For the new Bond movie “No Time to Die”, James Bond wears his iconic Omega wristwatch, but what does the techie brains behind MI6 wear? Well Q wears a Swatch. We explore Q’s watch in detail here.
Swatch released a total of 7 watches for this latest Bond movie. The first six are modelled after six Bond movies, each selected as representative of the actor who plays Bond. The six are Dr. No (1962) with Sean Connery, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) with George Lazenby, Moonraker (1979) with Roger Moore, Licensed to Kill (1989) with Timothy Dalton, The World is not Enough (1999) with Pierce Brosnan, and Casino Royale (2006) with Daniel Craig.
The six 007 watches. 
Dr. No. Dr. No in 1962 marked James Bond’s first appearance on the big screen, with Sean Connery taking on the role of 007 as he travels across Jamaica to defeat Dr. No. This watch celebrates the beginnings of Bond inspired by the film’s iconic opening title sequence, with a black strap and blue, yellow, red and green dots as well as always NO time on the dial! 
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. From the warm Portuguese beaches to the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, George Lazenby made quite the impression as 007 in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. This timepiece is a tribute to the exhilarating adventure, revealing the iconic 007 logo every time the watch strikes 7. 
Moonraker. Moonraker sees James Bond blast into outer space in Roger Moore’s fourth appearance as the world’s favourite secret agent. This unique model takes inspiration from the night sky with an inky blue strap and the Moonraker rocket flying through the dial. 
Licensed to Kill. Licence To Kill starring Timothy Dalton sees James Bond suspended from MI6 and on the trail of villain Franz Sanchez, where his mission takes him to the hot and humid climates of Florida and Mexico. The strap on this watch takes its inspiration from Sanchez’s pet iguana alongside palm trees swaying under a setting sun. 
The World is not Enough. Pierce Brosnan is in for a thrilling adventure as 007 in The World Is Not Enough. This design features flames reminiscent of the film’s poster on the strap, while the dial burns red echoing the iconic gun barrel. 
Casino Royale. Casino Royale sees James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, on his first mission as a newly promoted Double-O who must take on villain Le Chiffre in a tense game of high stakes poker. This watch takes inspiration from the colourful title sequence packed full of casino imagery. 
The box which accompanies the watches are in the form of a video tape.
And the seventh, was designed for the character Q, the brain behind Bond’s greatest gadgets. From covert tracking devices to secret weapons, Q’s inventions have no limits, and he produces them all with a cup of his favourite Earl Grey tea in hand.
Swatch Q Watch
The design: case, dial and hands
The watch is designed not by a watch designer, but by the Costume Designer for No Time to Die, Suttirat Anne Larlarb. The intent is to match Q’s personality and style. This is interesting, as the current Q is played by Ben Whishaw since 2012 – a much younger version of the earlier portrayals by Peter Burton, Desmond Llewelyn and John Cleese. The design of the Q Watch is to match this nerdy personality.
And it based on the stainless steel SKIN Irony. The intent is to reflect Q’s timeless mix of tradition and futuristic innovation, featuring a tartan plaid brown leather strap (the character often wears tartan plaid shirts), sharp red edges and a sun-brushed dial showing off the quartz movement.
The dial is ring shaped, in aluminium, and printed with the Swatch logo at 12 and a “Q” at 6, with triangle hour markers in blue. A matte finished rehaut which is sloped surrounds the dial and is finished in a matte anodized red. Only two hands are provided – for the hours and minutes. And the entire mechanism, including the coil and circuit board is visible through the center.
The look is rather striking, with the play of colours making for an attractive aesthetic. The case in stainless steel, with a matte finish, and measures 42mm diameter, with a thickness of 6.7mm.
The movement
The movement is a standard quartz movement made for Swatch by ETA, and features a battery which is external to the case, allowing for quick and easy battery change. Swatch does not specify in the press material which movement is used, but perusing the ETA site, we think perhaps the movement used might be the ETA 901.001.
The competitive landscape
Is there a competitor to James Bond? And for the matter at hand, for Q?
Well, we thought not.
Concluding thoughts
Overall, the watch has the aesthetics going for it. The case is good sized, and thin. And is comfortable on the wrist. The open dial design to expose the movement gives it a nerdy look, which is par for the course for Q -the techie in the movie. The colours chosen works well, and the overall package is rather nice. It does attract a small premium over the regular Irony Skin, but at S$315, it is hardly expensive, and will be a nice, fun buy.
Q will see its launch March 5 2020 (tomorrow!), four weeks ahead of No Time To Die which will be released globally from April 2 2020.
9 Comments
it’s beautiful, but the contacts wafer in the lower left part of the dial is a let down: it looks horrible.
if you want to do a watch like that you have to solve it in a better way. hoped they could’ve gone for the solution of early bulova accutron…
Thanks Ugo for your comments. Personally, I rather dig the way the rawness communicated by the bit of PCB. Fits the image of Q as the super nerd. Though I do agree that the way it is done on the Bulova Accurton Spaceview is perhaps more aesthetically pleasing.
Nice looking swatch, pitty they didn’t use the sistem 52 base for a new disign?
This one for Q is really expensive comparing to previous ones….But I LOVE it the most(crying)
indeed…but expensive is relative. Its only S$315, or about US$225.
Might have to get one of these! Pretty cool. BTW the film’s release is delayed until November due to Covid 19
Yes, the news of the delay in the Premiere was released just yesterday, after we went live with this article.
The launch date for the watches remain unchanged, and is today, March 5, 2020.
Awesome. And the Box is Super Cool. Have to get one.