Not the Certina, lugs far too narrow. I had the Gruen for a while, regardless of SA it was a lovely little watch but it was exactly that, little, felt a bit dainty to west compared to modern dress watches.
Asp9mmOver the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,485MI6 Agent
Complete full circle! Should we contact Omega if that is the case? I can guarantee they would use it as a marketing ploy 🤣
However, this is assuming it's his personal watch, I think Omega might be too much High-end? I've gotten the impression that Sean was, well... "Not a very polished man" sort of speak, that he wasn't used to suits, having the mannerism etc (As director Terence Young had to teach him all this).
Based on this, I think a watch more fitting a "common man" would be a better start to look.
Asp9mmOver the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,485MI6 Agent
That brings us back to Smiths then. Available on every high street and catering for people of all backgrounds with gold plated watches to full on 18k watches. And that dial configuration and case shape were their staple.
Also, while I don't think the mystery watch is a Gruen, the argument that it's unlikely Connery wore an American watch is up for debate. Remember, he did star in "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" which was filmed in California back in 1957-58.
It is entirely possible he could have bought a watch while he was in the US during filming. Although a European watch is statistically more likely, it is possible for the mystery watch to be of American origin.
The style of the watch however I think suggest 1959-1962-ish (can't be post 62, obviously) judging from the rapid fashion style of watches for the time. But I think we're doing us a disservise to dismiss American watches entirely.
Of course it’s entirely possible that he bought the watch in the US. And there again, there are dozens of makes apart from Gruen. There is no evidence for any make or model of watch thus far, which is why it’s annoying that DD picked the Gruen and ran with it as 100% fact. When it’s far from. So that myth needs to be addressed and busted. As much as I would like to get to the bottom of this, it’s going to take a miracle for sure.
Indeed, however I do think we have a case to bust the Gruen.
Also after having searched Google for the past two days, I'm getting more confident that, if we find a watch that matches the time frame and the profile, we might have found the grail.
There are a lot of watches that fits the description, but a lot of em' seems to be from the early-mid, to late 60's. We need a watch from circa 1961 at the latest. Also I have yet to find a watch that matches on all fronts. Either the case shape is correct, but not the hands an dial. Sometimes I've found the correct dial, but the hands do not match and so forth.
All we can do now is brainstorm and cross reference - but as you mentioned yesterday, we have narrowed it down quite a bit to something that we can actually work with :)
I might actually write an entire archaeological paper if we succeed in finding the damn thing XD
Indeed, but the BTS photo is taken before the gambling scene where he is in his Tuxedo. So somewhere they did the switch, and him wearing the gold watch rather than the Rolex in the BTS is absolutely annoying as it doesn't match the timeline. It doesn't make sense that he has the Rolex on the wrist from day one in Jamaica, another watch off set that's also never seen on screen until the production is back in London.
Also, it would absolutely be a faux pas to wear a diver with a tux - But never the less, picture tells a different story:
Good spotting, I haven't seen the second photo from Goldfinger before!
The one from 67' was interesting to me during my first google search, but I found some High-res of the watch and it doesn't really match at all. Thinner lugs, seems to have a centred seconds hand rather than a sub dial etc.
I'm not willing to call this one just yet, but I might have struck gold
Asp9mmOver the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,485MI6 Agent
edited November 2022
Everything seems to match with that one. Including how the Arabic numerals disappear when light hits them at numerous angles. Case and everything seem spot on. Not 100% on the lugs, but the last picture suggests they are that shape, and the others lack definition, so it’s hard to see. It’s certainly a much better and more fitting brand for Bond than many others mentioned.
That's lovely. Something like this one may even have lugs which appear a touch closer too so there's probably a few options out there with a more similar dial:
Longines, as suggested on Page 1, seems a good bet too although I guess the wings of their logo would have been visible as they're quite heavy? Lots of designs which are very similar though.
(I'm not saying this is a match, but as on p1 they have lots of these style)
Have you checked out JW Benson? They seemed to have a few of this kind of design and were English, so probably very available in London. Lots of IWCs too.
I've checked quite a few Longines, but none match all that well, same with JW Benson.
Although I would argue the lugs in my post above is the one that's the closest I've seen so far. I've also done some rough compresence with the photos, albeit it's difficult since we don't see the watch head on but always at an angle.
The harder I look the more it seems to match up on all fronts. However I do acknowledge this could be a case of motivated perception.
To me the lugs look a touch heavier and straighter on Connery's watch, but that may well be an optical illusion caused by the shine we see on the ends from the angles those photos are taken. They seem to be integrated into the case a little more on his rather than 'holding' the circle of the case as those on the GP seem to- I would expect to see that step down to the case on the top right in the b/w shot immediately above this post, but it's a pretty fantastic match otherwise, amazing work! It looks pretty spot-on.
It would certainly be a great name for Bond to have worn.
Some excellent detective work here, I’ve no doubt the answer is right round the corner.
It’s occurred to me that it might be worth reaching out to Jason Connery or Sir Sean’s estate.
Being a (frugal) Scot, maybe Sir Sean retained the watch and passed it down to Jason, or it may even have been found in a drawer when clearing out his belongings? At the least there may be family photos of him wearing this that are yet to see the light of day.
Perhaps this could be done on behalf of AJB through social media, rather than by individuals, thus maximising chances of any potential response?
Ultimately as I see it, this is all about acquiring more knowledge of his incarnation of Bond, with no ulterior motives or agendas at play, so would be good to think his estate might help out.
Japanese proverb say, "Bird never make nest in bare tree".
Comments
Not the Certina, lugs far too narrow. I had the Gruen for a while, regardless of SA it was a lovely little watch but it was exactly that, little, felt a bit dainty to west compared to modern dress watches.
How cool would it be if it was an Omega. That’d really put the cat amongst the pigeons 🤣
Complete full circle! Should we contact Omega if that is the case? I can guarantee they would use it as a marketing ploy 🤣
However, this is assuming it's his personal watch, I think Omega might be too much High-end? I've gotten the impression that Sean was, well... "Not a very polished man" sort of speak, that he wasn't used to suits, having the mannerism etc (As director Terence Young had to teach him all this).
Based on this, I think a watch more fitting a "common man" would be a better start to look.
That brings us back to Smiths then. Available on every high street and catering for people of all backgrounds with gold plated watches to full on 18k watches. And that dial configuration and case shape were their staple.
Could be, but there are more "every man" watch companies than Smiths :)
Also I have yet to find a Smiths that matches what we see in the pictures
This is true. There are literally hundreds of watch models all the same from that period. Timex, Rotary, Precista etc. etc.
Also, while I don't think the mystery watch is a Gruen, the argument that it's unlikely Connery wore an American watch is up for debate. Remember, he did star in "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" which was filmed in California back in 1957-58.
It is entirely possible he could have bought a watch while he was in the US during filming. Although a European watch is statistically more likely, it is possible for the mystery watch to be of American origin.
The style of the watch however I think suggest 1959-1962-ish (can't be post 62, obviously) judging from the rapid fashion style of watches for the time. But I think we're doing us a disservise to dismiss American watches entirely.
Oh of course. I haven’t watched it in a while.
Of course it’s entirely possible that he bought the watch in the US. And there again, there are dozens of makes apart from Gruen. There is no evidence for any make or model of watch thus far, which is why it’s annoying that DD picked the Gruen and ran with it as 100% fact. When it’s far from. So that myth needs to be addressed and busted. As much as I would like to get to the bottom of this, it’s going to take a miracle for sure.
Is this something the EON archivist would have more knowledge about?
Indeed, however I do think we have a case to bust the Gruen.
Also after having searched Google for the past two days, I'm getting more confident that, if we find a watch that matches the time frame and the profile, we might have found the grail.
There are a lot of watches that fits the description, but a lot of em' seems to be from the early-mid, to late 60's. We need a watch from circa 1961 at the latest. Also I have yet to find a watch that matches on all fronts. Either the case shape is correct, but not the hands an dial. Sometimes I've found the correct dial, but the hands do not match and so forth.
All we can do now is brainstorm and cross reference - but as you mentioned yesterday, we have narrowed it down quite a bit to something that we can actually work with :)
I might actually write an entire archaeological paper if we succeed in finding the damn thing XD
Some samples from the latest search.
They're close, but still no match.
Indeed, but the BTS photo is taken before the gambling scene where he is in his Tuxedo. So somewhere they did the switch, and him wearing the gold watch rather than the Rolex in the BTS is absolutely annoying as it doesn't match the timeline. It doesn't make sense that he has the Rolex on the wrist from day one in Jamaica, another watch off set that's also never seen on screen until the production is back in London.
Also, it would absolutely be a faux pas to wear a diver with a tux - But never the less, picture tells a different story:
Ok, I don't know what happened but I did not post the above a second time, something is going on with the forum. Spirit of Halloween I suppose?
More indistinct Goldfinger shots 😊 I don't know if they help. They get bigger if you click.
Dated December '62
Is it a different one in Marnie? I can't tell. Looks like it may be darker?
This is from '67, looks similar? Maybe thinner lugs?
Zoomable hi-res:
Good spotting, I haven't seen the second photo from Goldfinger before!
The one from 67' was interesting to me during my first google search, but I found some High-res of the watch and it doesn't really match at all. Thinner lugs, seems to have a centred seconds hand rather than a sub dial etc.
Yeah it's similar (Sean obviously liked that style!) but I agree, lugs look thinner.
Shame because you can almost make out a brand on that; seems to be a longer word.
Nothing to contribute, just wanna say I'm enjoying this thread immensely.
I don't think this is the right answer to the question, but it is the best match I've seen thus far.
Just as I thought I've drained the internet, I found this gem. We now have a more or less complete picture of what the watch looks like.
I'm also confident in saying the Gruen (at least the suggested model) is completely busted.
Wow great find. When/where is that from?
Batons & 4 numerals seem especially confirmed by that.
Excellent. That Omega is looking like a far more realistic and closer candidate than any Gruen. So much closer now, but still so far. Well done.
I'm not sure. I found it on Tumblr but there was no information attached. But by the looks of Sean I would say somewhere around 1961-1964.
I'm not willing to call this one just yet, but I might have struck gold
Everything seems to match with that one. Including how the Arabic numerals disappear when light hits them at numerous angles. Case and everything seem spot on. Not 100% on the lugs, but the last picture suggests they are that shape, and the others lack definition, so it’s hard to see. It’s certainly a much better and more fitting brand for Bond than many others mentioned.
That's lovely. Something like this one may even have lugs which appear a touch closer too so there's probably a few options out there with a more similar dial:
Longines, as suggested on Page 1, seems a good bet too although I guess the wings of their logo would have been visible as they're quite heavy? Lots of designs which are very similar though.
(I'm not saying this is a match, but as on p1 they have lots of these style)
Have you checked out JW Benson? They seemed to have a few of this kind of design and were English, so probably very available in London. Lots of IWCs too.
I've checked quite a few Longines, but none match all that well, same with JW Benson.
Although I would argue the lugs in my post above is the one that's the closest I've seen so far. I've also done some rough compresence with the photos, albeit it's difficult since we don't see the watch head on but always at an angle.
The harder I look the more it seems to match up on all fronts. However I do acknowledge this could be a case of motivated perception.
To me the lugs look a touch heavier and straighter on Connery's watch, but that may well be an optical illusion caused by the shine we see on the ends from the angles those photos are taken. They seem to be integrated into the case a little more on his rather than 'holding' the circle of the case as those on the GP seem to- I would expect to see that step down to the case on the top right in the b/w shot immediately above this post, but it's a pretty fantastic match otherwise, amazing work! It looks pretty spot-on.
It would certainly be a great name for Bond to have worn.
Some excellent detective work here, I’ve no doubt the answer is right round the corner.
It’s occurred to me that it might be worth reaching out to Jason Connery or Sir Sean’s estate.
Being a (frugal) Scot, maybe Sir Sean retained the watch and passed it down to Jason, or it may even have been found in a drawer when clearing out his belongings? At the least there may be family photos of him wearing this that are yet to see the light of day.
Perhaps this could be done on behalf of AJB through social media, rather than by individuals, thus maximising chances of any potential response?
Ultimately as I see it, this is all about acquiring more knowledge of his incarnation of Bond, with no ulterior motives or agendas at play, so would be good to think his estate might help out.