Goldfinger (1964)

Goldfinger

The third James Bond film. While investigating a gold magnate's smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve. (IMDb) Directed by Guy Hamilton for Eon Productions from Ian Fleming's 1959 novel, adapted by Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn for producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, the United Artists release premiered in London on 17 September 1964 and reached American cinemas that December. Sean Connery returns as Bond opposite Gert Fröbe as Auric Goldfinger, Honor Blackman as pilot Pussy Galore, Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson and Harold Sakata as the bowler-hatted henchman Oddjob. Made for around $3 million, it recouped its budget within two weeks and grossed roughly $125 million worldwide, establishing the series template through Ken Adam's Pinewood-built Fort Knox interiors, the gadget-laden Aston Martin DB5 and Shirley Bassey's title song. (Wikipedia)

Watches

Rolex Submariner 6538

Worn by Sean Connery as James Bond. The Big Crown Submariner gets its first proper close-up of the series, worn on a striped fabric strap in the opening sequence, on screen again as Bond checks his charge timer before blowing the drug warehouse. Montres de Luxe independently identifies the watch as a steel Submariner with a plexiglass crystal on a striped NATO-style strap, another appearance of the reference vintage-Rolex collectors nickname the "Submariner James Bond." (Montres de Luxe) Watches of Espionage describes the strap as "an undersized, striped nylon RAF-style strap" that "didn't even fit properly, leaving spring bars exposed", and treats the tuxedo-and-nylon combination as one of cinema's defining watch images. (Watches of Espionage) Revolution calls the Big Crown's appearance "an important event in the vintage Rolex space" and repeats the loan account with a hedge, "It's understood that the watch was lent to him by Producer Albert Broccoli", adding that the expanding rivet bracelet was said to be uncomfortable and so exchanged for fabric. Fratello, examining the close-up, holds that the strap "is a pass-through, not a NATO" with "two olive-green stripes surrounded by thin red borders", a reading that differs from Montres de Luxe's NATO-style description above. (Revolution; Fratello)

© EON Productions / United Artists

Rolex GMT-Master 6542

Worn by Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore. On the other wrist of the frame from Bond's Submariner: Goldfinger's personal pilot wears the crown-guard-free first-generation GMT-Master on its steel bracelet, visible in the jet cockpit scenes. The reference was built with Pan Am for exactly this profession, making it the most precisely cast watch in the film, and collectors have called the 6542 the "Pussy Galore" ever since; the nickname still appears in auction catalogs. It was also the first time a woman wore a 40 mm-class men's sports Rolex on screen. (Wind Vintage)

© EON Productions / United Artists

Gruen Precision 510

Worn by Sean Connery as James Bond. Connery's slim gold dress watch, the one he wears with tailoring in Dr. No and From Russia with Love, is on his wrist again on a black strap, visible beside his cuff link in the Fort Knox vault as Bond crouches holding Oddjob's bowler. Bond Suits' survey of Connery's dress watch captures that frame and counts Goldfinger among the five Connery films in which the watch appears, noting that the dial is never legible and that it may not be the same watch in every film. James Bond Watches, which identified the Dr. No watch as a Gruen Precision 510 in 2013, lists Goldfinger among the watch's screen appearances, and Caleb Daniels, for Watches of Espionage, repeats the Goldfinger appearance while calling the Gruen identification "entirely speculative", since no shot is clear enough to confirm a detail; the Gruen match therefore remains probable rather than settled, as on the sibling pages. (Bond Suits; James Bond Watches; Watches of Espionage)

© EON Productions / United Artists