‘Rooting for the wrong side,’ Omega’s Spectre Seamaster makes villainy wearable

Every hero is only as magnetic as the darkness he stands against. It took a blistering afternoon in Los Angeles, and a hidden staircase, to remind me of that.

Tucked above the sun-drenched floor of an Omega boutique lay a dim, lounge-like exhibition, the kind of room where James Bond might sink into a sofa with a Vesper martini. Glass cabinets held the ephemera of 007’s onscreen life: the miniature bombs dropped from the Aston Martin DB5 in ‘No Time to Die’, his passport, his MI6 badge. Clever, all of it. But across the aisle, in the corner devoted to Spectre, the nefarious organisation that has haunted Bond for decades, sat Blofeld’s bionic eye. It was surely a prop. Yet, surrounded by suited-up watch lovers, I wanted it to be real. Mini bombs are charming, bionic eyes win every time.

That was the moment allegiance quietly changed, and the watches confirmed it.

Omega unveiled two Seamaster 300M interpretations of Bond’s favourite diver. Both measure 42mm, resist water to 300 metres, and are powered by the self-winding 8806 movement, housed in stainless steel and wrapped in a mesh bracelet. The first honours the man himself: a blue aluminium dial in the signature ‘wave’ pattern, with ‘007’ emblazoned on the rotor, visible through the exhibition caseback. It is, without question, a very good watch.

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The second belongs to his adversaries, and it is better

The Spectre edition arrives in a grained black dial that flows seamlessly onto the bezel, while the organisation’s octopus lies hidden on the caseback.

The inspiration may be sinister, robust and sporty, it would sit as comfortably beneath the cuff of a crisp white shirt, itself tucked beneath a perfectly tailored tuxedo. Wear it to a state dinner or to a meeting with an important, if financially compromised, politician.

And therein lies the genius of it. The Bond watch announces the hero’s blue is meant to be admired. The Spectre watch conceals. Its tentacled secret presses against the wrist, known only to the one who wears it, and perhaps that is the real seduction.

We are drawn to heroes for what they stand for, but we are drawn to villains for what they hold back. There is a power in carrying something unseen, in knowing that beneath the polished surface, something is lurking.

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Omega has crafted a watch for the side of us that rarely gets a spotlight. And as I stood there, hand hovering over the glass, I realised that perhaps the wrong side was never wrong at all, merely better dressed.

(Disclaimer: All images belong to Omega. We do not claim ownership of them.)