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In a
series of heroic adventures from Dr. No to Quantum
of Solace, James Bond outfoxes and destroys a nefarious
bunch of evildoers bent on conquering the world. Destroys?
Well, not quite. Like Bond himself, true villains live on
forever, remembered fondly by their fans—and now by SWATCH.
Celebrating the legendary British secret agent’s most
memorable adversaries, the SWATCH 007 Villain Collection
presents twenty-two SWATCH watches inspired by the best of
the worst: the bad guys Bond fans love to hate.
Has SWATCH
gone over to the other side? In a provocative and insidiously
subversive move, the mischievous maker of iconic Swiss watches
has aligned itself with the enemies of the world’s most famous
gentleman spy. “We’ve discovered the dark side of the myth,”
said N. G. Hayek, also known as Dr. SWATCH. “And we
love it. It’s absolutely fascinating.” As the news raised
eyebrows in London, Paris and Berlin, the notorious inventor
of the plastic watch hastened to explain his intentions. “It’s
the art of the villain that interests us. Ian Fleming’s novels
and all the Bond films, the villains play a crucial role. And
if Bond is alive and well today, it is thanks in no small part
to the enduring power of his enemies.” |
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Indeed. The
SWATCH 007 Villain Collection is a tribute to the Bond
saga as a whole. It honours the art of infamy that Bond’s
creators developed with perfidious cunning and cinematic flair
through twenty-two thrilling adventures. Each model in the
Villain collection evokes one or more wily evildoers. We
know them all—armed to the teeth and dressed to kill: there’s
Dr. No with his stylish suit and metal hands and Blofeld with
his fluffy white cat purring under the sign of SPECTRE. Rosa
Klebb has a nasty knuckle-duster, Xenia Zaragevna Onatopp a
black leather strap to match her killer thighs and deadly Red
kiss. There’s a metal-mouthed monster of a man called “Jaws”
and scheming Soviet Russians whose watches evoke the Evil
Empire’s glory days. Fiendishly clever actors add lustre to
the glowing legend, and Villains pays tribute to
outstanding performances: Christopher Walken’s malevolent Max
Zorin deserves his stylish Retrograde; Richard Kiel’s
menacing JAWS gets a massive, polished steel Irony THE
Chrono; Lotte Lenya’s Rosa Klebb is given a pair of
knuckle-dusters welded to an Irony Lady. And in homage
to Casino Royale, poker-faced master of malice Mads
Mikkelsen (alias Le Chiffre) nabs an Irony Big with an
Ace of Spades. There are more to come, of course, as SWATCH
explores the dark side of the story.
More than
forty-five years have passed since Dr. No debuted on the
silver screen in 1962, but the fascination that has nourished
the myth of 007 shows no signs of fading. If anything, it’s
growing stronger — Quantum of Solace, Bond flick number
twenty-two, premieres this year — and the 22nd SWATCH watch in
the new collection is a fitting tribute to Dominic Greene, the
latest Bond villain we’re sure to hate. |
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