Earlier this week, on a blistering day in Los Angeles, I walked into an Omega boutique outfitted unlike any other. Just off the sun-soaked main floor was a staircase leading to an exhibition on the second floor. It was dark, lounge-y—the kind of spot where you could imagine James Bond sinking into a sofa and sipping on a Vesper martini.
And along the walls were glass display cases housing ephemera from 007’s onscreen career. The miniature bombs released from Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 in No Time to Die were pretty damn cool. His passport and MI6 ID badge, too.
But the thing I kept coming back to was across the proverbial aisle, in the section devoted to the goodies and gadgets used by Bond’s longtime nemesis, the nefarious global organization known as Spectre. It was Blofeld’s bionic eye. I know it’s not a real bionic eye.
But in that space, surrounded by suited-up watch fans, I wanted to believe it was. Because mini bombs are neat, but if you ask me, bionic eyes win every single time. It was right around then that I realized my allegiances might lie with the wrong side.
That suspicion was confirmed when I got a look at the pair of watches that debuted alongside this event. Both are takes on Bond’s favorite watch, the Seamaster 300m. Each is 42mm in diameter, rated to 300 meters of water resistance (but of course), powered by the self-winding 8806 movement, and comes housed in a stainless steel case with a mesh bracelet.
But while one is dedicated to the man himself—its blue aluminum dial finished with that recognizable “wave” pattern and “007” emblazoned on the rotor visible through the exhibition case back—the other is an homage to his adversaries. The Spectre edition comes with a grained black dial and the Spectre octopus on the flip side. They are both, without a doubt, great watches.
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