James Bond Watches Blog

How would you go about authenticating the identifcation of a hero car from Ian Fleming's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" movie (1968)?

Three weeks ago, Aaron Richardson posted an article on Aol Autos titled, “Flying Car For Sale: Buy Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. No Kidding!”

This referred to an eBay auction “alleging” (his word) “to be the original hero car from Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” motion picture.

That movie was produced by Albert R Broccoli and released in 1968 — after Sean Connery had made his last uninterrupted appearance as James Bond for Eon Productions and before On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was released, starring George Lazenby.

Now, returning to Mr Richardson and eBay, via Aol Autos, the auction link that he was kind enough to provide shows an Item number 350455879688 for “1967 Other Makes Ford GEN 11: Original Hero ‘GEN 11′ Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Car. Just 1 bid, for one million dollars, Reserve not met, ended April 25. It was then re-listed, again apparently attracting a single US $1,000,000 bid, no deal.

That one closed May 5.

And it’s back today, with not-quite 2 days left for bidding (zero so far).

As I’ve followed this, the thing that’s struck me, too, is this from Aaron Richardson’s final paragraph: continue reading…

"James Bond Watches Price Guide 2011," by Dell Deaton (Proteus Publishing), now available for immediate delivery from Amazon.com

For the first time ever, this James Bond Watches Price Guide is available to provide readers with exact sales price histories on all James Bond watch models confirmed to have been referenced by Ian Fleming and in the Eon Productions 007 movies.

See listing on Amazon.com for complete details.

We’ve offered dedicated coverage of James Bond watches here since 2005. Broken news with the first definitive identifications for models from several watchmakers. Done the exclusive, original research that’s set our James Bond watch website and blogs apart from every other information resource.

Having piqued the interest of serious collectors, and fans simply wanting to own this piece or that of Bond-related history, there’s always been a key piece missing — how much is this James Bond watch really worth?

So I started sampling actual, legitimately-completed transactions during the first week of January, 2008. Sources included online listings from watch forums and bidding sites, professional auction house catalogues, and person-to-person and brick-and-mortar shop sales that were shared with me through a network of enthusiastic supporters of our work here.

Thus the James Bond Watches Price Guide grew to include data for many wristwatches dating back to the 1990s.

Breitling, Hamilton (Pulsar), Omega, Rolex, Seiko, TAG Heuer: Over 600 individual transactions, spanning almost two dozen different models.

It’s a truly unprecedented reference that will help buyers make more informed decisions as they consider purchases, and help sellers price watches in ways that both respect the Bond pedigree and move toward closing deals in desired time frames.

In addition to our Amazon listing, a dedicated website has been set up for the James Bond Watches Price Guide to provide information on future editions and additional formats in which this content will be be offered.

Several photos of the Guide contents can be seen there as well.

An updated edition of Rolex Submariner Story has recently been released by Guido Mondani Editore

Guido Mondani begins his Editor’s Note by writing that with this publication of his Rolex Submariner Story, “enthusiasts, collectors and traders can really feel satisfied” by the “history and an ‘encyclopedic’ knowledge of all modern and vintage Submariner models.”

That’s quite a tall order.

Stop to think about the number of in-depth texts that have already been written on this subject, in whole or part.

Unauthorized histories. Approaches that narrowly focus on sports models. Magazine features based on unprecedented access to Rolex facilities. Auction catalogs. And all that before we start talking about other Guido Mondani Editore imprints.

Yet Rolex Submariner Story delivers. In fact, it exceeds Mr Mondani’s opening promise.

The first edition, published in 2009 and limited to a 2,000-book printing, is a cornerstone and regularly referenced part of my personal research library. I cited it for my piece on James Bond and Rolex in the current Revolution magazine, as well my post-BaselWorld observations that ran on the CommanderBond.net James Bond fan site.

Guido Mondani is also our personal source for identification of the Rolex 6538 Submariner on display (courtesy of Bob Ridley, Watchmakers International) as part of our “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” exhibit at the National Watch & Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania.

So it is with a great deal of hands-on, practical-use experience that I come to this review of Rolex Submariner Story — and happily announce that a new edition has just been released, featuring continue reading…