Sean Connery wears an unidentified watch

Never Say Never Again exists because of a decades-long legal battle. Kevin McClory acquired partial rights to Thunderball through a lawsuit against Ian Fleming, and this 1983 film is his unofficial remake, produced outside Eon Productions and released the same summer as Roger Moore's Octopussy. Irvin Kershner directed, and Sean Connery returned as Bond at 53, twelve years after Diamonds Are Forever. Kim Basinger plays Domino, Klaus Maria Brandauer is Largo, and Barbara Carrera is Fatima Blush. The film has a different tone from the Moore-era Bonds — quieter, less gadget-dependent, with an aging spy who relies more on experience than equipment.

Connery wears a black PVD-coated watch in the film, and its exact identity has been debated on Bond watch forums for years. The most common theory points to an Orfina Porsche Design, which would be period-correct — Ferdinand Alexander Porsche's all-black watch designs were popular in the early 1980s, and Orfina supplied the movements. Other candidates include a Heuer Pasadena and various Buler models. The black coating, whatever the brand, fits this particular Bond: a man operating outside the official system, wearing a watch that doesn't announce itself. No Rolex Submariner, no Omega — just a flat black tool watch for an off-the-books mission.