If James Bond Wore a Rolex... Again

           

"No Time to Die," the latest James Bond movie and Daniel Craig's last outing as a Mi-6 agent, premiered Tuesday at London's Royal Albert Hall, a world premiere that was attended even by the Royal Family. 

To be sure, the 007 types "with easy smiles and expensive watches" have been rocking Omegas since the Pierce Brosnan days, but please indulge me: let's say you've been hired as the new wardrobe supervisor for the franchise, and Daniel Craig needs a new watch for his last portrayal of the famed British spy. We are in a parallel universe here, and Omega no longer has the exclusivity.

The movie director agrees to Rolex, but there is a caveat: You can't use the obvious, safe choice, which is the Submariner, the model that has adorned the wrists of the very first and very last Rolex-wearing 007, Sean Connery and Timothy Dalton. So here are my top-three Rolex picks.

FAST-DRIVING JAMES BOND 

It doesn't have to be a diver; after all, Ian Fleming, you are reminded, wore a Rolex Explorer. And Daniel Craig in recent 007 movies wore an Aqua Terra, which feels more Datejust than Sub. Besides, James Bond has spent more time behind the wheel of a high-performance car than under water. 

Whether at the casino or at an embassy party while wearing Bond's signature white tuxedo, the Cosmograph Daytona on the wrist of 007 is a class of its own: waterproof to 100 meters, yet equipped with a steel bracelet with polished center links—an easy transition from wet suit to tuxedo. The Daytona remains an icon 50 years after its creation and should be a strong contender for this iconic, fast-driving spy.

TACTICAL JAMES BOND

The Yachtmaster 42 in white gold brings class and sport in one watch—James Bond in a nutshell. 

The broad hands and hour markers are filled with a luminescent material emitting a long-lasting glow, offering exceptional legibility for those low-light tactical operations thanks to its Chromalight display. 

The watch is waterproof to 100 meters, and its bi-directional bezel could help the secret agent time a dive or detonation, while the black Oysterflex with Glidelock clasp is robust and comfortable both under the cuff and above the wet suit. For extra lightness, "Q" would suggest the Rolex prototype version in titanium instead.

RUGGED JAMES BOND

Whether on a trip home to Skyfall, in the highlands of Scotland, or skiing down the slopes of Tyrol, Austria, the Explorer II with its GMT complication is the perfect fit for this tough-living, globe-trotting spy who straddles time zones. Besides its legible orange GMT hand, the watch's movement is fitted with Paraflex shock absorbers, offering greater resistance to shocks and extreme conditions if fist-fighting with villains' henchmen. A cosmopolitan, resistant luxury watch engineered for a traveling action-packed spy.

Did I miss the mark? What modern Rolex would you see on James Bond's wrist? Let me know via Twitter or Instagram.

PROJECT X DESIGNS PXD SS1: Customized Rolex LV Submariner

Rolex Coolness: Daniel Craig

The Royal Hunt of the Sun

PROJECT X DESIGNS

PXD SS1 Limited Edition

Customized Original 50th Anniversary Rolex LV Submariner

Daniel Craig is a big Rolex fan. In the photo below he is wearing his PROJECT X DESIGNS Customized Original 50th Anniversary Rolex LV Submariner.

Many people argue that Daniel Craig is the best James Bond, and that is saying a lot since he is following in the footsteps of Sean Connery and Roger Moore. In any case, you can always learn about all the watches James Bond actors have worn which I covered in my series named "The Complete History Of James Bond Watches: The Definitive Series," which begins with Ian Flemming and Cary Grant, and goes onto Sean Connery, and walks you through step by step, all the way to the present, with Daniel Craig.

Daniel Craig is sporting a copy of "The Royal Hunt of the Sun," which is a play written in 1964 by Peter Shaffer that is about the destruction of the Inca empire by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pizarro.

The PROJECT X DESIGNS customized LV Submariner that Daniel Craig is wearing is no longer available because they only made 24 of them, and they sold out quickly. It has its crown guards removed to give it a vintage big-crown look, as well as the Cyclops date magnifier removed.

In the future, I have much more exciting news and James Bond history coming up regarding James Bond and Rolex, so stay tuned!!!

Bond v. Bond Imitation Is The Highest Form Of Flattery

The Official Trailer for the upcoming James Bond movie named SPECTRE was just released, and you can see it below. SPECTRE hits theaters on November 6, 2015!!!

Bond v. Bond

Imitation Is The Highest Form Of Flattery

I have been working on a huge update to my "Complete History Of James Bond Watches—The Definitive Guide", and when I came across the following image of Sean Connery wearing his Rolex Submariner, it jogged my memory and made me remember a similar posed beach shot with Daniel Craig.

And by the way, since the Queen has been calling Sean Connery, "Sir" he's still looking pretty cool on the beach. In the photo below we see Sir Sean Connery in a recent Louis Vuitton photo shot by Annie Leibovitz.

In the photo below we see Sean Connery with Ursula Andress on the set of the 1962 James Bond Mega-hit entitled, Dr. No., and Sean is sporting his Rolex Submariner.

Rolex Coolness: Daniel Craig James Bond Prefers Rolex...

Rolex Coolness: Daniel Craig

James Bond Prefers Rolex

[Rolex Daytona: Reference 6263]

Daniel Craig prefers Rolex and you can read all about his Rolex preference by clicking here. You can read all about James Bond watches by clicking here.

The Real James Bond Watchstrap Comes To Life

James Bond WatchStrap

Back With A Vengance

Jake's Rolex World is the place to be if you are into exploring the old-school James Bond Rolex History. I published what is considered to be the ultimate James Bond Watch History Series named The James Bond Rolex Story...The Complete History of James Bond Watches.

I am so excited to be able to finally share this updated story with you. A few years ago, Corvus Watch Company introduced a watch strap that was really fascinating. It was based upon the nylon strap that Sean Connery wore in Goldfinger.

The only challenge was that it was offered in a NATO style and an RAF style. Why was this a challenge? Because Sean Connery never wore a NATO or a RAF. Instead, Sean Connery wore a standard buckle strap. Corvus FINALLY figured out how to create a model that is identical to the original in ever way!!!

In this first image we see Sean Connery sporting his tri-strip strap while relaxing on the set of Goldfinger.

Here is a photo of the all-new "Original Movie-Style Real James Bond Watchband" made by Corvus. If you examine it closely it is identical in every way to Sean Connery's, including the self-fabric keeper and the buckle. Click here to check out the strap on the Corvus site.

In this next photo, I am wearing the all-new Corvus "Original Movie-Style Real James Bond Watchband", on a vintage Rolex Submariner Reference 5512 from 1967, and it looks amazing in person!!!

I wrote the article below several years ago when Corvus came out with the NATO and Corvus versions which were commonly referred to as The Real Bond NATO. This following article will give you a keen insight into the history of this strap.

The Real James Bond Watchstrap

Comes To Life

Jake's Rolex Watch Blog has often been referred to by its readers as The Bible Of Rolex. I have never referred to it this way, but I believe readers do because I specialize in separating the fact from the fiction in Rolex folklore and I am happy to once again do so.

Let's go back to the origin of this story. In the first two James Bond Movies, Sean Connery played James Bond and he wore a Rolex Submariner as Ian Flemming intended him to. In 1964 Sean Connery once again played James Bond in Goldfinger as seen in the screenshot below.

In Goldfinger there are several scenes where there are close-ups of his Submariner Big Crown Rolex Submariner [Reference 6538]. This Submariner had a big crown and no crown guards. Sean Connery also wears this watch on a nylon diving strap as you can see in the next two photos. For some reason the strap is 16mm and does not properly fit between the 20mm lugs on his Rolex.

There has been much speculation about why the strap is only 16mm and I believe it is because Rolex watches were unusually large at the time and the producers of the movie could not find a 20mm nylon strap, so they used a 16mm which was as close as they could get. Ironically Golfinger was filmed before NATO straps were developed.

Why a Nylon strap? In the opening scene in Goldfinger, James has to wear his Rolex Submariner over his diving suit as seen in the photo below. When I first started writing about this watch, I pointed out in previous articles that the strap consisted of three colors, Dark Navy Blue; Dark Olive and fine Burgundy stripes as seen in the photos above and below.

The Fake James Bond Watchstrap

For many years people have been selling the strap seen below as the James Bond NATO. The supreme irony is NO James Bond ever wore a NATO strap in a James Bond movie and the strap below is the wrong colors and wrong pattern. The strap below is grey and black with 5 total stripes. The Real Bond Strap is 9 stripes and is Navy Blue, Olive and Burgundy.

The Most Supreme Irony

The most supreme irony is Daniel Craig, who currently plays James Bond wears a Rolex Big Crown 6538 that was given to him by the current producer of the James Bond movies, Barbara Broccoli–who is the daughter of the original James Bond producer, Albert "Cubby" Broccoli.

As you can see Daniel Craig is wearing the 6538 Submariner "Big Crown" on his wrist below on a grey and black NATO strap. What makes this so ironic is the myth became the truth and even Daniel Craig fell for it. In other words, NO James Bond actor in history ever wore a NATO strap and Sean Connery never wore a grey and black nylon strap.

The Real Deal

Many months ago I recieved an email from two brothers, Tom and Cam, who own The Corvus Watch Company. Cam mentioned he noticed, as had I, the fake straps that had been selling had nothing to do with James Bond and he decided to bring the real one to life!!!

I was very excited because there were many of us who wanted the real deal. Cam is an amazing guy and his Corvus Watch Company is also very impressive. We will take a look at Corvus and Cam in more detail later in this article.

Withouth further ado, lets take a look at the Real James Bond NATO. Actually, Cam pointed out that since no James Bond ever wore a NATO strap he was perplexed about what to do, so he decided to make a real NATO version of the strap along with a RAF version that is more similar to the one Sean Connery wore. Cam even has them made in Wales by Phoenix Straps which is the official maker of NATO straps for the British Ministry Of Defense.

I must begin by thanking my Pal Eric Ku for allowing me to use some of his amazing vintage Rolex watches for this photo shoot. Eric Ku is California's Premier Vintage Rolex Dealer and you can see his great watches vintage Rolex watches at 10PastTen.com or by clicking here.

The watch in the photo above and bellow is very similar to the Big Crown Submariner Sean Connery wore in Goldfinger.

When I was at Eric Ku's office, I could not resist putting the RAF version on this very rare and collectable "Milsub" [Reference 5517]. It just goes to show this strap looks great on any Rolex.

The Pussy

In the James Bond movie, Goldfinger, James Bond decides he is going to seduce a lesbian named Pussy Galore and in the end he does. Pussy is Goldfinger's private pilot and her character was the first I know of in a movie where a woman wore a mans Rolex Sport Watch.

The Coke Rolex GMT Master [Reference 6542] that Pussy Galore wore in Goldfinger is pictured below on her wrist, so of course when I noticed Eric Ku had one, I had to put in on the strap as seen above.

You can learn more about the Real James Bond NATO Watchstrap and order them for yourself by clicking here.

The Corvus Watch Company

As I previously mentioned, brothers, Cam and Tom own the Corvus Watch Company and they recently came out with his first American Military wristwatch homage called The Bradley Dive Watch and it is based on a U.S. Navy specification from the late 1950s. Of course they all come standard with a Real Bond NATO Watchstrap.

Although The Bradley Dive Watch is based upon a Blancpain Tornek-Rayville TR-900 prototype, Cam and Tom have gone far, far beyond by incorporating some really innovative technology into the watch.

The Bradley Dive Watch has an amazing lume pattern as you can see below which includes a lumed bezel insert that glows in two different colors. For whatever it is worth, I think Cam and Tome charge way too little for their Bradley Diver, but that is their choice. You can learn more about the Corvus Bradley Dive Watch by clicking here.

Rolex Coolness Daniel Craig-Global Benefi For Earthquake Relief Telethon

Rolex Coolness: Daniel Craig

Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief Telethon

Haitinow.Org Relief

PROJECT X DESIGNS

PXD SS1 Limited Edition

Customized Original 50th Anniversary Rolex LV Submariner

Daniel Craig is best known for playing James Bond. Daniel is also a big Rolex collector and in this photo below we see him sporting his customized PROJECT X DESIGNS PXD SS1 Limited Edition Rolex Submariner, as he talks on the phone for the Haitinow.Org telethon to help raise money to help rebuild Haiti on January 22, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.

Daniel Craig is pictured below on the far right, next to George Clooney, Drew Cary and Mel Gibson on the far left. As I mentioned, Daniel Craig plays James Bond and if you want to learn everything about all the watches worn in all the James Bond movies you read The Complete History Of James Bond Watches, which covers Daniel Craig's obsession with Rolex.

Daniel Craig: The New King Of Cool

Steve McQueen Style Taken To The Next Level

Greg, who is a daily reader of Jake's Rolex World wrote in and said:

"Your blog just keeps getting better....I really like the articles on Daniel Craig...he seems like a "real man" something you don't see much of today...and he has great style...he took over from Steve McQueen...and bettered McQueen's style..."

I wrote back to Greg and mentioned that I totally agree that in many ways, Daniel Craig is the new King Of Cool–speaking of which, in the photo below we see Daniel Craig sporing the same model of Persol Sunglasses Steve McQueen wore!!!

As I mentioned, in the top photo, Daniel Craig is wearing his PROJECT X DESIGNS Limited Edition SS1 LV Submariner which is pictured below. You can learn everything about PROJECT X DESIGNS which customizes Rolex watches and make stunning limited edition watches.

The Literary James Bond Rolex Watch Rolex Coolness: Daniel Craig

Rolex Coolness: Daniel Craig

The Literary James Bond Rolex Watch

Big Red Panda Rolex Daytona

Literature is the art of written words. When translated literally from Latin "Literature" means "acquaintance with letters." It should come as no surprise then that Daniel Craig who plays James Bond literally suffers from severe RISitus and loves collecting vintage Rolex watches like the Big Red Panda Rolex Daytona on his wrist in this photo.

If you wish to learn everything about the Literary James Bond Rolex Watch you can visit Dell Deaton's excellent James Bond Watches Blog.

It could be argued that Daniel Craig is rewriting James Bond Rolex history by not only staying true to Ian Fleming's original vision of James Bond, but also writing his own book on love of Rolex watches. To learn everything you could ever want to know about James Bond, Daniel Craig and Rolex watch history you can check out my super-detailed story on the genesis of James Bond along with a complete list of James Bond watches.

Rolex Generosity: Daniel Craig

Rolex Generosity: Daniel Craig

Nobody Does It Better

Daniel Craig who plays James Bond wears at least 7 different Rolex watches which we have covered in great detail on Jake's Rolex Watch Blog. The Insider recently reported a fascinating story about Daniel Craig who actually took the photo of himself below with Tom Morro and Tom's wife Kelly.

Daniel Craig is currently co-starring in a play on Broadway in New York with Hugh Jackman named A Steady Rain. Daniel Craig is known for loving his fans and hanging out with them after a performance or even signing autographs in the rain.

Tom and Kelly were hanging out with Daniel Craig after the show and Tom noticed Daniel Craig's vintage Rolex GMT Master and complimented Daniel and told him he was an avid watch collector. Tom told Daniel the GMT was his favorite Rolex he did not have in his collection.

After they took some more photos together, Tom kept complimenting Daniel's watch and Daniel started to take it off his wrist and said "he could spare one and its yours if you want it." Tom was trying to be polite and said "I would love to Mr. Craig but no thank you." Apparently Daniel Craig looked a bit puzzled and continued signing autographs.

Then Daniel Craig got in his SUV lime and drove off. Tom must feel like the biggest dummy in the world. Imaging Daniel Craig offers to give you his vintage Pepsi Rolex GMT Master and you say no!?!?!?! Oh well!?!

Actually, now that I think about it, Daniel Craig is like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra who were renowned for their generosity to complete strangers. One time Elvis was driving in his Cadillac and it broke down. A stranger pulled over to try to help Elvis and had no idea who Elvis was. The guy said, I fixed it enough so you can get it home, but I would take it into the shop as soon as you can since you don't want to do any real damage to such a beautiful car. Elvis handed the man the keys and said it is yours!!!

To learn more about Daniel Craig's Rolex Collection please click here. To learn more about the history of James Bond watches please click here. By the way, we have even more amazing Daniel Craig Rolex news and insight coming up on Jake's Rolex Watch Blog!!!

Daniel Craig is pictured below in New York wearing his Pepsi GMT Master

Part 11: Modern James Bond Rolex Mystery Goes Deeper: A 7th Different Rolex On Daniel Craig

Modern James Bond Rolex Mystery Goes Deeper

A 7th Different Rolex On Daniel Craig

A Project X Designs Limited Edition Rolex Submariner

I never thought this Daniel Craig Prefers Rolex Series would ever make it to a Part 11, but it has!!!

It has been a while since we looked into the Daniel Craig Prefers Rolex mystery, but Jake's Rolex Watch Blog has confirmed that Daniel Craig, who plays James Bond has been wearing a 7th different Rolex, and this time it is a Project X Designs PXD SS1 Limited Edition customized modern Rolex 50th Anniversary LV Submariner.

Before we to into detail on this watch, since it has been a while, let's reexamine what makes this a mystery? The James Bond series of movies, based on Ian Flemming's novels has been ultra-successful ever since Sean Connery first played Bond 47 years ago in Dr. No 1962. Just to put things into perspective, JFK was the President of the United States in 1962–this was many, moons ago.

For a super-detailed overview of the genesis of the James Bond character as well as an overview of all the watches worn in James Bond movies please click here.

Several years ago, a relatively unknown actor named Daniel Craig stepped in to play the role of James Bond. Daniel Craig's first role as James Bond was in Casino Royale, and in the movie he wore an Omega Seamaster just as his predecessor Pierce Brosnan had. Many James Bond fans thought that James Bond wearing an Omega was a travesty for many different reasons.

First and foremost, Ian Flemming himself wrote in his 1953 novel, Casino Royale, that James Bond "Could not just wear a watch. It had to be a Rolex." Furthermore, Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton all wore Rolex Submariner watches in their movies–even Peter Sellers in the Casino Royale, James Bond spoof from 1967 wore a Rolex sports watch.

There has been much speculation about how Omega somehow became the official watch of James Bond, with many sources suggesting it was because Omega was willing to pay the James Bond franchise some kind of product placement fee that Rolex refused to pay.

Quantum Of Rolex

So What If The Guy Who Plays James Bond Has A Worse Case Of RISitus Than You!?!

About a year ago, I wrote a story about how I discovered photographic evidence that Daniel Craig, the new James Bond was wearing a vintage No Crown Gaurd Rolex Submariner [Reference 6538] on a NATO strap!!!

You can imagine how stunning this revelation was!!! The great question of course, was why was Daniel Craig wearing a Sean Connery Rolex Submariner [Reference 6538] as seen in the two pictures below?

At the Quantum of Solace debut in Rome was the first time I noticed Daniel Craig sporting his Sean Connery Submariner. Apparently, Daniel Craig wears it as an homage to Sean Connery who is one of his great role models.

Ironically, Daniel Craig was wearing his 6538 Submariner on a falsely dubbed grey and black NATO strap. To learn all about the difference between the real Sean Connery regimental strap and the falsely dubbed James Bond NATO and see the strap that is most similar and historically accurate please click here.

This story stunned everybody including myself. The strange thing was that I kept discovering Daniel Craig wearing different Rolex watches!!! It seem like they were popping-up, one right after the other:

1. Stainless Steel Vintage Rolex Submariner [Reference 6538] that was very similar to the one Sean Connery wore in Goldfinger. (Pictured in two photos above).

2. Two-tone Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet.

3. Stainless Steel Rolex Datejust on an Oyster bracelet.

4. Stainless Steel 50th Anniversary Milgauss GV with Green Crystal.

5. Stainless Steel Vintage Rolex Daytona "Big Red Panda" [Reference 6263]. (Pictured below).

6. Stainless Steel Vintage Rolex GMT Master [Reference 1675]

7. Stainless Steel Modern "Project X Designs" Limited Edition, PXD SS1] customized original 50th Anniversary LV Submariner (Newest Discovery).

The photo below is of the 6th Rolex I discovered Daniel Craig wearing. This time a vintage Pepsi Rolex GMT Master [Reference 1675].

PROJECT X DESIGNS

PXD SS1 Limited Edition

Customized Original 50th Anniversary Rolex LV Submariner

Recently, I discovered Daniel Craig wearing what appeared to be a 7th different Rolex, but at first it confused me!?! It looked like he was wearing his vintage Sean Connery [Reference 6538] on a black NATO strapped since it had a big crown and no crown guards, very similar in looks to the one Sean Connery is wearing in Dr. NO in the picture below.

Ursula Andres with Sean Connery from Dr. NO in 1962

When I looked closer I noticed it was larger (40mm), it appeared to be a modern Rolex Submariner LV with Maxi Markers, with the green bezel swapped out with a black one!?!

I could not figure it out, then it hit me like a ton of bricks!!! It had to be a Project X Designs Limited Edition PXD SS1. I wrote a detailed review about Project X Designs back in April of 2009 which you can check out by clicking here.

I did not originally recognize this watch at first because Daniel Bourn from Project X Designs had quietly released this watch and I was used to seeing his Bespoke Submariner watches that had a PVD Black coating. Project X Designs, specializes in customizing watches for their customers and they also offer limited editions of 24 highly customized original Rolex watches.

I recently spoke with Daniel Bourn from Project X Designs and he confirmed, that indeed my analysis was correct and that Daniel Craig does wear one of his Limited Edition watches. The model Daniel Craig wears is pictured below.

The Project X Designs PXD SS1 (pictured above and below) is highly customized 50th Anniversary Rolex Submariner with the following changes:

• Green Bezel is swapped with authentic black Rolex Submariner Bezel.

• Project X Designs green "X" in circle logo applied to dial just above Submariner designation.

• Crown Guards Carefully shaved off with updated winding crown tube.

• Rolex Trademark Submariner Cyclops Date Magnifier removed.

You have to admit, the Project X Design Limited Edition PXD SS1 is a very cool looking watch with a definite vintage Rolex look. I think it is really cool that Daniel Craig not only prefers Rolex but likes wearing a customized Rolex that looks different than a standard vanilla Submariner!!! Also, by wearing a highly customized Project X Design PXD SS1, since it is essentially a customized authentic LV Submariner, it is much more sturdy and precise.

A Black Bond Meeting a British Bond?

Sean John Meets With Daniel Craig

In the photo below we see Daniel Craig wearing his Project X Designs customized Rolex LV Submariner (Model PXD SS1) while meeting Sean John Combs more popularly known as Sean John and/or P. Diddy and/or Puff Daddy and/or Puffy and or Diddy. The irony of this meeting is that Sean John desperately wants to be, in his own words, "The first black James Bond."

How badly does Sean John (P. Diddy) want to play James Bond? Sean John is so passionate about playing James Bond he reportedly spent more than $750.000 of his own money to make this demo film (below) which he submitted to Ion Productions for their review.

Before you laugh as Sean John and say that James Bond has to be British in order to play, James Bond, don't forget that Cubby Broccoli, the founding producer of the James Bond movie franchise offered Burt Reynolds (An American) to play James Bond, after Sean Connery announced he was done playing Bond.

I AM KING

Men's Cologne

by

Sean John

Sean John mentioned his I AM KING fragrance is dedicated to his positive role models like Martin Luther King, Mohammed Ali and Barack Obama (Two of which are Nobel Prize Winners).

If you wish to learn more about the Daniel Craig Prefers Rolex Series you can always start at the beginning:

• Part 1: Quantum James Bond Rolex Theory

• Part 2: Quantum James Bond Rolex Mystery

• Part 3: The New James Bond Rolex Mystery

• Part 4: More Answers Lead to More Questions

• Part 5: Ian Fleming Wore A Rolex Explorer

• Part 6: Quantum of Rolex Mystery

• Part 7: James Bond Rolex Mystery Solved

• Part 8: Yet Another James Bond Rolex

• Part 9: A 5th Rolex on Daniel Craig

• Part 10: A 6th Rolex on Daniel Craig

• Part 11: A 7th Rolex: A Project X Designs PXD SS1 (You Are Here)

• >> More James Bond Watch History: All James Bond Watches...From A-Z...