James Bond GoldenEye – Omega Seamaster: Why Quartz?

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I’m a huge James Bond and Omega fan. I own four James Bond/Omega models. Three SMP’s: 2541.80, 2531.80, 2220.80; and the 38.5mm blue dial Aqua Terra.

Today I was wearing my 2541.80 quartz SMP that was featured in the 1995 movie GoldenEye and wondered, why quartz? Bond used the automatic 2531.80 SMP in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2000).

I know the story of how Omega and James Bond became associated. Costume director Lindy Hemming thought the blue Omega Seamaster would pair nicely with Bond’s wardrobe and she thought an Omega would be appropriate for the former Royal Navy Commander turned MI6 agent. Prior to the making of GoldenEye negotiations with Jean-Claude Biver, then the marketing head of Omega, bore marketing fruit that continues to this day.

However, the watch chosen for Bond in GoldenEye was a curious one in hindsight. Why the quartz SMP? I know at the time Swiss watchmaking was still recovering from the 70’s and 80’s quartz crisis. At the time Omega was producing their flagship dive watch in both quartz and automatic versions. But what lead to Omega’s decision to outfit Bond with a quartz watch and not the more prestigious (and expensive) mechanical version? I assume it was Omega’s decision as I can’t believe the Bond producers would care whether Bond used a quartz or automatic watch. I previously thought perhaps the automatic version of the SMP had not been released until after GoldenEye came out, but further research shows that is not the case. Both quartz and automatic versions of the SMP were released simultaneously in 1993.

Does anyone have any insight on this? Was Omega intentionally pushing quartz watches over mechanical watches in 1995? I’m truly perplexed.




And just because no mention of GoldenEye should omit Izabella Scorupco:

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He wanted better accuracy
The funny thing is that I'm former military (1996-2006) and there's zero chance I would ever have worn a mechanical watch during my time in service. Quartz only. Because it was way more accurate and hassle free and because it was cheap.
 
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The funny thing is that I'm former military and there's zero chance I would ever have worn a mechanical watch during my time in service. Quartz only. Because it was way more accurate and hassle free and because it was cheap.
Ya I said it half jest but it does make sense.
 
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Good question! Honestly, I also thought it was because the quartz came out first. But if it's not that, it's probably something mundane like Omega had more quartz easily available at the time they had to provide it for filming, or the quartz was selling better at the time, or some other dreary business decision. They would have needed to provide quite a few for the various Q mods and 006's watch, it could also have just been that the quartz cost less.

Remember the context, Omega had no idea if GoldenEye would be successful or if they'd be asked again for subsequent movies, and the SMP was not synonymous as "the Bond watch" yet - there's no way they put as much thought or care into the arrangement as they would now.
 
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A couple of things were instrumental in this. Firstly AFAIK the Bond SMP quartz was launched up to a year before the auto, not simultaneously, so it may have simply been about availability (it takes time to make a film) and secondly with the preceding model, the Pre-Bond as it is now retrospectively called Omega sold vastly more quartz models than auto, by a factor of something like 10. Hence Omega pushing the quartz, the expected big seller out the door first and perhaps why they prioritised marketing there. Once the auto was on the scene and selling well, perhaps because of the Bond exposure, but also perhaps due to the quality of the product, Omega had the bright idea of placing different products into the following films. The PreBond or 200m as originally known was a much lower priced lower quality product with a different audience. Interestingly, like with quartz vs auto, there was a big imbalance in sales vs size. There the 36mm mid size was the big seller, perhaps because buyers were cost conscious. It’s fortunate perhaps Omega saw that bigger watches were gaining traction as otherwise the Bond watch might have been the middy.
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The funny thing is that I'm former military (1996-2006) and there's zero chance I would ever have worn a mechanical watch during my time in service. Quartz only. Because it was way more accurate and hassle free and because it was cheap.
Very accurate keeping up with brewski-time!

Sorry....I just had to...
😁
 
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A couple of things were instrumental in this. Firstly AFAIK the Bond SMP quartz was launched up to a year before the auto, not simultaneously, so it may have simply been about availability (it takes time to make a film)

For years I thought that too but I've found Omega references to the auto being launched in 1993, which is when the quartz model was released. I've also found documentation of auto 2531.80 references that were sold in 1993.

I think your second point must be the correct explanation: Quartz was the better seller at the time so that's the model they chose for GoldenEye. Perhaps by the second Brosnan film they realized the future of high end Swiss timepieces was mechanical and not quartz and so they switched Bond's model to an automatic.

And as for that automatic...

Tomorrow Never Dies




The World is Not Enough




Die Another Day

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They could be launched in the same year and still not simultaneously if you see what I mean, hence my comment about up to a year difference. There seems to have been shortages of appropriate auto movements in 1993/4 hence the existence of models using several flavours, from memory, the 1106,1109 and 1120 all from around then. I've yet to see an auto with papers dated 1993 but I do accept that date is what is on the Omega website these days. Trouble is, there is plenty on there that isn't fully accurate so I'd prefer to see something concrete.
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The first gen Bond watch had a laser that required a battery that also powered the quartz watch.
 
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They could be launched in the same year and still not simultaneously if you see what I mean, hence my comment about up to a year difference. There seems to have been shortages of appropriate auto movements in 1993/4 hence the existence of models using several flavours, from memory, the 1108,1109 and 1120 all from around then. I've yet to see an auto with papers dated 1993 but I do accept that date is what is on the Omega website these days. Trouble is, there is plenty on there that isn't fully accurate so I'd prefer to see something concrete.

Interesting.
 
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Could it off been quartz the cheaper one to provide for production.

Presume a few were needed and maybe just cost.

I wrongly thought quartz was around first.
 
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The first gen Bond watch had a laser that required a battery that also powered the quartz watch.
The detonator probably needed juice too?