The OMEGA Planet Ocean Casino Royale
The first 007 Seamaster Planet Ocean is a collector's piece.
Over the past years, the connection between Omega and James Bond piloted an endless series of limited edition timepieces dedicated to the feats of the legendary British secret agent. In the past, James Bond usually wore an Omega Seamaster Diver on his wrist, a nicely sized timepiece, well suited to Pierce Brosnan, when he starred as James Bond.
In 2005 Omega launched the Planet Ocean collection, which was inspired by the 1957 Seamaster 300, and produced it in two different case dimensions when Daniel Craig was selected to be the new 007 series actor; a year later Omega celebrated the first movie of this renovated series, called Casino Royale, by launching an Omega Planet Ocean 5007-piece limited edition series with a 45,5mm diameter:
The Omega Planet Ocean boasts some records: it is the first sporty model that adopts the calibre 2500 with a co-axial escapement, and it represents the first Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean ever worn on James Bond's wrist. On top of that, with this special edition, it is a true collector's piece. At first, it is easy to confuse the Omega Planet Ocean Casino Royale with the standard production model, because there's no difference in the dial making:
They both display the classical yet unique 45,5mm wide Omega Planet Ocean stainless steel case, with the helix like lugs and a thickness of 14,5mm, which is very appreciated today even though this model is out of production, as it is thinner than the newer generation’s Omega Planet Ocean case. After you’ve observed the dial, you suddenly realize the central seconds’ hand has two distinctive attributes: the counterweight has the shape of the 007 gun-like logo and it is orange like its tip.
Omega granted more personalization on the watch’s case back, and it is quite different from the original one, as they replaced the Seamaster medallion with the official Casino Royale film logo along with the 007 gun like brand logo. Why do I think this is definitely a collector's piece? Because what a watch enthusiast looks for in a limited edition timepiece is exclusivity and sobriety:
And because of the strong indications that are coming from the pre-owned watches market: only 5007 pieces of the Omega Planet Ocean Casino Royale were manufactured, which are a lot, yet they are hard to find. And if you’ve found one, the retail price is higher than what you paid new back in 2006 (almost 2,800€ if I'm not mistaken)! It might be interesting to know that the first one in this series was sold by Antiquorum at 18,800 CHF back in 2007.
(Photo credit: Omegawatches.com, Horbiter®'s proprietary photo shooting)
Gaetano C. @Horbiter®
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