The Mentalist

I saw Stallone in London once and it amazed me that he was the same height as me. I'm 5 8" so Stallone is probably around that mark.

Vic, I got a 111E from Angus in late November and it was flawless. I wouldn't let this one issue dissuade me from buying a watch from him...

Same here. I would never hesitate to buy from Angus. I'm very pleased with my 111E

yeah i read somewhere that silix was selling his dials for $25 which is a bargain.

Not anymore. Unless anyone knows otherwise.

There's a chap called Tom Highway on TRC who's in the UK and offers movement servicing - he may be able to help. Not sure if he's active on this board but have a look over there...

He is and comes highly recommended.

To be honest, Angus has always been a fantastic dealer. One of the best, in fact. I'm sure this was just a minor [censored]-up. He'll sort you out.

Before someone pointed it out to you, you were very happy with the watch.

Good luck getting a Silix dial. I can't find one for love nor money.

Ahhhhhh, that would explain it and would solve one of my major gripes. I'll look into it!

What does a 1:1 copy represent?,

A triumph of marketing over reality.

Ok, I finally managed to track down one of those Panerai double deployants (thanks to Paso). It looks great but is it me, but is this the most uncomfortable, badly designed P.O.S. buckle ever devised?!

A few observations:

1. It does not really fit most leather straps as the straps tend to be too thick where it overlaps and you don't get that satisfying 'click' you hear and feel with most deployants. It locks but because the straps are too thick the buckle needs to be pressed hard to make it engage and most of the time you don't really know if it has locked properly. It's this sponginess that is really irritating.

2. The springbar is a nightmare to install especially on thicker straps and can easily be bent.

3. It's so bloody uncomfortable! It's not really curved to match the human wrist and the edges dig in and chafe.

4. The butterfly configuration is very fiddly to put on one handed and requires some serious digital dexterity.

I've had it all of a couple of weeks and worn it only once. I'm going back to the regular tang and buckle.

Victoria, try wrapping the strap in a cotton handkerchief and then bury it in a tupperware box filled with baking soda. That should do the trick. Lighter fuel would also help leach the perfume oils out but you may need to recondition the leather with Pecards or Lexol afterwards.

Coolwater?

You are kidding, aren't you? That drawing looks more like Peter Cushing...

According to you, Daniel Craig looks like Hoagy Carmichael.

No, you're quite right. Fleming's picture of Bond looks nothing like Dalton. In fact, I thought it was a picture of Daniel Craig the moment I saw it. Thank you for making see how wrong I was.

I agree though that Dalton played the part closest to the Fleming characterisation Not so sure about the looks though......

Dunno about that:

Certainly closer to the ideal than Daniel Craig looks wise.

We all know that Jack Bauer would destroy them both. C'mon, Jack killed 90 people once in 24hrs. No contest

Nah, Chuck Norris can have 'em all.

So, how many Bond novels have you read then?!

This is the person Ian Fleming wrote in Casino Royale as being closest to Bond's appearance...

If you're splitting hairs here's Vesper's description of Bond from the Casino Royale book:

"reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless."

and in Moonraker, Gala Brand notes:

"certainly good-looking . . . Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold."

Dalton was the closest to the Hoagy Carmichael ideal Fleming envisioned, IMO.

Here's a pic Ian Fleming commissioned to give readers an idea as to what he imagined his Bond to look like:

Looks like a less craggy Dalton to me.

Don't get me wrong, I love DC but he look more Boris Becker than James Bond. He really should have dyed the hair.

You jest surely!

I mean, that's who I'd pick to play Fabio in the TV movie biopic.

I jest not. Just look at the fella.

He's half italian, half english, looks like a young Connery, tall, good looking and has a pedigree in action roles. He's a trained fighter and he used to be a fashion model so looks good in a tux. Only problem is that he has as much acting ability as a 2 x 4 but that never stopped Moore.

I can't think of someone who would be more perfect.

Yeap.. although I' ve seen Shoot Em Up and cannot stop visualising Clive Owen in the Bond Role...

I think it should have been the Ultimate choice..

Bond should look like a killer. Clive Owen doesn't look like he could punch his way out of a wet paper bag.

The ultimate choice, and christ knows why the Broccoli's never cast him, has got to be Adrian Paul.

I've been after one of these since I started collecting.

You've got the right dealer. Between Andrew and Angus at Puretime, you got the two most upstanding dealers around.

I happen to think the 45mm UPO is the better watch. In any case, you won't be disappointed. I haven't bought a duff watch from Andrew yet.

He's a huge man (6'5"?), and the PO looks just right on him.

Clarkson teased James May (when not?) by twirling the bezel around, so the pearl doesn't point to the 12 marker. May has a phobia about that...actually, so do I. It has to be JUST at 12, or else it drives me banshee-mad.

(S10E1, in case you're interested in seeing that)

Would love to know what bigass watch the Hamster wears. Outsized Cartier Tank, it looks like. Mind you, he looks like he's 5'2".

Hamster wears a Tag Monza, I believe.

TTK is always right.....even Chuck Norris turns to TTK for advice...AND buys all his watches from me......watches that can't be discussed on an open forum...or Chuck will have to come kill ya'.....!

What the hell are you talking about? Chuck Norris doesn't wear a watch. He decides what time it is.

In Daniel Craig we have the first believable bond since Connery.

Whoever plays James Bond has to look as if he could actually kick someones [censored].

The ones in between just did'nt.

Really enjoyed Casino Royale, hope the next is as good.

Lazenby was probably the hardest of all the Bond's. He was a student of Bruce Lee.

Personally I wouldn't want to get into a dust up with Dalton but I agree, Craig does look like a hard nut but you see blokes like him all the time on building sites and in pubs.

Maybe, but remember also that Daniel Craig has made body building part of his standard preparation for playing Bond!

When the first pictures off the set of Casino Royale appeared, some commentators mistakenly reckoned what we all now know is the 45mm Planet Ocean on rubber strap was in fact a DeVille, simply because DC made it look 'small'.

I doubt it's the 42mm as we know that he sported the 45.5mm one, albeit with a rubber strap, and it looked fine.

Glad to see my initial suspicions about the PO w/bracelet being the next official Bond watch has been bourne out.

One way of looking at it is the way i look at news papers (page 3 first) some papers are biased to one political party or another, the views are biased what you read, if there was a paper that was not in any way biased then i might read it. As it is i live here!

Over here it would usually be case of having a pair of juggs stare at you on Page 3 or maybe it's the type of papers I read?

It is a very, very nice movement, but the finish is still not the same quality as the gen. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It is not the pics, the lighting, or the camera. You have the nicest movement that has been made to date, but still not good enough to fool a wis or AD.

I think I know what you're getting at in the same way that even the best Rolex or Omega rep will always miss something. That said, unless you know what you are looking for, I still think that you won't get called on it. Why do I say that? Because most AD's are staffed by clueless salespeople. I'm not going to relate what happened when I walked into a Bond street watch dealer but it did make me wonder why we agonise over the most infinitesimal detail when eve glaring ones get overlooked.