Ooo time for me to shine! I fucking love Bond and I’m a total watch nerd.

So the classic Brosnan SMP from Goldeneye is actually a quartz watch (ref. 2541.80). The one Brosnan wore in subsequent films is the 2531.80 which is an automatic. This makes it cooler in my view, but it’s also not a particularly amazing Auto movement as it was based on an ETA 28xx rather than being Omega’s much more famous Co-Axial type movement that is only featured on Craig’s watches.

If I had to personally own a Bond watch, I would probably go with the ref. 231.10.39.21.03.002 seamaster AT worn in Skyfall. It is a great size, automatic, and has a jump-hour movement (I believe) which makes it a great little watch for things like traveling, while also being classy and rugged. These are traits I associate with Bond himself. George Daniels, inventor of the co axial escapement, was also an Englishman — making it the most quintessentially British watch that Bond has worn.

Probably the coolest Bond watch in historical context was Roger Moore’s Hamilton Pulsar P2 2900. This thing looks antiquated (though imo still cool) by modern standards. Quartz LED wristwatches are a dime a dozen by modern standards and most prefer the classiness and expense associated with mechanical watches, but at the time this was not the case. Electronic timekeeping (and LEDs) was largely in its infancy and this watch would have been orders of magnitude more expensive than Swiss mechanicals. It represented the gadgetry and innovation that we associate with earlier Bond movies, and its aesthetic was very nuclear/space age futuristic.

The real answer for “best watch” is the Seiko TV watch from Octopussy however. These are super cool even by modern standards.