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Then, this: “His practice,
in fact, is to use
fairly cheap, expendable wrist watches on expanding metal bracelets
which can be slipped forward over the thumb and used in the form of a
knuckle-duster, either on the outside or the inside of the hand.” If
Bond’s personal watch was “cheap” and “expendable” up until 1958, it was
never a Rolex.
No particular Oyster Perpetual model was cited in either letter. Fleming
simply repeated the “Rolex Oyster Perpetual” reference in the reader’s
letter. He did, however, come up with a weight for the watch and
considered its feel. But this event did not yet set the wheels in motion
for his own purchase of the Explorer I. If the 007 watch had moved from
a researched to an experienced item, we’d see a change in his writing.
The next three books (written after the exchange of letters) feature
just over a dozen notations on the watch Bond is wearing. All remain
true to form, never going beyond a “gleaming minute-hand” or a luminous
dial notation.
Go to
"Discovered: James
Bond's Rolex," part 6 |
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Image:
Headline— "Rolex: James Bond's Secret
Weapon"
Text— "Illustrator John McLusky was the
first to provide a visual interpretation of what he thought Ian Fleming
had intended for the 007 Rolex in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
McLusky helped create a 'James Bond' comic strip, adapted from Ian
Fleming's novels and short stories, for Britain's Daily Express
from 1958 to 1966. The Bond Rolex appears in installment 144 of the
series in 1964. Unfortunately, these drawings came after Fleming's
death, so McLusky did not have the author's input regarding wristwatch
specifics.
"Still, it's interesting that McLusky
depicted the watch with luminescent numbers at 6, 9, and 12, along with
a signature Rolex date magnifier. The next day's comic strip shows Bond
dispatching one of the henchmen working for his archenemy Blofeld, first
with a chop to the neck. Then, we read: 'Bond using the wrist watch as a
knuckle-duster, gave him the coup de grace.'
"The watch is referred to by
brand name as 'the shattered Rolex' in installment 169 three weeks
later, where Bond once again prepares to use it as a 'knuckle-duster.'" |
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07/28/2010 08:22 AM |
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