The REAL James Bond Watch

[Dan2010]

Here's a pic of Ian Fleming enjoying my new 39MM Explorer. I think he approves.

[esm]

real...?

look great though

[Dan2010]

Originally Posted by esm

real...?

look great though

Ok, I should say the ORIGINAL James Bond watch. Fleming wore an Explorer.

[esm]

Originally Posted by Dan2010

Ok, I should say the ORIGINAL James Bond watch. Fleming wore an Explorer.

he wore a 39mm EXP I.....

[Dan2010]

Originally Posted by esm

he wore a 39mm EXP I.....

Yes........

You know what I'm sayin.........

[esm]

Originally Posted by Dan2010

Yes........

You know what I'm sayin.........

yeah i know... only mucking around with ya Dan.

i do like the 39mm alot

[Lion]

Dan, what a great looking watch and I do like the new larger size Explorer.....

[SS Oyster]

Much prefer the 39 over the 36 Explorer ... and the new clasp is a great improvement.

[Dan2010]

Originally Posted by SS Oyster

Much prefer the 39 over the 36 Explorer ... and the new clasp is a great improvement.

I like them both but the 39MM gets the nod.

[DanP]

What a knockout of a watch!

@ the long ciggy

Dan

[dddrees]

Nice one Dan.

[TheDude]

That reminds me... I have to get to Lancaster before the exhibit ends...


http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/museu...s-bond-watches

[Blue Lantern]

Originally Posted by TheDude

That reminds me... I have to get to Lancaster before the exhibit ends...


http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/museu...s-bond-watches

Glad you mentioned that, I need to do that too.

On a sidenote, I love Fleming's cigarette holder! Not too many guys could pull that off now.

[delldeaton]

Originally Posted by esm

he wore a 39mm EXP I.....

Originally Posted by Dan2010

Yes........

You know what I'm sayin.........

Originally Posted by TheDude

That reminds me... I have to get to Lancaster before the exhibit ends...


http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/museu...s-bond-watches

Originally Posted by Blue Lantern

Glad you mentioned that, I need to do that too.

On a sidenote, I love Fleming's cigarette holder! Not too many guys could pull that off now.

Belated congratulations. Truly a fine looking watch!

My thoughts on whether or not it's "a" (if not "the") true James Bond watch go to this. Almost from the beginning, Ian Fleming intended his fictional gentleman agent to perpetuate (no pun intended), to be timeless. Looking to the books, folks often point to the example of the obituary Fleming wrote for Bond in the 1960s, and how difficult it would be to reconcile that with the age of the agent in Casino Royale, written in 1952.

The feared Soviet "SMERSH" enemies became "SPECTRE," inevitably reflecting Fleming's view that the USSR could not last, would fall.

Now to the matter of the Rolex reference in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, you all well-know my research and sources on this, upon which I've based my conclusion that it was Ian Fleming's 1016 Explorer with Radium dial, produced in the fourth quarter of 1960. That he did not specifically reference it as the "Explorer" that it was has led some to argue Fleming left the door wide open to any Rolex model.

I won't revisit that debate here, except to say that such a position is refuted by what is known for certain about his actual selection of watches (ie, thinner cases, simple bezels, dials without complications) and what he wrote in 1958 to express concern about watch weights. Fleming wasn't a WIS, so statements about how "heavy" a Submariner was or was not in his day, relative to whatever else, are irrelevant. He would have found it heavy; he would not have found it appropriate for Bond's personal choice.

At the same time, by not tying Bond to his own 1016 Explorer, he allowed for both the possibility (and even perhaps likelihood) that the name would be rendered useless by having been discontinued. And/or for a reasonable successor to come along.

In other words, setting On Her Majesty's Secret Service up to be read in 2011, and for the Rolex on Bond's wrist (remember, in the end, it was new), to be the then-current model. As a matter of fact, this is exactly what I wrote in early 2008 for the "Found: James Bond's Rolex" article WatchTime published a year later. I very much believed that the 114270 could legitimately be called a (literary) James Bond watch in 2009.

And legacy-thinking would continue to make it so.

Far different from discussions of the James Bond films. Movies by definition take all sorts of discretion and interpretation away from audiences (albeit not in every aspect). Thus, proper identification of those watches do, in fact, come down to "right versus wrong."

Final answer: Enjoy another read of On Her Majesty's Secret Service b Ian Fleming while wearing your new 2011 Rolex Explorer and consider it every bit as legitimate a James Bond watch as any other.

Oh, yeah, and, by the way-- "Bond Watches, James Bond Watches" does, in fact, close at the National Watch & Clock Museum on the last Saturday of this month.

Don't miss it!

[MonBK]

If Fleming wore it it would be a "Fleming watch" and not a Bond watch?

[renfield33]

Originally Posted by MonBK

If Fleming wore it it would be a "Fleming watch" and not a Bond watch?

This is my thought. Just because the author wore the watch doesn't mean the character wore the watch.

[Sose]

Originally Posted by TheDude

That reminds me... I have to get to Lancaster before the exhibit ends...


http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/museu...s-bond-watches

Get with Frogman. He and I have been discussing going before it ends.

[delldeaton]

Originally Posted by TheDude

That reminds me... I have to get to Lancaster before the exhibit ends...

http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/museu...s-bond-watches

Originally Posted by Sose

Get with Frogman. He and I have been discussing going before it ends.

Three weeks to go.

[Sose]

Originally Posted by delldeaton

Three weeks to go.

Three weeks might just work for me. I put out an APB on Frogman, let's see if we can work something out.

Thanks.

[dalip]

Great to see you're enjoying your decision Dan!! Looks great on you.

[subtona]

that is a nice watch...

i am getting one as soon as bond locates the rest of the watch hands. (missing ~3mm)

Originally Posted by Dan2010

Here's a pic of Ian Fleming enjoying my new 39MM Explorer. I think he approves.

[MY-WATCH]

Congrats

[Rolex116520]

Originally Posted by Dan2010

I think he approves.

Do you think he cares ? He died in 1964

[Dan2010]

Originally Posted by Rolex116520

Do you think he cares ? He died in 1964

No, thats why I sold it. He just doesn't care like he used to...............

[Sose]