What is the leather strap in GoldenEye?

Jakeys · Apr 13, 2026

Alright, I like a puzzle. I was on my semi-annual rewatch of GoldenEye, this time on a 4K web stream version from Amazon. While it's not a great 4K master, there is starting to be enough detail that you can make out elements of the black leather strap used on Alec Trevelyan/006's watch, as well as Bond's watch in the prologue scenes - there is a scene where they both have this configuration in the same shot so it's not one watch being reused.

It might just be a generic cheap leather strap, but to me the buckle looked possibly like a vintage Omega one (not period correct for the 2541.80) and that got me intrigued enough to do some digging. It's quite thin and tapered, and has a bit of gloss and texture to it. It's only clear in a single shot in the movie but it does have stitched edges, so it isn't a Hirsch Toronto as a couple of google results would suggest.

Anyone know if this could be a period Omega strap, or at least buckle?

As a funny aside, it never occurred to me before but the movie is set in 1995, yet the prologue with 006 and Bond working together is said to be nine years earlier. So they're both wearing SMPs at least seven years before Omega revealed them to the public. That's quite a long testing period, no wonder it's such a great watch. 😉

502 to right · Apr 13, 2026

Here's another interesting tidbit concerning the "9 years earlier" scene. That would place the scene in 1986, a year before The Living Daylights. So GoldenEye basically erases Timothy Dalton's presence as 007.

ErichPryde · Apr 13, 2026

502 to right
Here's another interesting tidbit concerning the "9 years earlier" scene. That would place the scene in 1986, a year before The Living Daylights. So GoldenEye basically erases Timothy Dalton's presence as 007.

I don't see it this way at all- Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan are both Bond. It's just a flashback with this actor.

It really wasn't until the Craig era tried to "rest the continuity, but it's all the same anyway" that I feel like this became an issue. Felix Leiter is Felix Leiter regardless of the actor and he acts like he knows Bond regardless of the actor until Casino Royale (2006). Same with Bond. He's just Bond- M relates to the new ones as if they were the old ones (basically).

ErichPryde · Apr 13, 2026

Jakeys
As a funny aside, it never occurred to me before but the movie is set in 1995, yet the prologue with 006 and Bond working together is said to be nine years earlier. So they're both wearing SMPs at least seven years before Omega revealed them to the public. That's quite a long testing period, no wonder it's such a great watch. 😉

For me this is a fairly minor continuity issue, a bit like the presence of MP40s and the Mk VII gas mask bag (Indy's signature satchel) in Raiders of the Lost Ark (which both appeared after the time period of the film set in 1936). Sometimes a gun is just a gun, a bag is just a bag, and a watch is just a watch.

it's when these continuity errors become unforgivable and big that issues really occur. ;-)

ErichPryde · Apr 13, 2026

Regarding the straps- I'm honestly not sure. I had a similar question upon a rewatch 3 or 4 months ago, but couldn't find a good answer.

Jakeys · Apr 13, 2026

502 to right
Here's another interesting tidbit concerning the "9 years earlier" scene. That would place the scene in 1986, a year before The Living Daylights. So GoldenEye basically erases Timothy Dalton's presence as 007.

I've always viewed each new Bond as being an unspoken reboot rather than a continuation of the old one. They only really made a big deal of it with Craig's Bond. I never subscribed to the theory that it's a code name or anything like that.

ErichPryde
For me this is a fairly minor continuity issue, a bit like the presence of MP40s and the Mk VII gas mask bag (Indy's signature satchel) in Raiders of the Lost Ark (which both appeared after the time period of the film set in 1936). Sometimes a gun is just a gun, a bag is just a bag, and a watch is just a watch.

Yeah it doesn't actually bother me either. I must have seen this movie at least ten times by now and it only even occurred to me this time when I decided to look into the strap.

ErichPryde
Regarding the straps- I'm honestly not sure. I had a similar question upon a rewatch 3 or 4 months ago, but couldn't find a good answer.

Mmm yeah I wasn't too hopeful, I wouldn't have bothered with the thread if not for the fact the buckle looks plausibly vintage Omega to me. If not for that I'd have assumed the production staff just found the first cheap strap they could to stick on it to differentiate the "older" and "newer" Q models for story reasons.

I know Omega supplied the watches for free when asked by the costume designer, but I don't think they had any involvement beyond that.

502 to right · Apr 14, 2026

I don't believe in the code name theory and know that Brosnan exists in his own timeline. I just found it funny that if you took GoldenEye literally then Dalton's Bond no longer happened. I liked Dalton so I wouldn't want his memory erased.

Interesting research on the straps. For years I assumed they were black rubber straps but a few years ago discovered they were leather. I too have tried to create screen captures to get better details on the straps but I've never watched in 4K so all I could tell is that they were black and on a pin and buckle clasp.

I agree that the clasp looks to have the Omega logo on it.

Jakeys · Apr 14, 2026

502 to right
Interesting research on the straps. For years I assumed they were black rubber straps but a few years ago discovered they were leather. I too have tried to create screen captures to get better details on the straps but I've never watched in 4K so all I could tell is that they were black and on a pin and buckle clasp.

I agree that the clasp looks to have the Omega logo on it.

The 4K copy is not exactly bad, but it's streaming only so it has some compression and I think it's a bit too dark and lacking in detail. It's quite a dark movie anyway though, so it's hard to say if that's a low quality transfer or just the artistic intent. I'm hoping for a physical release eventually, they're always better quality than streamers. It is at least much better than the 1080p versions, which sadly is not true of all 4K releases!

Interestingly and completely off topic, Dante's Peak got a brand new 4K scan last year and looks absolutely fantastic.

502 to right · Apr 14, 2026

Jakeys
The 4K copy is not exactly bad, but it's streaming only so it has some compression and I think it's a bit too dark and lacking in detail. It's quite a dark movie anyway though, so it's hard to say if that's a low quality transfer or just the artistic intent. I'm hoping for a physical release eventually, they're always better quality than streamers. It is at least much better than the 1080p versions, which sadly is not true of all 4K releases!

Interestingly and completely off topic, Dante's Peak got a brand new 4K scan last year and looks absolutely fantastic.

That's a TAG Heuer 1000 Brosnan wore in Dante's Peak. And a few other movies as well. It's speculated it was his personal watch.

ErichPryde · Apr 14, 2026

502 to right
That's a TAG Heuer 1000 Brosnan wore in Dante's Peak. And a few other movies as well. It's speculated it was his personal watch.

I thought I remember reading somewhere that it was his, but I don't remember where and that was a long time ago

What is the leather strap in GoldenEye?

Jakeys

502 to right

ErichPryde

ErichPryde

ErichPryde

Jakeys

502 to right

Jakeys

502 to right

ErichPryde

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