Monday-Morning Scribbles On The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond 60th Anniversary

I wonder if any active MI6 agents feel attracted to the new Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond 60th Anniversary. Maybe the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) Richard Moore, or “C,” has issued a memo to not just spies but to all working at the service to not buy the watch because it is a dead giveaway. In that case, Omega misses out on 3,644 potential buyers. Luckily, the new Seamaster Diver 300M that was introduced last November in London will reach numerous watch and James Bond fans to make up for the missing MI6 staff. I had a brief encounter with the watch and scribbled down my first impression of it. You will also find notes on the naughty #FR2NCK MULLER Vanguard featuring two “fxxking rabbits” and the Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Green.

Last November, my colleague Daan went undercover to see the introduction of the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond 60th Anniversary watch (RJ wrote the introductory article here). He came back with positive findings, but being a skeptic, I had to see and feel the watch myself before passing judgment. Come the first week of 2023, the watch was at my disposal. I had mixed feelings regarding the titanium Seamaster Diver 300M “No Time To Die” that came out in 2019. I thought it tried a bit too hard to be cool with its dial markings and prominent “fauxtina” details. The steel follow-up, however, with its blue dial and bezel seems to be more clean-cut and more straightforward with fewer frills and thrills. But is it?

Monday-morning scribbles on the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond 60th Anniversary

Blue and white dominate the face of the Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond 60th Anniversary. The blue shade used for the watch is quite nice. It’s a deeper, darker blue than on the 1993 Seamaster Professional 300M. Another subtle touch is the laser-engraved wave pattern on the dial. The heavy swell of the regular 300M models has calmed down in favor of a smaller, more sophisticated wave pattern. Omega’s use of aluminum for the dial and bezel insert was also a classy choice. An aluminum bezel has a softer shimmer than a ceramic one, and it creates a sense of timelessness in this new “SMP.” It softens the cool, crisp contrast between the blue of the dial and bezel and the white of the hands, hour markers, and diving scale. In the dark, the white Super-LumiNova glows clearly in light blue and green. But wait for the party trick…

Business in the front, cocktail party in the back

From the front, the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond 60th Anniversary looks like a luxurious tool watch that’s ready to get the job done without too many bells and whistles. But when you turn the watch over, you find 007 pointing a gun at you. The four-frame animation on an aluminum disc is powered by the wheel that also turns the central seconds and is therefore always “on”. The pattern applied on the sapphire crystal of the case back works with the disk to create the animation.

You could say that this SMP is business in the front, cocktail party at the back, but I could do without the animation. The discrepancy between the instrumental looks and functionality of the watch and the “party trick” is too much for me. But, I have to say, it is just as gimmicky as a Bond gadget, so it does make thematic sense.

True blue

In my humble opinion, the new James Bond 60th Anniversary is the best-looking Seamaster Diver 300M in the current collection. The shade of blue is exactly to my taste, and the 42 × 14.26mm case size works for me (though the thickness is borderline okay). But the stainless steel mesh bracelet, which is similar to the titanium version, is not my cup of tea. I’m just not a fan of the look and the way it wears. I’m really curious how the watch would look and wear on either a fitted rubber or a Tropic-style strap in the same shade of blue as the dial. And come summer, I would even give white rubber a shot.

One last thing that caught my attention was the price of the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond 60th Anniversary, which, I almost forgot to mention, is not a limited edition. When we published the introductory article less than two months ago, the retail price was CHF 7,000 (excluding VAT). As of January 2023, however, the retail price on the official Omega website is CHF 7,900 (and €9,000 in the Netherlands, including 21% VAT). I need a martini — shaken or stirred, I don’t care — to deal with that. How about you? Keep an eye out for an in-depth, hands-on review by one of our “agents” to find out what he thinks.

Notes on the #FR2NCK MULLER Vanguard

Yes, that’s two rabbits doing what they do best. It’s all about Fxxking Rabbits with the provocative brand #FR2, the brainchild of Ryo Ishikawa, an iconic figure in Tokyo’s streetwear scene. The #FR2NCK MULLER Vanguard (ref. 26730BC.GG.1320BC.01) is what you get when you put a Franck Muller Vanguard and #FR2 apparel in a small space for a certain amount of time. You get a watch in a striking, diapositive livery with the naughty rabbit emblem replacing the 7 and the 8. And guess what? In the dark, these feisty rodents glow. The matte white dial shows applied hour markers with a glossy black PVD finish, and the hands are open-worked. Apart from the glowing bunnies, Super-LumiNova has also been applied to the small indices above the numerals and the hands. The white nylon strap with print completes the provocative streetwear look perfectly.

A movement conceived by master watchmaker Martin Braun

The black case measures 41 × 49.95 × 12.2mm and is made of a composite of carbon and glass fiber. That case starts as a block of composite that is put in an oven set at 150°C. When it comes out, the material is strong enough and ready to be milled into the recognizable Vanguard shape. Inside the lightweight, 30m-water-resistant case beats the automatic FM 800-DT movement with bidirectional winding. This caliber was conceived by Martin Braun, a German master watchmaker who also had his own brand that became part of Franck Muller’s Watchland in 2007. The 4Hz movement shows the hours, minutes, seconds, and date and has a power reserve of 42 hours.

The #FR2NCK MULLER Vanguard is a limited edition of 800 pieces and is only available at Franck Muller boutiques and retailers in Australia and Southeast Asia. The price of the #FR2NCK MULLER Vanguard is SG$15,800 (approximately €11,100). You can find more information about the watch on the Franck Muller SEA website.

The Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Green

If you can’t choose between color and open-worked, the Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Green may be the watch for you. You already know the BR 05’s integrated-bracelet-sports-watch look, and three skeletonized versions already existed. Now there’s a fourth with an olive-green-colored transparent panel above the rhodium-plated movement. The watch also shows applied indices and skeletonized hour and minute hands with a touch of Super-LumiNova.

The 40mm BR 05 Skeleton Green is a limited edition of 500 pieces and is powered by the Swiss-made caliber BR-CAL-322. That’s an automatic movement based on a skeletonized Sellita SW300-1 caliber, built by Sellita to Bell & Ross’s specifications. You can also see the movement through the sapphire window on the back of the 100m-water-resistant case. Looking through it, you will discover a rotor inspired by a wheel of a sports car and engraved with an individual limited-edition number. The Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Green has a retail price of €6,200 for the version on a green rubber strap, and it will set you back €6,700 if you opt for the steel bracelet.

You can find more information on the BR 05 Skeleton Green on the official Bell & Ross website.

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