The Coolest James Bond Watch You’ve Never Heard of Has Quietly Returned

And you can buy one for well under $1,000.

a closeup of a modernized tissot james bond dive watch against a red gradient background

Published November 14, 2024

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You’re probably familiar with at least the broad strokes of James Bond watches.

For much of the character’s history, Bond was a Rolex man. On the page, Bond creator Ian Fleming put an unnamed Rolex on the character’s wrist — likely inspired by the author’s own Explorer 1016. On-screen, every Bond from Sean Connery to Timothy Dalton donned a Submariner in their films.

Then, starting with 1995’s Goldeneye, Omega took over as the official Bond watch through a licensing deal. For the past three decades, the only watches worn by Pierce Brosnan’s and Daniel Craig’s takes of the superspy have been Seamasters.

omega watch on a mans wrist — When you think of a Bond watch, you’re probably picturing an Omega Seamaster like this.

But there was a time before product placement was king when far less thought went into what kind of watch a heroic movie character wore. Throughout the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, 007 strapped on a number of lesser-known watches in his movies that have, over the years, been identified by eagle-eyed fans.

These include a Breitling Top Time worn by Connery in Thunderball, Dalton’s TAG Heuer Night Diver in The Living Daylights, and more than half a dozen quartz-powered Seikos accompanying Roger Moore in several of his films from the late 1970s through the ’80s.

One of the least-known Bond watches of all is a watch that probably wasn’t supposed to be in a Bond movie at all. It was a 1970s dive watch from Tissot, and the Le Locle brand just quietly recreated it.

a tissot pr516 watch on a mans wrist — This humble new Tissot has a direct lineage to James Bond.

Bond Wore a Tissot?

1973’s Live and Let Die was seen as a major turning point for the Bond franchise. Connery’s character-defining run in the 1960s had finally come to an end following George Lazenby’s brief intermission in 1969, punctuated by the actor’s phoned-in performance in 1971’s dreadful Diamonds Are Forever. The spy craze of the ’60s was officially over, and Bond needed to get with the times of a new decade.

The result was a new actor in the suave Roger Moore, a new vibe with the film’s blaxploitation-inspired plot, and a hip new attitude exemplified by the franchise’s first rock-and-roll theme song, performed by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney (who was seeking a reinvention of his own) and his new band Wings.

Also new was Bond’s choice of wristwatch. The first watch he wears in the movie is a Pulsar. Made by Hamilton, the Pulsar was a revolutionary showcase of new quartz technology and the world’s first digital watch. Far from being seen as cheap like most digital watches today, the Pulsar was considered cutting-edge and was worn by celebrity tastemakers of the day like Elton John and Keith Richards.

Bond shows off both his Pulsar and Submariner in this early scene from Live and Let Die.

Bond didn’t keep his Pulsar for long, however. In the film, the digital watch is only worn by the spy in his personal life. He is soon reissued his Rolex Submariner for mission use after it received some new modifications from Q: an ultrastrong magnet and a buzzsaw bezel, both of which Bond puts to use in the film.

For most of the movie, 007 wears his Sub, but there are two chase scenes — one at the airport, another in a boat — where he is seen wearing a different dive watch. The watch doesn’t get much screen time, just enough to identify it as something other than a Rolex.

roger moore as james bond wears a tissot watch while driving a boat in the film live and let die

Behind-the-scenes photographs from the film have enabled fans to positively identify the watch as a Tissot Visodate Automatic PR-516, and Moore seemed to have worn it frequently while making the film.

This has sparked speculation that the Tissot diver was Moore’s personal watch and he either forgot to switch to the Rolex during certain scenes or wore it when the Rolex prop watch wasn’t ready yet — though no one has ever been able to confirm where the Tissot came from or how it ended up in the final film.

a vintage tissot pr516 james bond watch — A vintage example of a Tissot PR-516 similar to the one Bond wore in *Live and Let Die*.

A Secret Bond Watch Returns

While the Tissot PR-516 will never have as strong of a connection to James Bond as an Omega Seamaster or Rolex Submariner, the affordable dive watch was still worn by 007 in a movie, and that makes it a Bond watch in my book.

Recently, with zero fanfare, Tissot effectively remade the PR-516 from Live and Let Die. The new model, the Tissot PR516 Powermatic 80, bears a strong resemblance to the original diver with its fully-marked bezel, identical handset, old-school case shape, lack of crown guards, and bright red seconds hand.

a tissot pr516 watch — While there are a few differences, the design of the new PR516 is clearly based on the vintage PR-516 worn by 007.

There are differences too, of course. The finishing is a touch fancier, with a polished chamfer added along the flanks of the case and brushed instead of polished sides. The case is also slightly larger, increasing in size from 36mm to 38mm. The watch keeps the date window at 3 o’clock, but it’s now color-matched to the dial.

The crystal has been changed from acrylic to sapphire, and the caseback now boasts a sapphire display window. The bezel insert has been swapped from bakelite to mineral glass, and it’s no longer lumed. Furthermore, the new bezel is fixed — the original had a friction-fit, bidirectional bezel. That stat, combined with a 100m water resistance rating, prevents the new PR516 from technically being classified as a dive watch.

a tissot pr516 watch caseback showing the powermatic 80 movement — The new Tissot PR516 features some modern upgrades, such as a sapphire caseback, a quick-release bracelet, and a Powermatic 80 movement.

The bracelet has been updated from Bond’s three-link pseudo-Oyster bracelet to a dressier five-link Jubilee style with quick-release spring bars. Finally, the movement has obviously been improved, with the high-tech Powermatic 80 and its 80 hours of power reserve replacing the old Tissot Cal. 784-2 automatic.

Like Bond’s original, Tissot’s new PR516 is also very affordable. The new watch is available from Tissot for $725 on a bracelet or just $650 with a blue dial on a leather strap, making it one of the cheapest Bond watches around. And if you want something more screen-accurate, you can still find vintage examples of the Live and Let Die watch floating around the internet for well under $1,000.