2012 Omega Seamaster James Bond 50th Anniversary 212.30.41.20.01.005
Ref: 212.30.41.20.01.005

Points of Mention

This watch is sold with its original Omega box and Omega paperwork. The watch comes paired with its original Omega 20mm brushed and polished 20mm Omega stainless steel bracelet with a signed Omega buckle and dive extension, the watch will fit up to a 6.7inch wrist. The watch is from August 2012 and is sold in worn condition, but overall very good condition, the watch has had a recent light polish. The watch comes with our 12-Months Warranty.

The Watch

The first Omega Seamaster was based loosely around waterproof watches made for the Royal Navy at the close of WW2, what made the Seamaster appealing was its use of an O-Ring gasket which gave it temperature and depth resistance. In 1955, the Swiss Laboratory for Watch ‌Research‌ tested out 50 Seamaster cases with a 60-metre depth rating. Omega was so confident that they strapped one to the outside of a plane and flew it over the North pole in 1956. Lindy Hemming, the costume designer, chose the first Bond Omega, a Seamaster 300M Quartz, for Pierce Brosnan’s “Goldeneye” Bond debut in 1995. Here we have a 2012 Omega Seamaster 212.30.41.20.01.005 celebrating James Bond's 50th Anniversary limited to 11,007 pieces, the 41mm brushed and polished 316L stainless steel case curves over your wrist with the characteristic twisted lugs, and a lug-to-lug length of 47mm and a case thickness of 12.5mm give the watch an impressive wrist presence. On the right side a signed screw-down crown with deep knurling for extra grip and crown guards for protection, on the left side at 10 o'clock a Helium escape valve. The rotating bezel is unidirectional, with angled scalloped edges for grip and a black ceramic 60 minutes dive insert with the “50” in red as a nod to the anniversary. A domed sapphire crystal AR coated on both sides sits above a unique black dial with a diagonal repeating “007” logo embossed across it, applied disc and baton indexes coated in Super LumiNova mark the hours, at 3 o’clock a framed date window, Skeletonised sword hands have luminescence infilled tips. The sweeping second’s hand has a red tip and lollipop counterbalance, at 12 o’clock we have the Omega Motif “Seamaster” in red Professional and at 6 o’clock “Co-Axial Chronometer” 330m/1000ft completes this Bond-themed anniversary sports dive watch. On the reverse, a screw-down exhibition case back with the spiral gun barrel and bullet stamped onto the oscillating rotor, inside an automatic Omega Co-Axial Cal. 2507, 25 jewels, beating at 25,200 beats per hour, launched in 1999 and based on the ETA 2892-A2, a Co-Axial Escapement, Chronometer Certified and Rhodium-plated. The watch comes fitted on its brushed and polished 20mm Omega stainless steel bracelet with a signed Omega buckle and dive extension, the watch comes with its Omega presentation box and paperwork.

Personal Note

The Brand

Formerly known as the La Generale Watch Co. in 1848 founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds. When he died in 1879, his sons carried on his dream. In 1880 they moved to 96 Rue Jakob-Stampfli where they remain today. The brothers produced their first mass-produced calibre, the Labrador In 1885. Just a few years later in 1892, they produced the first minute-repeater. In 1903 they renamed the company Omega until 1982 when they officially changed their name to Omega SA. During WW1 Omega watches were used as official timekeepers for the Royal Flying Corps and the US Army. In 1930, Omega and Tissot merged together to form Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère (SSIH) In 1931, another group was formed - Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG). Where SSIH was primarily French-speaking, ASUAG was founded by the more German-speaking members of the Swiss watch industry. In 1948 they introduced the first edition of one of its most symbolic watches: the Seamaster. Omega first introduced the Constellation in 1952. At the time it was Omega's flagship timepiece. The first models had a Cal. 354 bumper movement in them. Later in 1955 Omega introduced the Automatic Cal. 50x, followed in 1959 by the Cal.55x (no date) and 56x (date) versions. Many of the Constellations came with pie-pan dials, diamond indexes, and fancy lug configurations. All the gold Constellations of that time have the Observatory of Geneva hand engraved on the back. The stainless steel and stainless steel/gold versions had a gold medallion on the back with the Observatory of Geneva. The eight stars above the Observatory stand for the many exploits of Omega in the world Chronometer competition. Celebrating the fact that all Constellations are Chronometer Certified. In 1962, when astronaut Wally Schirra wore a Speedmaster on his Mercury Sigma 7 Mission, making it the first Omega watch to enter space. After rigorous tests, NASA used Omega for all their Apollo missions including the 1969 Moon landing of Apollo 11. Today Omega is still an astronaut's first choice. In 1969, President Nixon famously said it was “too valuable” and turned down the first-ever all-gold Speedmaster Professional Deluxe. As a response to the ever-growing threat of electronic watches to the manufacturers of mechanical watches, Omega and many Swiss brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe formed Centre Electronique Horologer (CEH). Prototypes began to appear in 1967 with their production starting in 1968. Then In 1972, Omega introduced the reference, 198.030, which included the Omega calibre 1250, a ‘tuning-fork electronic movement which was made under licence from Bulova. Later we saw a merger of SSIH and ASUAG into SMH, or Société de Microélectronique et d’Horlogerie. This merger took place in 1983. In 1992, the company acquired Blancpain, and in 1998 they officially rebranded themselves from SMH to the Swatch Group. Then, in 1999, they purchased and integrated Breguet into the Swatch Group.