Will the real Bond NATO please stand up

For some years a sub community of the watch community that I believe is more correctly classified under the King Wang Community have lapped up (like a kitten milk) that a particular colour pattern  of NATO strap was correctly called "The Bond NATO" ... without even questioning anything about it. Such as:

• was it the colours we're told it is (by strap sellers on eBay largely)?
• was it even a NATO or just a strap?

(its a fine line between watch enthusiast / collector and Wanger. A follower of King Wan is largely unimaginative and seeking to be told what they should like but it must be expensive & flashy). 

Like all things in the Kingdom of Wang false ideas are the jewel in the crown. 

This term essentially stems from the movie Goldfinger where Bond is shown wearing a Rolex (extra wanking cred there these days) with a nylon strap. I'm going to cut to the chase here and show an image from Goldfinger which shows clearly that which is "thought to be" the Bond NATO is not correct. So in Goldfinger, right at the start, we have Bond emerge from the water in SCUBA gear and infiltrate a place (of purveyance?) and begin setting some explosive charges on some drums.

He checks the time and you can see dimly and fleetingly his strap (which doesn't properly fit his watch). Indeed in that fleeting glimpse it does indeed seem like its a match for the classic Bond NATO which we all know and love. Its understandable from this scene that the view of it being black and grey is a reasonable one because its dark and you only get this fleeting view.

However when you see the next scene in the bar we see him check the time, just before the explosions go off. 

This shot reveals two things 1) its not a NATO and 2) actual colours: it appears to be black with green and very fine red lines either side of the green, but appearances (on VHS or worse) can be deceptive. (as an aside this shot shows just how bright the old radon based lume was). 

Thus to believe the Bond NATO view as its been presented is to have not paid much attention during Goldfinger and to have simply gone with first image as seen on a freeze frame on your VCR (remember them?) and ignored the later one.

Now the image here is taken from a frame of my (now quite old) Bond DVD (NOTE, not Blu-ray HD) which isn't actually a remaster. Perhaps on older TV's it would be less clear than this ... helping perpetuate the myth (which is actually a relatively recent phenomenon and perhaps exploding more as watch wankers soaked up the mythology needed for their official blazer badge).

I am not the first to be observing this mistaken identity (far from it) as this site (here) makes plain. The purpose of this post is to 

1. add another voice to that call
2. further my King Wang series (which started here) where (for some) wanking takes priority over reality

From the Rolex magazine (2005): 

In Goldfinger, Sean Connery as James Bond wears a Rolex Submariner [Reference 6538] as pictured below, on a Regimental belt strap. Many people say Sean Connery wore his 6538 Submariner on a NATO strap. This is not true. There has NEVER been a James Bond movie in which James wears a NATO. 

Note that the strap that Sean Connery wears has 9 stripes total consisting of Dark Navy Blue, Dark Olive Olive and fine burgundy stripes. The most interesting part of this story is that Daniel Craig was recently seen wearing and talking about his Rolex 6538 that he wears on a NATO strap.

Oops ... 

They go on to say:

... The strap Sean Connery is wearing is a Royal Scots government strap, and its formal colour names are: Peony Red, Gosling Green and Oxford Blue. The Royal Scots, also know as "The Royal Regiment" is the oldest British Army Regiment. It was founded in 1633 by Sir John Hepburn by a Royal Warrant from King Charles I, who recruited 1200 men in Scotland. On March 28, 2006, the Royal Scots merged with other Scottish Infantry Regiments to become The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Which is very befitting of Connery who was a Scotsman (and it was his personal watch).

But are we correcting this or is the mainstream just going with the wrong facts? I say the latter ... Indeed some sellers are now aware of this and are selling a "Vintage" (King Wang?) version of the Bond NATO

So the King Wang of the "proper" appearance of the Bond NATO can't be changed now (because the knob on the end prevents the hand coming off) and there is now a Vintage Bond NATO strap. 

Sigh

but what about NATO?

The funniest thing about this is not only (as Rolex Magazine mentions) has no bond ever worn a NATO strap, its that NATO Strap hails from much later in history (1973 actually) than the Goldfinger movie while Goldfinger was released in 1964, so without a time machine its pretty hard to imagine they had a NATO strap.

Its probably too late to stop this with the tide now fully in, but in the interests of preventing even more wanking about this...

I thought this post may play a small part.

Best Wishes

PS: Today (10/09/2021) it came to my attention that subsequent to the writing of the Rolex Magazine (2005) that Omega has taken on the mythos with their Seamaster range and added a Bond NATO (not the Traditional) into their range. Let me cite their product literature:

It's fitting that an ex-naval commander would choose a Seamaster. In SPECTRE, Bond wears two. The OMEGA Seamaster 300 SPECTRE Limited Edition with rare lollipop seconds hand and black and grey NATO strap; and the OMEGA Aqua Terra 150m: a striking watch with a blue dial that recalls OMEGA's rich maritime heritage and Bond's naval background.

But no mention of it being a Bond NATO strap ... just black and grey NATO ... 

So lets look at the Bond Films:

 Dr. No (1962)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Casino Royale (1967)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Live and Let Die (1973)              <<<NATO strap invented
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence to Kill (1989)
GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)
Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Skyfall (2012)
Spectre (2015)                        <<< First Bond to wear a NATO
No Time to Die (2021ish)

Pretty clearly a Bond NATO isn't a thing isn't it ... So to me its cash in on the false premise and make it truth. Perfect marketing opportunity created for you.

Personally I think Chrissie summed it up well here

ouhh ...