Tissot PR-516 'Roger Moore'

In watch collecting, it’s easy to get hypnotized by the “hot watch” of the moment. The piece no one can get. The one everyone suddenly needs, not because they love it, but because owning it functions like a social password. And in that frenzy, a huge number of genuinely great watches slip under the radar. Tissot is one of those brands. Which is wild, because a watch like this, a PR-516 skin-diver from the 1960s, should be firmly in the conversation, especially given its delicious bit of pop-culture provenance: it was worn by Sir Roger Moore in 1973’s Live and Let Die. Yes, Bond wore a Submariner in the film. But what almost no one talks about, even among enthusiasts, is the presence of this wonderfully sharp, deeply 1970s Tissot diver, seen in a handful of shots and in behind-the-scenes photographs. This example features a 36mm stainless steel case with the PR-516’s signature “holey lugs,” an acrylic crystal, a signed crown, and a bidirectional rotating bakelite bezel with Tritium numerals. The blue/green dial is fitted with Tritium markers and a matching handset, punctuated by an orange seconds hand and a date at 3 o’clock. Inside beats Tissot’s Calibre 786-2 automatic movement, and it comes on the correct stainless steel expanding brick-link bracelet with a signed blade clasp. As for how it ended up on Moore’s wrist, there are a few theories. One is the simplest: it was his personal watch, and there’s plenty of photographic evidence to support that. Another is more film-industry practical: it may have served as a stand-in for the Submariner during certain shoots, explaining why it never gets a hero moment on screen. Either way, it’s a sleeper with real style, real history, and the rarest kind of Bond credibility: the kind no one is trying to sell you.