My Accessories: No Well-Dressed Man Should Leave Home Without Them

In addition to my wallet and keys, the above photo shows the things I carry when I venture out. 

In the center of the photo is my most prized possession, my Rolex Submariner diver’s watch. 

A beautiful woman bought this watch for me for my 30^th birthday. 

I married her a month later. 

I first became enamored with the Rolex Submariner when I saw actor Sean Connery as James Bond wear one in the early Bond films. 

In the opening scenes in Goldfinger, Connery glances at the watch while waiting for his explosives at a heroin processing plant to ignite. The camera then goes in for a close-up of the watch’s face.

Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, outfitted his iconic character with a Rolex in the novels, as he himself wore one. 

I later learned that legendary Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager and legendary scuba diver and explorer Jacques Cousteau also wore Rolex Submariner watches. 

While serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War, and later serving aboard the Navy tugboat USS Saugus at the U.S. nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland, I discovered that many pilots, Seabee divers, Navy SEALs, submariners, and other sailors also wore Rolex Submariner diver watches. 

I’ve long wanted one, which I happened to mention to a beautiful woman that I was seeing in the early 1980s  As she worked part-time for a jeweler, she was able to get a good deal and presented me with my own Rolex Submariner on my 30^th birthday.  

To the right in the above photo is a gold scuba diver that I wear on a gold chain around my neck. My wife bought the finely detailed gold scuba diver for me to celebrate her first scuba diving experience with me in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  

Under the gold diver is one of my U.S. Navy dog tags, which was issued to me while I was attending Navy bootcamp in 1970. I consider it my “lucky dog tag.” The other dog tag is on my key ring.  

To the left in the photo is my Spyderco folding pocketknife. I’ve carried a knife since my teens for protection. I consider a pocket knife an essential tool and the knife is always in my pocket. 

Above the Rolex Submariner in the photo is my Ruger LCR 38 Double-Action hammerless revolver, which was a gift from my stepson. 

I possess a state License to Carry, and I mostly carry the Ruger, although I also own a 9mm Beretta Couger semiautomatic, a .25 Beretta semiautomatic, and a .38 Smith and Weston revolver with a four-inch barrel.  

Having performed security work in the Navy and later as a Defense Department civilian employee, as well as working today as a newspaper crime reporter and columnist, I’m very security conscious.  

So having been Navy trained in the safety and use of firearms, I’m always “heeled,” as they used to say in the old Wild West.  

And as Sean Connery as James Bond said in Thunderball, “No well-dressed man should be without one.”  

Note: The below photo is of me wearing my Rolex in Jamaica some years ago as my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. 

The champagne? Why, Dom Perignon, of course.  

Rare Rolex Submariner Watch Like The One Worn By Sean Connery's James Bond That Was Bought Second-Hand For Just £20 In 1970 Is Set To Sell For £150,000 At Auction

 My Rolex Submariner diver’s watch is my prized possession. 

As a teenager in the 1960s I saw actor Sean Connery as Ian Fleming's iconic character James Bond on the movie screen wear a Rolex Submariner and while serving in the Navy in the 1970s, I saw Navy pilots, Navy SEALs and others wear the famous watch.  

As an Ian Fleming and James Bond fan, I of course wanted my own Rolex. A beautiful woman gave me a Rolex Submariner for my 30^th birthday.

I married her one month later.   

So I was interested in reading a piece at the Daily Mail on a Rolex Submariner that is set to be auctioned for a very good price (although I would never sell mine).

A rare Rolex watch like the one worn by Sean Connery's James Bond that was bought second hand for just £20 is now set to sell for £150,000.

The stainless-steel Submariner wristwatch belongs to a man whose father was unable to afford a brand new one for diving. 

The original owner, who has not been named, sourced a secondhand model in 1970 and it is now worth 1,500 times more than he paid for it.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8579963/Rare-Rolex-Submariner-watch-like-one-worn-James-Bond-set-sell-150-000-auction.html

Note: The top two photos are of Sean Connery as James Bond and his Rolex Submariner in Goldfinger. 

The above photo is of me and my Rolex Submariner in Jamaica as I opened a bottle of Champagne to celebrate my wedding anniversary with my beautiful wife. The Champagne? Why, Dom Perignon, of course.  

How The Rolex Submariner Became An Icon And The Timepiece Of Choice For The Original James Bond, Jacques Cousteau and General Chuck Yeager.

My Rolex Submariner diver’s watch is my prized possession. 

As a teenager in the 1960s I saw actor Sean Connery as Ian Fleming's iconic character James Bond on the movie screen wear a Rolex Submariner and while serving in the Navy in the 1970s, I saw Navy pilots, Navy SEALs and others wear the famous watch.  

As an Ian Fleming and James Bond fan, I of course wanted my own Rolex. A beautiful woman gave me a Rolex Submariner for my 30^th birthday and I married her one month later.   

Cam Wolf at GQ.com offers a piece on the history of the Rolex Submariner watch.

In 1973’s Live and Let Die, James Bond and the psychic/paramour Solitaire are left to die in classic extravagant-movie-villain-fashion. Kananga, the bad guy, ties Bond and Solitaire to a platform with ropes and begins to lower them into a pit of sharks. It looks like it’s all over for our hero—until he hits a button on his watch, it whirs to life, and Bond uses it as a buzzsaw to cut himself and Solitaire free from the ropes and kill Kananga. The life-saving watch? A Rolex Submariner.

While this was the first time the Sub was called to action, the watch was there from the beginning of the Bond franchise. Sean Connery wore one in 1962’s Dr. No, the very first Bond movie. And then he wore a Sub in From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball, too. It makes sense that the suavest man in history would wear the Submariner: the Rolex model is one of the most iconic pieces in watch history.

Rolex introduced the Submariner in 1954 as the first commercial watch that could dive 100 meters underwater. Rolex executive Rene-Paul Jeanerret happened to be an amateur diver, and friend of none other than legendary aquatic explorer Jacques Cousteau. Jeanerret convinced Rolex president Hans Wilsdorf it was time to invest seriously in a watch made specifically for divers.

The Submariner accomplished exactly that. The watch is designed for plummeting to the bottom of the sea (or at least 330 feet into it), and not just by being waterproof. Instead of numbers, hour markers come in large easy-to-differentiate shapes—an arrow at 12-o-clock and rectangles every third hour. The hour markers are also made with a material that lights up, angler fish-style. The rotating bezel lets a diver know how long they’ve been submerged. One sign that Rolex got it all right: the general Submariner design has been the inspiration for basically every diver’s watch that’s come after it.

… Now, thanks to its illustrious history, the Submariner may be one of the most instantly recognizable watches in the world. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.gq.com/story/watch-glossary-rolex-submariner 

Note: The above photos are of Sean Connery as James Bond in Goldfinger. 

The below photos are Jacques Cousteau and General Chuck Yeager wearing their Rolex Submariner watches. And the bottom two photos are of me wearing my Rolex Submariner in Jamaica in the 1980s opening a bottle of Dom Perignon and of me front of a police station in South Philadelphia. 

From Rolex With Love: Extremely Rare 1954 Stainless Steel Watch Made Famous By Sean Connery In Dr No Is Set To Fetch £250,000 At Auction

I’ve wanted a Rolex Submariner diver’s watch since I first saw Sean Connery portray Ian Fleming's iconic character James Bond in Dr No when I was 12-years-old in 1963. My dream came true when a beautiful young woman gave me a Rolex Submariner for my 30^th birthday. 

I married her a month later.

Joel Adams at the Daily Mail offers a piece on the Rolex Submariner 6538 model, which has cult status since Dr No and its now known as 'the James Bond.'

An extremely rare Rolex watch made famous by the first James Bond film has emerged for sale for £250,000.

The 1954 Rolex Submariner 6538 acquired cult status after one was worn by Sean Connery in the 1962 classic film Dr No.

Bond subsequently wore the same model in several follow-up films, leading it to become one of the most sought-after Rolexes. 

The 55-year-old Rolex, valued at a quarter of a million pounds, has a black dial and a crystal reverse so the owner can see the finely-engineered Swiss movement.

The timepiece is generating furious interest under the hammer at auctioneers William George & Co, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.The auction house has estimated the watch will go for around £200,000 to £250,000.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6393075/From-Rolex-Love-Rare-1954-watch-famous-James-Bond-set-fetch-250-000-auction.html 

How Rolex Became The King Of Watches

My Rolex Submariner diver's watch is my most prized possession.

A beautiful young woman give the watch to me as a 30th birthday present so many years ago. I married her one month later.

So I was interested in David Green's Business Insider piece on how the history of the fine watch and how it became the "King of Watches."

Play a simple word association game with anyone — say "watches" and the reply you get will most likely be "Rolex."

The Rolex brand is so ingrained in the minds of much of the world, it's hard to believe watches even existed before Austrian national Hans Wilsdorf started the company in the early 1900s.

It now stands as the most powerful watchmaker in the world, consistently ranking at the top of lists of the globe's most reputable companies.

Rolex does not actually release sales numbers, but experts estimate that it makes roughly 1 million watches a year, presumably more than any other luxury watchmaker.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-rolex-became-the-king-of-watches-2016-4