May 14th, 2026
Most Underrated Bond Watch: Seiko Ref. 7549-7009 “Golden Tuna
by Alex Y
Everyone remembers their first Bond watch. For me, it was the Omega Seamaster featured in Goldeneye. A laser in a watch! How could a kid resist? Seeing it as the pause screen in the Nintendo 64 Goldeneye video game only added to the mystique (doubly so since I had a Playstation and would only get to see it when visiting my cousins). Bond and his gadgets are as inseparable as Batman and the Batmobile or Iron Man and his suits. Always there, always changing, but always stuck in the realm of fiction just beyond reach. One watch, however, did not need any fictional features to keep up with Bond. That watch is the Seiko Professional Diver 600m ref. 7549-7009 aka. the Golden Tuna.
Not me reconsidering smartwatches just to have this watch face
Image Credit: Reddit u/cantreallyread
- Introduction
- Saturation Diving and the need for dive watch evolution
- The valve-less solution to helium gas build up
- Is this watch underrated?
Table of Content
Saturation Diving and the need for dive watch evolution
In 1957, George F. Bond at the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL) began the Genesis project to prove humans could survive prolonged exposure to increased pressure environments. This was to support an earlier theory that once humans reached a maximum saturation of inert gases, they could stay at that pressure for extended periods without increasing the time needed for decompression. This meant that for work requiring prolonged time at significant depth, a diver could live for weeks at a time at those extreme pressures and only spend time decompressing one time rather than surfacing multiple times. This marked the beginning of saturation diving.
NOAA drawing of George F. Bond the "Father of Saturation Diving"
Image Credit: Wikipedia - George F. Bond
In 1965, Seiko introduced its first dive watch, the 62-MAS, however, just 3 years later in 1968 a saturation diver from Kure City in Hiroshima prefecture wrote a letter of complaint that the Seiko dive watches would fill with helium causing them to lose their crystals. Dive watches up to this point had been designed primarily to resist external pressures rather than internal, requiring some ingenuity to solve this new problem. Rolex and Doxa chose to solve this by creating helium escape valves for their Submariner/Sea-dweller and Conquistador models, respectively. This idea was originally proposed by one of the divers from the Genesis project, Robert A. Barth. Seiko however, would take a much different approach.
Doxa Conquistador with a helium release valve
Image Credit: Perezcope - The Doxa Helium Release Valve Reloaded - Doxa Beat Rolex
The valve-less solution to helium gas build up
Ikuo Tokunaga and his team at Seiko decided to design a watch from scratch that would reduce the amount of helium penetrating into the case and thus prevent the internal pressure during decompression causing the crystals to pop off. The issue was that the seals used to prevent water from entering the watch are insufficient to keep out helium since helium atoms are much smaller than water molecules. This process would end up taking them 7 years to complete. The core principles of the solution were to use a special L-type gasket and a one-piece case. In experiments, this reduced the amount of helium gas penetration by 1/100th.
Seiko Golden Tuna Quartz 7549-7009
Image Credit: Monochrome Watches - The history of the Seiko Tuna, the Deep Sea Fish
In 1975, Seiko released the first Tuna (ref. 6159-7010) which featured the aforementioned monocoque case made from titanium and L shaped gasket. They also added a vented strap and ceramic protective shroud for extra protection. While this first model was powered by an automatic movement, the follow-up 3 years later would switch to quartz for additional shock resistance. This updated model also added a nitrate plated titanium case and a titanium powder-coated shroud to increase scratch resistance. This nitride plated titanium has a gold color which combined with the protective shroud resembling a tuna can would eventually be named by fans as the “Golden Tuna”. This was the model that was featured in the movie For Your Eyes Only (1981) worn by Roger Moore’s Bond on the outside of his yellow diving suit. It had no gadgets and it needed no gadgets as its capabilities were an achievement in itself.
Roger Moore as James Bond in For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Image Credit: Bond Lifestyle - Seiko 7549-7009 'Golden Tuna' 600m Professional Quartz Diver
Conclusion
Phew, that is a long way to go from Naval experiments that pushed the limits of human survival in extreme conditions to a watch being featured on James Bond’s wrist. As I’ve grown older and hopefully more mature, I have come to appreciate the work and ingenuity of real tools made for practical purposes over the fantasy gadgets featured in the movies of my youth. The Seiko Golden Tuna to me represents a prime example of human innovation that required influences literally spanning the globe to make possible. For that reason, I think it is more impressive than any fictional gadget and is highly underrated when considering the most memorable Bond watches. A laser watch would still be really cool though; so it’s probably time for another rewatch of Goldeneye.
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