FeatureSpying into Roger Moore’s array of watches: The James Bond edition

“You gotta love livin’, kid. Because dyin’s a pain in the ass.” – Sir Roger Moore’s self-depreciating humour is pronounced through his quote, even if it was a topic as grave as death. While the true blue James Bond charmed on screen with his dapper looks and stellar action sequences, his impressive dry humour and benevolent personality took over, off it. This longest serving MI 6 spy’s larger than life debonair appearances on screen translated in an extremely suave watch collection that will contribute to his supreme legacy left behind. He effortlessly flaunted these timepieces on screen and was an avid watch connoisseur personally too with brands such as Seiko and Hamilton being his best loved. It’s extremely ironic that the World War II veteran passed on to the afterlife, in the land of watchmaking itself– Switzerland; and though he never got the pleasure to drive the prominent Aston Martin, he did rock some colossal timepieces. Let’s take a look:

Moonraker: SEIKO M 354

Just how Sir Roger Moore took over from Sean Connery, quartz watches swept the market and with that, Seiko took over. Roger Moore has endorsed Seiko onscreen extensively, in pretty much all his movies and made the watches look enviable at all times. The official movie poster states “where all the Bonds end.. this one begins!”, well quite figuratively. We can trust Roger Moore to even make an astronaut suit look spiffy courtesy his personal charisma. This movie takes James Bond into outer space and with that it’s safe to assume his Seiko got a cosmic outing too. The Seiko quartz M354 was modified like all other Bond watches and was a weapon that caused destruction of epic proportion. It would act like an explosive, in fact, a shot in the movie saw Moore open the caseback to reveal a rounded up explosive. Keeping abreast with the trends, M assigned the right bond to take the Quartz trend ahead.

Editor’s pick: Seiko Astron (Ref: SAST015G)

Our editor’s pick from Seiko is the Astro SAST015G. This is Seiko’s connect with outer space and the closest you’ll get to boarding the Moonraker space shuttle like Mr. Bond. From the series of the world’s first GPS satellite assisted precision watches, comes the Seiko Astron. The watch has a GPS antenna under the bezel which receives signals and connects you to multiple satellites by just the push of a button. The superpowers of this watch do not come to a halt here, solar power keeps this superhero ticking and the need to change the battery will never arise.

It comes in a deep black dial and has all the world time zones displayed, with countries mentioned on the bezel, so the date gets adjusted according to your timezone. Thus, adding GMT to it’s list of features. The dial has a date window next to the 3 o’clock index and a perpetual calendar function (meaning you won’t have to change the date until February 28, 2100). The titanium strap in the Seiko Astron comes in a dual silver and black tone with a fold over clasp. You can read more about the Seiko Astron here.

The Spy who Loved me: Seiko 0674- 5009

Distinctively different from his predecessor, Roger Moore lent his own personality to the bond character, i.e., an amalgamation of a paramour nailing the Bond action sequence and a jester’s dry humour to be enjoyed with a dry Martini. Like his acting the eyebrow raises, Moore effortlessly popularized Seiko quartz as ‘the thing’ threatening the mechanical movement in the watch industry. Breaking the traditional code was his forte, as seen in “The Spy who loved me” – the quintessential timepiece was not used as a weapon but a communication device instead! The special modification by Q was swank and way ahead of its time, and the wow quotient continued with the watch’s ability to not just receive messages but print them on a ticker (Bond, in the movie was asked to report back to MI 6 at M’s behest, clearly no leisure here!). The watch had many tongues wagging then and even now (well we are still in awe of Bond’s technological imagination). Another day was rescued as a result of Mr. Bond’s visionary gadgets!

Editor’s pick: Seiko Sportura Model No: SNJ019P1

To match the epic watch featured above, our Editor’s Pick is from Seiko’s sports collection: the Sportura Model No: SNJ019P1. See “time fly” attains a whole new meaning in this Seiko that’s loaded with features. Supersonic Formula 1 has played a catalyst for the Sportura series with this model exhibiting a round stainless steel case, with a deep black dial and flaming orange markers. The 40 mm case sits perfectly even on a narrow wrist without taking away from its sports portrayal. This Sportura combines the expertise of the digital world and blends it perfectly with the functioning of the analog movement.

The watch is built on the renowned Seiko Japanese Quartz movement that started the rage of Quartz and threatened the luxury market. With the Sportura you can record up to 100 hours in 1/1000 second intervals, and it has the multiple time zone feature with the time zone of up to 28 cities around the world already fed in. There’s no scope of getting the date wrong, as it’s set with an annual calendar. It comes with two alarms which function individually and can be turned on/off without the interference of the other. The steel bracelet is secured with a deployment buckle with a push-button release. Sportura being up to 100 m water resistant, will not confine the energetic spirit in you. So, if you, like Bond, cannot wait to get on with your next mission, take a look at the Sportura collection here. Godspeed!

This is our kind of ode to the maverick, humanitarian and extremely humorous Roger Moore, who fascinated our imagination as James Bond, raising his eyebrows like a pro, and left behind an endearing legacy of gentleman standards that will remain unparalleled.

Treat your eyes through a complete era of Bond watches we have compiled for you here.

What did you think of Sir Roger Moore’s watch collection? Got more trivia on his personal collection? We are all ears, share it with us in the comments section below.