Conan O’Brien Interviewed President Biden & Their Omega Seamasters Stole the Show

The pair have more in common than their Irish-American heritage.

Published December 21, 2023

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Conan O’Brien recently interviewed President Biden in a special edition of his popular podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and the two ended up having a fair amount in common. The pair bonded over their similar backgrounds, both coming from large, blue-collar, Irish Catholic families in the Northeast — O’Brien grew up in Boston with five siblings, Biden in Pennsylvania and Delaware with three.

Both also share an interest in politics, with Biden of course serving as an elected official for the better part of six decades and O’Brien being something of an amateur presidential historian with a particular affinity for (and knowledge of) Abraham Lincoln. And another thing they have in common but didn’t touch on during the interview? Their taste in watches.

Both men wore Omega Seamasters during the interview. Not only that but both wore models that can be described as “Bond Watches,” with Biden wearing the earliest Omega Bond watch and O’Brien sporting the latest.

a man standing next to a man sitting at a table — Conan O’Brien, flanked by President Biden, sits at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office at the White House while wearing his titanium Omega Seamaster.

On Conan’s wrist was the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition “No Time to Die.” Worn by Daniel Craig in his final Bond outing, the NTTD Seamaster has quickly become a modern classic for Omega. It differs from the standard Seamaster Diver 300M in a number of ways, most notably its titanium case and titanium mesh bracelet, its bubble-domed sapphire crystal, its tropical dial and aluminum bezel, its aged lume and its lack of a date complication. It’s also a pricey number, retailing for $10,000, which is $4,100 more than the standard steel Seamaster Diver.

Omega Seamaster Diver 300m 007 Edition ‘No Time to Die’

$10,000 at Watches of Switzerland

Biden’s Seamaster is considerably more modest. While we don’t get a full view of it during the interview, we can make out the watch’s distinctly ’90s “tank tread” bracelet peeking out from under the president’s French cuff shirt here and there. The watch is almost certainly the Seamaster Diver 300M ref. 2561.80. This is the 36.25mm midsize version of the quartz-powered “Goldeneye” Seamaster worn by Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in the 1995 film of the same name (Brosnan wore the full-size version of the watch, ref. 2541.80).

a man in a suit and tie — The Seamaster’s “tank tread” bracelet makes a cameo in this shot.

Biden has worn this watch frequently since at least his days as President Barack Obama’s vice president when it was photographed and identified as a quartz midsize model due to its smaller 3 o’clock marker and its dial showing three lines of text instead of four as on the automatic version. Used examples can readily be found for under $2,000.

Omega Seamaster Diver 300m Midsize Quartz

$1.00 at eBay

While neither have discussed their watch collections publicly, to my knowledge, both men have shown great taste in watches over the years. In addition to his trusty Seamaster, Biden is also known to own an Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch, a steel Rolex Datejust 41, a Vulcain Cricket, an Apple Watch and an obscure quartz Seiko Chronograph ref. 7T32-6M90 from the ’90s or early 2000s.

Conan has worn his No Time to Die Seamaster for most of the past year, but prior to that he was consistently wearing a Rolex Submariner Date. Throughout his career, he’s been seen wearing everything from a Panerai Radiomir to an IWC Pilot’s Chronograph to an Apple Watch to a customized Rolex Milgauss. I think we’re going to need a sequel episode where these two just chat about watches.