David Niven wears a Sicura Submarine

Casino Royale (1967) is the chaotic Bond spoof made outside the Eon series. David Niven plays Sir James Bond, the retired, knighted original, called back to fight SMERSH, and his first order is a joke with teeth: every remaining agent will be renamed James Bond 007 to confuse the enemy. The film then hands the famous wristwear to the decoys. An operative impersonating Bond is issued a Rolex by name, and Peter Sellers' baccarat expert Evelyn Tremble takes a call from Vesper Lynd on the dial of a Rolex GMT-Master.

The authentic Bond wears something far humbler. The researcher who has studied the film's watches most closely identifies Niven's piece as a Sicura Submarine, a budget Swiss watch whose model name sits one letter away from Submariner, and notes that anything but close scrutiny could forgive the mix-up. Sicura sat at the opposite end of the market from Rolex, which makes the joke land twice: in a film overrun with fake Bonds wearing the expected watches, the real one keeps time on the cheap.