have become a favourite. Diana Rigg played the woman who shows 007 is no commitmentphobe. They marry, before gunfire poignantly restores Bond’s eternal singledom.

14. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Uh-oh. Connery was tempted back to the role with a big pay packet, now looking craggier and toupeed. Ernst Blofeld, boringly played by Charles Gray, wants to use diamonds to focus his space laser. Bond girl Tiffany Case was played by Jill St John, whose real-life boyfriend, Henry Kissinger, would have been better as the villain.

13. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

It took a spanking from Titanic at the box office, but this is a good, underrated Bond: one of the very few films (or plays or books) to satirise Rupert Murdoch and his Chinese expansionist plans – a rather taboo subject in 90s media. Jonathan Pryce has great fun with the role of the villainous mogul.

12. Octopussy (1983)

Outrageously daft, but silly and fun. Roger Moore wears a gorilla costume.

11. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

This has a well-loved Bond song, Carly Simon’s Nobody Does It Better. It also introduced us to the exotic henchman Jaws. The action opens with that staggering skiing-off-a-cliff stunt, just after Moore is seen supposedly skiing in front of an obvious back projection.

10. The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)

Despite iffy reviews at the time, this has one of the very best villains, wonderfully played by Christopher Lee: Scaramanga, he of the creepy third nipple. It is a preposterous 70s fuel-crisis drama about a solar energy device. There’s some funky martial arts, too.

9. Skyfall (2012)

An excellent, intelligent Bond which shrewdly expanded the role of Judi Dench’s M, developed her relationship with 007 and created a plausible, sympathetic backstory for him. Javier Bardem got his teeth into the villain role.

8. Live and Let Die (1973)

And so began the reign of Roger Moore, tacitly conceding the campness that many saw as unavoidable for Bond. Moore was witty, sprightly and a mature 46 when he took over (Connery had started at 32.) This movie has a great song from Paul McCartney and Wings.

7. Thunderball (1965)

The evil organisation Spectre had its first appearance in Fleming’s Thunderball novel, but we were used to it by now, this being the fourth outing for 007 on the big screen. Good stuff here, but the franchise faltered a bit, with long underwater sequences.

6. Spectre (2015)

Boom! Craig and director Sam Mendes bring off an absolutely storming 007 extravaganza, kicking off with a head-banging action sequence in Mexico City. Léa Seydoux has a Veronica Lake-type sultriness and Ben Whishaw almost steals the show as the geeky Q.

5. Casino Royale (2006)

Daniel Craig had to face a lot of internet bickering when he was cast, but he blew everyone away with a performance that was just right: cool, cruel, ruthless, yet sardonic. It was great at the time and looks even better now. One of the best Bonds.

4. Dr No (1962)

Sean Connery’s first outing in the Bond role. It gave us the gun-barrel titles and the Monty Norman theme. There was Ursula Andress in the bikini and the exotic Johnny Foreigner villain with an outrageous island lair.

3. From Russia With Love (1963)

Weirdly ungadgety and downbeat. Connery searches his hotel room for bugs for what seems like 10 minutes, with the theme music playing deafeningly. There’s a great train fight with Robert Shaw’s Red Grant.

2. Goldfinger (1964)

“You eckshpect me to talk?” “No, Mr Bond, I expect you to DIE!” This introduced us to Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 and the weird spectacle of Shirley Eaton suffocating in gold. It established the convention whereby the villain leaves 007 time to escape some elaborate automated death.

1. You Only Live Twice (1967)

This great action movie put Connery’s Bond right back on top and introduced us to the Nehru-suit-wearing, cat-stroking master criminal Spectre chief, Blofeld, played by Donald Pleasence. Connery announced his intention to quit after this. Perhaps he knew it could never be this good again?