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Bond, James Bond. The current iteration played by Daniel Craig is inherently tied to Omega. Sean Connery wore Rolex (and Gruen, which was the first to appear on the big screen), but never used Bond-branding directly on a watch dial. Modern Seamasters on the other hand can be found with 007 on the dial, and other James Bond branding. Interestingly enough, Omega isn’t the first to use 007 branding on a watch, though. That title goes to Moeris.
Moeris: The First Officially Licensed “Bond Watch”
To my knowledge, James Bond never actually wore a Moeris watch. In 1966, Moeris did release the first officially licensed Bond watch, though. The model name was actually called the James Bond 007 watch.
The watch itself was housed in a rectangular, Bulgari-like case. It was powered by a 25 jewel ETA movement, and the caseback even contained an engraving of Bond himself. Despite scoring a sweet deal to produce the first Bond-licensed watch, however, Moeris wasn’t able to capitalize from it in the same way Omega does today.
Moeris: Ties to Blancpain
Moeris opened its first watch factory in 1893, which was located in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. By 1957, it was producing 10 million watches. While mostly a mass-producer of watches, it also offered upscale models as well, powered by movements with higher jewel counts.
The Bond watch was released in 1966, and a ladies model followed in 1967. By this time, the company was already heading downhill. The industry wide issues related to the Quartz Crisis wouldn’t help, either.
In 1974, Moeris was absorbed by Rayville SA (based in Villeret). “Rayville” is a phonetic anagram of Villeret, and was established as the name of the company in 1933 after the death of Frédéric-Emile Blancpain (who’s daughter had no wishes to go into watchmaking).
Since no Blancpain family member was left to carry on the business, Two staff members of Blancpain, Betty Fiechter and André Léal, decided to buy it. Law at the time required them to change the name of the firm, so it was changed to Rayville S.A., succ. de Blancpain.
Rayville-Blancpain was producing over 100,000 watches by the end of the 1950s, and also introduced the world to the first purpose built dive watch with a rotating bezel – the Fifty Fathoms. Rayville would inevitably purchase Moeris in 1974, after the struggling firm was devastated by the Quartz Crisis.
Blancpain, Biver, And The Omega/Tissot Connection
Moeris would actually outlive the original Blancpain name as a producer of pocket watches throughout the 1970s. The Blancpain brand would be shut down in 1975, with the Rayville/Moeris factory in Villeret given to Omega in 1978.
Rayville joined SSIH in 1961, bringing the Blancpain name with it, and was actually reorganized in 1967 under Omega. SSIH itself was formed as a result of a merger with Tissot, Omega, and Lemania.
The group would go on to acquire more iconic brands such as Hamilton – as well as budget brands like AGON, Buler, Continental, and Ferex. SSIH received these brands after acquiring Economic Swiss Time Holding (ESTH) in 1971.
When Omega received the Rayville/Moeris factory in 1978, Tissot received the Moeris name, and Rayville ceased operations.
The Blancpain Revival
SSIH itself was hit hard by the Quartz crisis, but merged with ASUAG group to form the basis for what is now the Swatch Group. It wouldn’t be until the early 1980s that the the Rayville-Blancpain name would be sold and revived by a group that included Jean-Claude Biver. Mr. Biver would also be instrumental in rejuvenating Omega as well.
The new company would trade under the name Blancpain SA., become successful, and inevitably be sold back to the Swatch Group in 1992. The Swatch Group still owns Blancpain (as well as Tissot and Omega) today. Blancpain still produces a Fifty Fathoms collection of watches, as well as a “Bathyscape”.
The Legacy Of Moeris
Moeris was dead as a brand by 1985, but you could argue some of its legacy still exists – embedded inside the split histories of Blancpain and Tissot. Blancpain’s shared heritage with Moeris can also be seen in the vintage market today, through an association with the Bathyscape dive watch (which was first introduced by Blancpain in 1956).
The Bathyscape was a shorter-lived watch in comparison to the more famous Fifty Fathoms model. It was also produced as a private label watch, so you will see them with names like Waltham on the dial, for instance. You can also find Moeris Bathyscapes -which considering the shared history of the two brands – is pretty cool.
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