The Omega 2531.80 © Photo copyright Dell Deaton, 2006, used with permission
If you’re looking to wear a timepiece just like Pierce Brosnan as 007, this is the most common. He’s worn it in his last three outings, starting with Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997.
Manufacturer Omega (part of the Swatch Group) formally designates this Seamaster 2531.80.00 model as a 300-meter professional diver’s automatic. First and foremost, it’s a high-end consumer sports watch, with 120-click uni-directional timing bezel.
Blue on blue, with white date window. Solid stainless steel case and bracelet (with expandable deployant clasp). Dial markers and skeleton hour-, minute-, and second-hands provide nighttime illumination through a proprietary application of SuperLuminova: Nobody does it better than Omega when it comes to this technology.
Q-Branch
Although Q-Branch has been issuing Our Man his timepieces since Thunderball, the first gadget we see for the Omega 2531.80 comes from Wai Lin’s armament stock near the end of Tomorrow Never Dies. A detonation trigger via modified helium release valve. Next mission, Q equips the Bond Seamaster with a high-illumination torch dial and firing piton with a cable sufficient to support his weight.
For Die Another Day, this watch features the same laser cutter option we saw introduced on the Omega 2541.80 in GoldenEye.
Your version of the 2531.80 Seamaster may not have all that, but I think you’ll find it formidable enough. It is nominally shock-resistant to 5,000 Gs and offers some protection against magnetic field disruption. Its sapphire crystal is the hardest material you’ll see on a watch, slightly domed in shape to further resist marring. This convexity coupled with an anti-reflective coating applied to the underside surface significantly reduces glare when you look to view the time.
Pierce Brosnan promoting the Omega watch © Photo courtesy of Omega SA
So I’d guess that your non-MI6 version is more than capable of handling a Maiden Tower jump to underwater pursuit of a stolen Russian nuclear submarine — although I wouldn’t recommend you try this yourself.
To maintain its water resistance, however, you do want to make sure to have the watch pressure tested at least once each year.
Inside the 2531.80.00
Inside, the model 2531.80.00 features what Omega calls its “caliber 1120″ escapement. This is a modified version of the ETA 2892-A2 movement commonly found in a number high-end watches. “Automatic” means it winds itself, capturing and storing energy from the motion of your arm while wearing it. Take it off your wrist fully charged and you can expect it to run more than a day-and-a-half on that “power reserve” store. Once stopped, it’s easily wound (a special clutch prevents over-winding and a “hacking feature” locks the second-hand for precise time setting).
At the other end of the field duty spectrum, styling is just this side of ostentatious — right at home with your business suit or tuxedo. Somehow it’s always impressed me as uniquely Pierce Brosnan in the James Bond role. Top marks 007!
Yeah, but does it tell time?
It’s the best there is among the highly elite class of mechanical watches (something like nine out of ten watches are quartz). Omega backs its Seamaster 2531.80 to a precision of -1 to +6 seconds per day, which is actually 3 seconds tighter than the COSC certification test each and every one of its 1120 movements has uniquely passed.
And as a mechanical, it’s consistent with what Ian Fleming has written in foundation for the tastes for elegance and exclusivity we’ve come to know in his signature spy.
About the Author
Thanks to Dell Deaton for his insight into the world of James Bond Omega watches, parts 2, 3 and 4 will be coming shortly. Don’t forget to visit Dell’s website.
Also: Wearing a Watch Like James Bond
