Bonding With Time The Wristwatches Of James Bond
Part I The Rolex Submariner – Addendum
I continue to get questions concerning part one of this article specifically related to the Connery Bond Submariner. So I have decided to compile a list of questions along with answers.
Questions And Answers
Question – Why have you not mentioned the other model reference numbers with respect to the shoulderless James Bond Submariner? Other websites and books refer to different reference numbers as the James Bond Submariner that you left out, why is that?
Answer – The photographic evidence shows that Sean Connery as James Bond wore a shoulderless Submariner with a big crown. The big crown was only available on shoulderless Submariners with a thick case. The shoulderless Submariners with the big crown only existed as the following model reference numbers: 6200, 6538A, 6538 and the 5510.
Question – I have a 6538, but it has a thin case and a small crown. Is this the Submariner that Sean Connery wore as Bond?
Answer – No, the 6538 first existed as a thin cased Submariner with a small crown. The photographic evidence only shows Connery wearing a Submariner with a big crown.
Question – Why are the thin cased shoulderless Submariners with the small crown also referred to by some collectors as the James Bond Submariner?
Answer – Within the watch collecting community, particularly among Italian collectors, all shoulderless early Submariners became known as the James Bond Submariner because the overall appearance of all early Submariners is similar to what Sean Connery wore as James Bond.
Question – What are the model reference numbers for the thin cased, small crowned shoulderless Submariners?
Answer – The model reference numbers for the thin cased, small crowned shoulderless Submariner are the following: 6204, 6205, 6536, 6536/1, 6538, and 5508.
Question – How do you know that the strap that Connery wore as Bond in Dr. No and From Russia With Love on his Submariner was a crocodile or alligator strap? I heard that early Submariners were often fitted with a tropic strap.
Answer – There is a famous publicity still of Connery holding the Submariner after testing the geiger counter in Dr. No. This still appears most recently in the James Bond Encyclopedia by John Cork and Colin Stutz (ISBN 978-0-7566-3167-3) and is a reversed image as evidenced by Sean Connery’s part being on the wrong side. That still shows a strap with striations consistent with alligator. The still also makes the strap look brown, however that is a function of the film because in the movie the strap is clearly black. As for the tropic strap, tropic straps are made of rubber with little holes for breathability, which can not be seen in either the still or the movie.
Question – Why did you not talk about the other watch that Bond wears in the movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service?
Answer – The article was only about Bond and the Rolex Submariner, which is why the article was titled:
Bonding With Time
The Wristwatches Of James Bond
Part I The Rolex Submariner
I am fully aware of the other watch that Bond wears in this movie and it will be fully discussed in part II of this article. The watch was the Rolex pre-Daytona chronograph model reference 6238.
Question – You seem to only like Rolex as the best brand of watch for Bond and the best watch brand overall, why is that?
Answer – The truth is I love all kinds of watches and my personal collection includes many different brands including Omega and specifically an Omega Seamaster bought contemporaneous with the debut of Die Another Day. I would never hold one watch brand as better than another. However, Rolex was chosen by Fleming as James Bond’s brand of watch. Fleming chose Rolex, not me, so don’t shoot the messenger unless of course you are a Spartan.
That’s the end of Questions and Awnsers concerning Bonding With Time Part I, but Bonding With Time will return in:
The Wristwatches Of James Bond
Part II The Other Watches Of Bond…
Article Copyright © 2009 Richard Dos Santos
