MI6 rounds up the details of the new Swatch 007 Villains collection of watches launched to coincide with Quantum of Solace...

Swatch 007 Villains Watches (2)
13th December 2008

Celebrating the legendary British secret agent’s most memorable adversaries, the Swatch 007 Villain Collection presents twenty-two Swatch watches inspired by the best of the worst: the bad guys Bond fans love to hate.
Swatch Launch 007 Villains Watches
Swatch 007 Villains Watches (1)
Swatch 007 Villains Watches (3)


BARON SAMEDI — LIVE AND LET DIE (GB237)

In Live And Let Die, Bond does battle with a skeletal villain who goes by the name of Baron Samedi. The bone-coloured superlite silicon strap of this scary Gent features a black print skeleton stretching from the 6 o’clock side across the dial to the 12 o’clock side of the strap, where the skeleton’s bones are raised above its head. The matt black plastic case holds a black dial with the bone-coloured superlite skull mask of Baron Samedi. In the absence of all numerals and indices, round-tipped black hour and minute hands and a delicate white seconds hand mark the time.



SCARAMANGA — THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (SUYB119)

The Man With The Golden Gun pits Bond against the supremely elegant assassin, Francisco Scaramanga, played by Christopher Lee. Elegance is the name of the game with this superb Skin Chrono, whose black leather strap is stamped with a tone-in-tone 007 pistol logo on the 12 o’clock side and whose grooved golden end pieces show a head-on shot of the business end of Scaramanga’s golden gun. The matt black plastic case offers an elegant contrast to the end pieces and frames a black, white and golden dial. A black-on-white minute ring surrounds a broad sunbrushed golden band with embossed skeleton Arabic numerals with white infills at hours 4, 8 and 12 and similar hour markers at hours 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. The 60-minute and 1/10th of a second chrono counters and the continuous seconds counter feature white dials with black numerals and black hands framed by applied golden bands with printed black indices. A second minute ring appears in white on the glossy black central zone of the dial, which contrasts nicely with the white hour and minute hands that serve to mark the time.



JAWS — THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (YOS429G)

The Spy Who Loved Me presents Bond with an unforgettable villain whose polished heavy-metal dentures give him the nickname “Jaws”. The stainless steel bracelet of this weapons-grade Irony THE Chrono recalls Bond’s worthy adversary with a central row of polished stainless steel teeth set in contrast to the satin-brushed surfaces of the links and the massive stainless steel case. Mounted on the case is a brushed stainless steel bezel whose polished indents at all hours recall this villain’s bite. The black flange features a white and yellow minute ring with Arabic numerals (02, 04, 06 ... 60) and a second ring indicating the hours in silver (ONE, TWO, THREE ... TWELVE) and white or yellow Arabic numerals (13, 14, 15 ... 24). A thin yellow ring on the flange frames the dial’s shades of silver, black and yellow. A minute ring with black, yellow and white indices circles the darker grey centre, which has polished metal applique Roman numerals at hours 4, 8 and 12 and a white-on-black date window at 4 o’clock. The chrono and continuous seconds counters feature brushed silver dials with black indices and yellow hands, silver or black Arabic numerals and yellow ID labels: MIN, DEC, SEC for the 60-minute, 1/10th of a second and continuous seconds counters, respectively. Polished metal squelette hour and minute hands with superlite white highlights and a yellow chrono seconds hand mark the time.



HUGO DRAX — MOONRAKER (YRS410G)

Moonraker finds the world’s most famous gentleman spy up against a billionaire French villain by the name of Sir Hugo Drax, whose company manufactures space shuttles. The high-tech angle is well represented by this striking Swatch Irony Retrograde, whose stainless steel bracelet combines brushed with polished and glossy black stainless steel links. The signature 007 pistol logo is lightly engraved on the brushed steel end piece on the 6 o’clock side of the polished stainless steel case. Mounted on the case is a polished stainless steel bezel with engraved white triangular hour markers. The flange framing the dial is split into black and white zones and features a tachymeter scale and the words “DRAX ENTERPRISE CORPORATION” across the top. The black-versus-white split extends to the lightly textured dial, where applique silver Arabic numerals mark hours 4, 8 and 12 and a black-on-white date window opens at 4 o’clock. The 60-minute and 5-minute chronograph arcs show applique silver frames and white-on-black or black-on-white numerals and indices and a grey vortex pattern; the 30-second chrono counter is an applique silver crescent with black indices. The continuous seconds counter at hour 6 features a grooved silver dial and silver vortex graphic and a black hand. Silver squelette hour and minute hands with white superlite highlights and the central chrono seconds hand mark the time.



ARIS KRISTATOS— FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (SUJB104)

For Your Eyes Only features sinister heroin smuggler and KGB agent Aris Kristatos, whose devious attempt to frame Milos “The Dove” Colombo fails. The black silicon strap of this sporty Swatch Jelly in Jelly has a raised black-wing pattern that evokes the dove and Kristatos’ evil schemes. The moulded black plastic case frames a sunbrushed anthracite dial with a silvery dove at its centre. Surrounding the dove is a black minute ring with white hour markers, and black Arabic numerals at all hours. Black hour and minute hands with superlite white highlights and a thin silver seconds hand mark the time.



GENERAL ORLOV — OCTOPUSSY (YGS127)

Bond’s enemy in Octopussy is the fanatical Soviet General Orlov, whose dying words are inscribed on the bezel of this bold Irony Big: “YES BUT TOMORROW I SHALL BE A HERO OF THE SOVIET UNION”. The black leather and red stitching lend a military look to the strap that holds the brushed stainless steel case and engraved brushed steel bezel. The brushed steel look extends to the dial, which is circumscribed by a minute ring with white hour markers, red minute indices and a black arrowhead at hour 12. General Orlov’s rank is evoked on the dial by a five-point star drawn in black with blank and brass-coloured facets that give it a three-dimensional aspect. Black squelette metal hour and minute hands and a slim red central seconds hand mark the time.



MAX ZORIN — A VIEW TO A KILL (YRS411)

In A View To A Kill, Christopher Walken plays the diabolically clever French businessman Max Zorin, whose plot to flood Silicon Valley is foiled by the enterprising Bond. The black leather strap of this high-tech Swatch Retrograde shows parallel rows of red and white stitches and has a black leather loop with the 007 pistol logo printed in white. The brushed stainless steel case contrasts with the polished stainless steel crown and pushers, caseback and bezel; the latter is engraved to highlight a gear-tooth pattern around the circumference. The flange features a white-on-black scale on the top half, and white hour markers with black minute indices against a red ground on the lower half. The three chronograph arcs characteristic of all Swatch Retrograde models are set against a reflective grooved silver dial. The 60-minute and 5-minute arcs feature black groove-pattern dials, white Arabic numerals and outer bands labelled ‘60 MINUTES’ and ‘5 MINUTES’ in red on white, and white hands. The 30-second arc with red central seconds hand shows white Arabic numerals on black. Skeleton black Arabic numerals with white infills mark all hours but 6, and a white-on-black date window appears at 4 o’clock. Skeleton metal hour and minute hands with superlite white highlights mark the time.

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