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The Times of India
The Times of India
World
TOI World Desk

£25 Bond Watch Windfall: buyer’s car boot find was Connery’s Q-Branch gadget; sale hit £103,875

James Bond Christie Sean Connery Breitling

In the summer of 2013, one story coming from the auction house of Christie’s in South Kensington was all over the media; that is, a Breitling wristwatch that was purchased in a British car boot sale for just £25 fetched a staggering £103,875. The Breitling Top Time, as verified by Christie's press release on the sale, was the actual timepiece worn by Sean Connery in the 1965 Bond film Thunderball, presented on screen as a Q Branch gadget. What follows is the story of how a forgotten prop ended up in a stranger's hands, and how it eventually found its way back into the spotlight.

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