The Colors of Bond

[freddy333]

(Although I posted a version of the following in another thread, I thought the subject deserved a thread of its own to make it easier for people (using the Search) to find. So I created this thread in an effort to address the erroneous & ongoing misunderstandings relating to the Rolex Submariner strap worn by Sean Connery in the early James Bond 007 films - Dr. No, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, etc)

"He softly retrieved his gloves from the bathroom, put on the goggles so that they rested in his hair above the forehead, tied the dark-red handkerchief tightly across his nose, schnapps into hip pocket and, finally, Gillette through the fingers of the left hand and the Rolex transferred to his right, the bracelet clasped in the palm of his hand and round the fingers so that the face of the watch lay across his middle knuckles." -- Ian Fleming,

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

A Star is Born.

For many years, people have either identified or referred to the strap on Sean Connery's Sub in the early Bond films as being a 3-stripe, black & gray NATO strap. A quick perusal of owners' strapped Subs on this & other sites makes apparent how popular & widespread the myth has become.

The Myth is Wrong.

A Closer Look.

It should be noted that the strap fitted to Connery's 6538 in these classic films is neither a NATO, nor black & gray nor a 3-strip design. It is, in fact, a flat, slightly small (for the Sub's 20mm lugs) 5-strip/3-color (navy blue, olive green & crimson red - his (or Bond's) school or regimental colors) striped strap that slid between the springbars & along the caseback. Viewed with a more critical eye (& better quality screenshot), this becomes quite evident. Here is a screenshot I took from Goldfinger (note the absence of any steel NATO rings on the strap)

This is a strap style (the form, not necessarily the color) that was popular in the late 50s & early 60s, which is likely what Connery's Sub was fitted with

An Even Better Perspective.

As you can see, it is a simple, flat strap. You slide it through the space between 1 spring bar & the case, route it around the caseback & then route it up through the space between the opposite springbar & case. So it sits between the caseback & your hand

Unfortunately, I do not have the correct Sub model (yet) or strap design, but here are some quickies demonstrating how this strap style looks & fits on a Sub

_______________

My dinner companion arrived a bit early (while I was still composing this post) & she is definitely not interested in watch history, so consider this a rough draft which I will update again later this evening. But, in the meantime, I am on my way out to dinner wearing another famous Bond watch -- this 1 worn by Pussy Galore in Goldfinger

Happy TGIF everyone.

[JoJo35]

Nice post freddy, and thanks for the nice pics. This subject has been addressed for years, with no one (at least to my knowledge) ever finding an exact duplicate of JB's rolex strap. Some have even said the film's coloring is in error as a result of the technicolor process. Here's an old thread from a bond forum discussing these straps:

http://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?topic=29846&cpage=1

I'd love to find one of these straps, or even pay for a few if a run of these could be made. Here's a shot of a couple JB subs: