"He could not just wear a watch. It had to be a Rolex."
Ian Fleming 'Casino Royale' 1953
From the beginning Bond was a Rolex man. It was in Ian Fleming's first novel 'Casino Royale' (1953) that he made this bold assertion and in the second 'Live and let die' (1954) that he refers to Bond's watch as a Rolex Oyster Perpetual when describing his diving equipment. Interestingly enough he did not specify a particular model but they were certainly the words adorning the face of Fleming's own watch, a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer ref. 1016.
So we can assume that in Flemings's mind the first Bond watch was a Rolex Explorer, right? Perhaps, although the first Rolex Submariner ref. 6204 had also come out in 1953 and as Bond was getting ready for a dive mission in the dead of night through barracuda infested waters, perhaps the sub would have been the natural choice?
Indeed with both models having dark faces and good lume as eluded to by Fleming, this is something we will never know.
However, with the release of the first Bond film 'Dr. No' in 1962 the Rolex Submariner, namely the sub ref. 6538 has become immortalised as the first James Bond watch and possibly the only true JBW to the purists!
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The story of how this came about is all rather ambiguous. Hearsay has it that the film's producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli lent Sean Connery his own big crown Rolex Submariner ref. 6538 for the role, other rumours are that on the first day of filming in Jamaica the director Terence Young realised that the props department had forgotten to give Connery a watch so it was either Young who gave Connery his own Rolex Submariner with a black leather strap or a Royal Navy diver who was part of the film crew.
The only indisputable fact is that it was a 6538, and that Connery continued to use this model with various straps in Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball.
The Rolex Submariner ref. 6538 was only made from 1956 - 1959. These 4 years were a hugely formative period for Rolex culminating with the introduction of many models that have become the staples of the brand today including the Day-Date, GMT-Master and Milgauss. The Bond connection helped cement the submariner's reputation as being one of the most iconic and of course replicated watches ever made.
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The big crown 6538 did not make an appearance after Thunderball in 1965 and Rolex did not appear again until On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969. Both the actor and the model had changed, with George Lazenby's Bond now wearing a 5513, a bigger watch at 40mm compared to the 38mm of the 6538 and also sporting the crown guards seen on the submariner of today.
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The Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 is also the choice of Roger Moore's bond, making an appearance in Let and Let Die (1973) and The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) before the Rolex was edged out by Seiko offerings.
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The Live and Let Die sub ref. 5513 featued a saw blade edged rotating bezel that allows Bond to escape with Solitaire (Jane Seymour) from being lowered into a shark poolby Mr. Big. The original Art Department drawing shows the design and the movement was replaced with a metal fan to allow compressed air to be fired in to make the bezel rotate. This actual watch sold at auction in 2015 for £248,455.
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“Bond surveyed his weapons. They were only his hands and his feet, his Gillette razor and his wristwatch, a heavy Rolex Oyster Perpetual on an expanding bracelet. Used properly, these could be turned into most effective knuckledusters.”
Ian Fleming 'On Her Majesty’s Secret Service' 1963