$2500 USD

I can ship worldwide

As is broadly known, Sean Connery appears to wear a Rolex ref. 6538 in the first four Eon Productions Bond films. It is also generally known that he wore the watch on a leather strap in the first of the two films (“Dr. No” and “From Russia With Love”), and on a one-piece nylon strap in the latter two films (“Goldfinger” and “Thunderball”). It seems most likely that the Rolex was owned personally by Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, one of the producers. Details are quite scarce on the leather strap, and there exists a lot of misinformation about the nylon strap. There are no known photographs of the watch being worn by Broccoli, so it is not known for sure what strap or bracelet it was on just prior to the production of “Dr. No.”

THE LEATHER STRAP

 It is often asserted that the strap was black, but on closer examination of many scenes from both “Dr. No” and “From Russia With Love,” it strongly appears to have been a dark brown color. The color of the buckle is not as clear cut; in the best still of the buckle I’ve seen it looks at first glance to be gold in color, but it could easily be silver in color and simply reflecting the tree Connery is resting against in the photo. There are very few photographs that do a good job of communicating the texture of the strap, but there is one publicly photo I’ve seen that seems to suggest it was alligator or crocodile. This is intriguing, as my understanding is that crocodile/alligator was quite expensive in the early sixties, and usually paired with gold watches (making the color of buckle perhaps likely to have been gold, as it appears). If it indeed was crocodile or alligator as it appears to have been, I’m inclined to believe this was the personal strap of Cubby Broccoli, as I think it unlikely the production would have given it that much attention. There is however one somewhat interesting peculiarity about the strap: If one looks closely at some stills, they appear to show that the strap was actually 19mm, not quite fitting the 20mm lugs of the Rolex. This is particularly apparent in a shot in “From Russia With Love” shortly before Bond steals the Lecter. This is fairly humorous, given the later nylon strap was 16mm, so at no point in time was the watch ever worn onscreen with a fitting strap.

THE NYLON STRAP

It is usually asserted that the nylon strap was a NATO variant, or at least a military strap of some description; this is nonsense:

1. The first specification for the NATO strap - DefStan 66-4 Issue 1 - was published in August of 1968; principal photography for “Goldfinger” began in January of 1964
2. Aside from being one piece nylon straps, there is very little in common between the NATO strap and the Bond strap; the NATO strap has metal keepers while the Bond strap has a fixed nylon keeper, the buckle of the NATO strap is rectangular while the buckle of the Bond strap is horseshoe shaped, the NATO strap uses chrome plated brass hardware while the Bond strap has the duller appearance of nickel plating, the NATO strap was defined as being either “steel gray” or “admiralty gray” (depending on the revision of the standard) while the Bond strap features black (or possibly dark blue) and green stripes with red piping, on paper the NATO strap was either 18.5mm or 18mm +/- 0.5mm (depending on the revision of the standard) while the Bond strap was 16mm.
3. I have access to a strap that appears to be almost identical to Bond strap, only with navy blue and red stripes with green piping, and brushed brass buckle (but of the right general shape). The only other difference I can detect is that the Bond strap appears to have had 7 holes, while this strap has 8. This strap has no military provenance, it appears to be just a cheap commercial watch strap, purchased by my dad perhaps 15 years ago at a (now demolished) antique shop in Bothell, Washington of all places.

In all likelihood the leather watch strap failed by the time principal photography of “Goldfinger” began necessitating a replacement, and the most expedient strap available was thrown on with next to no thought. It’s even possible the strap originally belonged to a member of the crew, like a grip. The Cuba scene featuring the best closeup of the watch in the whole series was filmed at Pinewood Studios very early in the production, making it likely this is the only strap worn on the watch in the film.

AFTER THUNDERBALL

At this point the watch drops completely off the map. We neither have solid evidence that Connery returned the watch to Broccoli, nor that Connery ever wore it again on or off screen. What is known is that by “You Only Live Twice” the relationship between Connery snd Broccoli became severely strained to say the least. Probably the best likely outcome is that Connery did in fact return the watch when their professional and personal relationship degraded, Broccoli kept but retired the watch, and it now exists today in the possession of the Broccoli family somewhere. If that’s not the case, it seems unlikely the watch will ever resurface with provenance

It makes sense because real spies are all assigned cover names.

It opens up alot of possibilities, allowing writer Steven Kinight to:

1) re-introduce Bond in a plausible way in Bond 26, as long as the 'cover name' scenario is explained - simply and clearly - at the very beginning of the movie, perhaps in a pre-credits sequence;

2) make Bond contemporary while retaining all of the 'essential elements' of Bond and the Bond universe.

It's interesting to consider the parallels between Bond 26 and Dr. No.

Bond 26 has a history, of course, but so did the Bond that Connery brought to the screen for the first time in Dr. No. Dr. No's Bond, though, had a history that was entirely literary - except for Barry Nelson's brief stint as Bond in a single TV production in the 1950s.

If James Bond's 'personal history' is, in actuality, the 'legend' that MI6 created for the James Bond cover name, then those aspects of the character can be carried seamlessly into Bond 26 too.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, everyone.

I've created a website about Sean Connery's early days as an actor, from his first appearances to his casting as 007. I hope you enjoy it.

https://jarnanz.wixsite.com/sean-connery/english

To the best of my knowledge, there’s no way to visually differentiate between an assembled Beretta M1934 and Beretta M1935 aside from markings, as they are basically the same gun aside from chambering (9mm Short for the M1934, and 7.65 Browning for the M1935).

Despite this, every source I find on the matter claims the Beretta used in “Dr. No” was an M1934, specifically. For this to be known for certain, wouldn’t we need the Bapty records for that gun? And yet I can find no such records publicly available, nor have I found evidence of any gun at auction claiming to be the Beretta in question.

I readily acknowledge that it seems perhaps more likely that it was an M1934, but without the knowledge we have today that Sean Connery’s PP in the film was in fact a VERY early Manurhin gun in 9mm Short I would have bet good money it would be a wartime PP in 7.65 Browning instead.

As such, do we actually KNOW it was an M1934? Or is this purely speculation?

Thanks!

Skipcress

The OB Thunderball Polo is no longer available and is sized as a XL, however it is more of a L. Pit to pit it measures 21 inch. It’s a lovely polo in great condition. Dark Navy blue and you can get the review on From Tailors with Love and Bond Suits.

The OB OHMSS cream suit is probably the best thing they released and is no longer available. The suit jacket is a XXL and fits like a 44/46 and is more true to size. Trousers are a 36 and fits true to size. Both are in excellent condition and never been worn. I’m 6’1 15st and athletic build and they both are a little to big on me. Again, you’ll find reviews at the usual places.

the suit rarely comes up for sale as they be been looked my for one for about 4 years. I’d rather these go to a true fan like me and just looking for my money back. I’m happy to send you pictures and sizes for measurements. Just ask.

POLO - £100

SUIT - £300

Cheers, Steve

I think it is "new info" as he's not listed on any Dr No actor's list as far as I can see.

If anybody else "knows" or can confirm the name, I'd appreciate it. Obviously I won't mention him yet just in case it influences you in any way.

Hoping to sell my Orlebar Brown Thunderball Capri and my Orlebar Brown The Man With The Golden Gun shirts.

Both are unused and never been worn before. TMWTGG still has tags. The Thunderball new but without tags.

Looking for £110 each including postage. Or take both for £200 including postage.

Thanks!

I got into a debate with some friends after reading an article looking at different Bond physiques the other day (it's here if you wanted to have a look - https://www.dna-lean.co.uk/a/blog/james-bond-signature-workouts) - which actor had the best Bond body? They've all been so different, so there's no way of knowing what body shape they'll go with next!

Fellas - which actor's physique would you most like to have? And ladies - what's your ideal Bond body type? For me, Pierce Brosnan will always win hands down 😍 but I'm intrigued to hear your thoughts!

Just a heads up for any potential bidders on the last of the better Dr No plaques to be offered by me for a while.

Time to take a break until the 60th Anniversary probably. There'll probably still be the odd one here and there on ebay but not as nice as the 5 lots listed with Omega.

Thanks, all.

By the end of this celebratory series, you’ll know who my favorite Bond is, who I believe the best Bond to be, and, more importantly, why each Bond has played a critical role in ensuring our beloved franchise is here to stay. I’m three parts deep already, and I hope you’ll all join me for the remainder of this ride. Cheers!

Battle of the Bonds // Mission Briefing

Part 001 // Sean Connery

Part 002 // George Lazenby

Part 003 // Roger Moore

I do still have some of the plaques seen in the film and I think £50 for a pink £10 is reasonable so if anybody would like to buy one please feel free to email me. I will only post within the UK at the moment, sorry.

Hope life treats you all well (especially my "older" customers who are still enjoying their sets I hope).