George Lazenby James Bond Rolex Chronograph 6238 on Auction

The Rolex Pre-Daytona ref. 6238 worn by George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), will be auctioned by leading French auction house Artcurial at Hôtel Hermitage, Monte-Carlo, on July 18th 2016 at 7pm.

The original Rolex Pre-Daytona Chronograph 6238 as used On Her Majesty's Secret Service
photo © Artcurial

Bond can be seen wearing the watch during love scenes and action scenes at Piz Gloria, the mountain top lair of Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Bond uses the Rolex Pre-Daytona when he is trapped in the machinery room of the cable car: the watch allows him to time the comings and goings of the cable car to escape from Piz Gloria.

After filming On her Majesty's Secret Service, EON Productions decided to sell Bond's personal wardrobe and accessories of the film, including the Rolex. This piece was acquired by a member of the production, who finally offered the watch for sale at Christie's London, South Kensington, on 16 December 2003 (lot 164). The watch was then sold by the buyer from the Christie's sale to the current owner in 2008.

The unique watch comes with a copy of the original invoice of Swiss Rolex retailer Bucherer Interlaken, dated 23 October 1968 with the handwritten words "This is the watch for James Bond". The invoice is addressed to Mr. David H. Middlemas, EON Productions Ltd, 3825 Murren. Middlemas was a production manager for the film (and several other Bond films). The price of the watch at the time is mentioned on the proof of payment (also included int he sale): 790 CHF.

George Lazenby wearing the Rolex Pre-Daytona Chronograph in On Her Majesty's Secret Service
photo © United Artists, Danjaq, Eon Productions

Also included in the auction is a black and white photo of a scene from the movie with Nancy (Catherine Schell) and James Bond (George Lazenby), with written text on the back mentioning On her Majesty's Secret Service, Photo by George Whitear, and a description of  the scene. The photo comes in a protection sleeve with Christie's label mentioning the fist sale of the watch on 16th December 2003 Sale: 9771, 164/3.

And finally it comes with a copy of the purchase invoice of the Christie's sale, and copy of the sales on July 11, 2008 to the current owner, which mentions Rolex Chronograph Ref 6238 Serial 1206513 (Note that during this sale at Christie's, an error was made ​​in the catalog description, which indicates the number of series 1206613 instead of 1206513.)

James Bond's Rolex Pre-Daytona Chronograph 6238 with red seconds hand
photo © Artcurial

This extremely rare Rolex chronograph has a red chronograph hand, which according to legend was changed at the request of the film producers of the film. This unique feature makes this particular watch even more unique because it is the only Pre-Daytona Rolex Chronograph 6238 with a red chronograph hand.

As the name suggests, the Pre-Daytona precedes the famous Daytona model, and can be recognized by its smooth bezel.

Rolex and James Bond
Rolex can be seen as Bond's original watch. Not only does James Bond wear Rolex Oyster Perpetual in some of the original Ian Fleming novels, but Sean Connery (Rolex Submariner), Roger Moore (Submariner), George Lazenby (Pre-Daytona) and Timothy Dalton (Submariner) all have worn Rolex watches in their Bond films as well. George Lazenby personally owned a Rolex Submariner 5513, which some say he wore in the Casino scene in On her Majesty's Secret Service.

The estimated price of the watch is only available on request.

See more details about the auction at the Artcurial website.

Thanks to Michael Koch for the alert