By Harlan Chapman-Green
Are you confused yet? We’ve already seen and held the Spectre piece which is a modified version of the Seamaster Aqua Terra except with a different dial, seconds hand and automatic rotor. So what could Omega possibly be doing with this James Bond theme watch then?
The answer is simple, this is the unofficial Spectre watch which Daniel Craig was spotted wearing in the official 007 James Bond movie poster a little while back. There are some differences to this piece compared to the normal one, but they are quite minimal.
This watch is based on the steel version of the 300 Master Co-Axial which means that it has a deep black dial with the aged lume applied to the hands and indexes. This keeps nicely in fitting with the grey and black striped NATO strap that this watch is presented on. Other than the NATO strap the main difference you’ll notice is the black ceramic bezel. While it’s not made of some space age material that James Bond stole from Quantum the actual inscriptions have indeed changed.
A scuba diver with a dedicated diving watch will usually make use of the 60 minute markers on the bezel which can be placed either at the time when the diver needs to leave their current depth, this gives them a countdown with the minute hand. Or they could place the 0 marker where the minute hand was and then work on from there. with the Spectre bezel you’ll be able to do neither of those for instead of having a normal diving bezel this watch makes use of numbers instead. There’s also no lume applied marker at the 12 position which really is essential, instead you have a GMT bezel on a watch without a GMT hand, something that’s quite rare nowadays, there’s also a 0 on the bezel in place of an indicator.
The other difference is the lollipop seconds hand. What that means is that the seconds hand has a round end with lume applied as opposed to the usual diamond shape. You can find this shape in some train station clocks and Mondaine watches. You’ll also find that the logos on the dial are larger than they are on the usual watches. The back of the watch is engraved with the Spectre logo and a unique serial number. There’s going to be a total of 7007 pieces which will be available in selected boutiques for a bit more than the normal cost of the stainless steel version at €5400, but we don’t know yet.
Mr. Bond recently took a little time off from saving the world from armageddon to visit the inauguration of the Omega production facility in Villeret, Switzerland, a hub for watchmaking. He was shown production of the Seamaster 300m Master Co-Axial Spectre watch as well as receiving exclusive access to the assembly line as part of the guided tour.
For more info, please visit omegawatches.com
HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN – CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
A keen bass guitar player, Harlan enjoys all the perks modern watchmaking technologies the industry has to offer. Although you might catch him sampling Omegas or the Rolex, Harlan loves all things Haute Horology, with his three favourite brands being Breguet, A.Lange & Söhne and Vacheron Constantin. He hopes to study timekeeping more in depth someday and will never be able to thank his father enough for introducing him to the industry. Read his articles here.
