Chapter 16 of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service when Bond prepares to use his Rolex as a knuckle duster:

“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.”

The Choice of 007′s Author

Although the cinematic James Bond has worn Rolex, Seiko, and Omega watches, to many the choice of which watch Bond wears can only come form his origins. Undoubtedly, the origins of James Bond lie with Ian Fleming and Bond’s earliest incarnation in the cinema.

Few people knows exactly why Ian Fleming chose a Rolex for the wrist of 007 James Bond. Perhaps Fleming was impressed by the fact that during World War II, British prisoners of war could write Rolex and receive a watch free of charge delivered directly to their prison camp. Perhaps it was for Rolex’s legendary toughness and dependability, or perhaps it was because Fleming wore a Rolex himself. Whatever the reason, Ian Fleming chose a Rolex for his most charming gentleman spy with a license to kill and as such should be considered the typical brand of James Bond watch.

When Bond was brought to the large screen however, the producers clearly had to pick their own model.

The James Bond Submariner

Many vintage Rolex collectors call all early Submariners without crown guards the James Bond Submariner, while others in the watch collecting field believe that the watch Connery wore in Dr. No and the others was the Rolex Submariner model 6538. Still other collectors believe that the Submariner Connery wore was more than likely one of four models or that perhaps each of the four models made an appearance in each of the early films, they are the 6200, 6538A, thick cased 6538 and the 5510.

All four models share the same thick case, a large crown marked Brevet (from the French word Brevette meaning patented), a coin edge non ratcheted bezel, an acrylic crystal, a depth rating of 200m/660ft and mercedes hands. It should be noted that only the “thick cased” shoulderless Submariners had the large winding crown. Further, it should also be noted that the 6538 existed first as a thin cased model with a small crown. It became a thick cased model as the 6538A and was available alongside the 6200.

Once the thin cased versions were gone, the 6538A became the 6538 remaining the same until it and the 6200 were replaced by the 5510. Since Sean Connery as James Bond only wore the thick cased Submariner (evident by the large crown), none of the thin cased, small crown so called James Bond Submariners without crown guards will be discussed.

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