James Bond aficionados were certainly shaken and stirred into action this week, with a special auction at Christies to celebrate 60 years of the British super spy.
The two-part sale was organised by the auction house in partnership with EON Productions to mark the 60th anniversary of the James Bond films and raise vital funds for 45 different charities.
The watches were sold during the first part of the sale, a live auction on 28th September, 2022, along with cars, costumes and plenty of other Bond memorabilia spanning six decades. Attending the sale in person was invite-only affair, but fans and collectors still bid for items via the Christie’s Live online platform, telephone bid or absentee bid -raising an incredible total of £6,103,500 for charity.
Though the Bond of Ian Fleming’s original books wears a Rolex, the silver screen version of 007 has been an Omega man since 1995, when Pierce Brosnan debuted a Seamaster 300m Quartz in Goldeneye. Ever since, the Swiss watchmaker has been in long-standing partnership with the film franchise, and a host of Omegas have gone on to grace Bond’s athletic wrists.
The latest, an Omega Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition with a brown dial and mesh bracelet from No Time To Die, was designed with input from Daniel Craig himself and specifically built from titanium to withstand the punishing rigours of filming his action scenes. This timepiece, worn by Craig during the scenes filmed in Jamaica, was sold to benefit TIME’S UP UK, fetching £226,800.
The second Bond watch to go ‘under the hammer’ was the stainless steel Omega Aqua Terra 150m with a deep blue dial (a nod to Bond’s naval background), that Craig wore in No Time To Die‘s dramatic opening sequence. It was sold to benefit Orbis, raising £119,700 for the charity.
The second part of the anniversary auction will take the form of an online sale which opens from 15th September until James Bond Day on 5th October, 2022 and comprises 35 further lots spanning the 25 Bond films, with posters, costumes, props, memorabilia and experiences.
Alongside the iconic giant Day of the Dead Aztec skeleton puppet from Spectre (2015), and Naomi Harris’ limited-edition Michael Kors leather handbag from No Time to Die (2021), bidders will also have the chance to buy M’s nuclear location clock from The World Is Not Enough (1999), a signed copy of the Casino Royale (2006) script and, the auction’s highlight, an incredible ‘Champagne Bollinger experience’ (including a first-class trip to France, with an exclusive tour of the Bollinger estate and a stay at the Hotel le Bristol Paris) which is being sold to benefit The Prince’s Trust (estimate: £15,000-£20,000).
Bond might be a Martini drinker, but surely even he would approve of such a fantastic fizz-inspired trip.
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