The world’s favorite spy is set to return to the big screen this fall. The new James Bond movie “Skyfall” stars Daniel Craig as the handsome and elusive agent 007 iand s slated to debut November 12.

Omega has been closely associated with the James Bond franchise since 1995. That year, Pierce Brosnan took over the role of James Bond while wearing the Omega Seamaster Quartz Professional in “GoldenEye.”

When Bond and Natalya got trapped inside the ICBM train, surrounded by one-inch thick armor-plated steel, Bond activated the laser cutter on his watch and proceeded to cut a manhole in the floor of the train. With just seconds to spare, Bond and Natalya dove through the hole, and escaped from the train before it exploded. Later in the mission, Bond used his watch to arm and disarm a series of magnetic mines.

In 1997, Brosnan again played the legendary spy in “Tomorrow Never Dies,” sporting a new version of the Seamaster Professional. In that film Bond uses the watch’s detachable remote detonator to make a booby trap with a grenade and a glass jar. When he needs a diversion after his hostage is shot, 007 triggers the detonator, causing the grenade to detach and self-arm.

The Seamaster again came to the rescue in “The World Is Not Enough” (1999) when Bond (Brosnan) used the watch to illuminate the inside of the inflated bubble ski jacket while he and Elektra were trapped in an avalanche. The watch also comes into play later on, when, stuck in an inspection pit in a nuclear bunker, Bond fires the piton wire to jump fifty feet using the miniature grappling hook.

For the 40th anniversary of James Bond in 2002 and in conjunction with the release of “Die Another Day,” Omega unveiled a commemorative edition of the Seamaster Professional donned by Brosnan in the film, featuring a blue dial with the 007 logo inscribed across it and also machined into the caseback. The band also had 007 inscribed on the clasp.

Craig enters
Bond went back to basics in 2006 when the latest 007, Daniel Craig, donned the gadgetless Omega Seamaster in “Casino Royale,” taking his image from one of fictional super-spy to one of discreet sophistication.

Craig wore the Seamaster Planet Ocean in the first part of the film, and later donned the Seamaster Professional 300M. In connection with the launch of the film, Omega released an 007-special of the Professional 300M, featuring the 007-gun logo on the second hand and the rifle pattern on the dial, representing the gun-barrel sequence of Bond movies.

Omega released a second James Bond limited edition watch later in 2006. Produced in a limited series of 5,007 pieces, the Seamaster Planet Ocean model is similar to what Craig wears earlier on in the film; however, it has a small orange colored 007 logo on the second hand, an engraved caseback signifying the Bond connection, and an engraved 007 on the clasp.

In the most recent Bond film, “Quantum of Solace” (2008), Craig sports the 45mm version of the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean with a black dial and steel bracelet. Another limited edition was introduced to the public, featuring the checkered “PPK grip” face with the “Quantum of Solace” logo over it.

To commemorate fifty years of James Bond films this year, Omega is releasing a special edition of the popular Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond watch in conjunction with the “Skyfall” debut. In addition, Omega has also released a special Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Skyfall Limited Edition watch.

The Seamaster Diver
Created in two sizes, 41 mm and 36.25 mm, the James Bond 007 50th Anniversary Collector’s Piece is crafted in stainless steel and features ceramic bezel rings with diving scales in matte chromium nitride with the number “50” in red as a reminder that the watch is celebrating a special anniversary.

Presented on a classic brushed and polished Omega-patented screw-and-pin stainless steel bracelet, the watch boasts a lacquered black dial with 007 monogram. The 41 mm version has 11 applied indexes; the 36.25 mm watch has ten with a diamond index at the 7 o’clock position – a reminder that this watch was created to honor the film history of agent 007. The indexes are coated with white SuperLumiNova with a blue emission, allowing ease of reading in all light conditions. There is a date window at 3 o’clock.

Both versions are powered by Omega’s COSC-certified caliber 2507 automatic movement fitted with the Co-Axial escapement. The watch’s screw-in case back is stamped with a gun-barrel design and there is a cool bullet decoration fixed on the rotor that can be viewed through a central sapphire crystal.

The watch also incorporates a number of advanced features that will appeal particularly to divers, including a unidirectional rotating bezel, helium escape valve and water resistance to 300 meters.

The 41mm version is being produced in a limited edition of 11,007 pieces while the 36.25mm model comes in a limited edition of 3,007 pieces.

The new collector’s pieces were unveiled at a special launch event this past February. Omega president Stephen Urquhart and the brand’s vice president and head of product development, Jean-Claude Monachon, introduced the two commemorative watches at Omega’s new boutique in London’s Stratford Westfield mall.

Skyfall Limited Edition
The Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Skyfall Limited Edition is a 42 mm steel model steel case with a patented screw-and-pin bracelet whose divers’ clasp is engraved with “007.” The rotating diving bezel is distinguished by its matte black ceramic ring with a chromium nitride diving scale.

The applied indexes on the black dial are coated with white Super-LumiNova emitting a blue light as are the polished, facetted rhodium-plated hands. But  here the minute hand emits a green light, as does the dot on the diving bezel. This feature makes it easy for divers to keep track of their time at a glance. At the 7 o’clock position is a 007 logo.

This model is powered by the firm’s own new Co-Axial calibre 8507, with the rotor in black-varnished engraving. The movement is visible through sapphire crystal in the brushed screw-in caseback. Along with Co-Axial technology, the watch is equipped with an “Si14” silicon balance spring. Omega will make 5,007 pieces.

At the event
At the February event was Lindy Hemming, the Oscar-winning costume designer who originally chose the Omega Seamaster as 007’s watch in “Goldeneye.” “I was convinced that Commander Bond, a Naval man, a diver, and a discreet gentleman of the world would wear this watch as opposed to the one everyone expected me to use,” she said. “I had also known contemporaries when I was in my twenties who were military and naval, and some who worked in field of energy and electricity, who all swore by their Omegas.”

Fifty years after the world’s favorite spy made his debut in “Dr. No” and now with the 23rd film in the franchise’s history set to debut later this year, Omega continues to accompany Bond on his exotic adventures.