Licence to bid: Christie’s all-Bond charity auction will raise £millions for good causes

In a 1965 issue of Playboy magazine, the late Sean Connery said: “Bond is the invincible figure every man would like to be.”

If you’re such a man (or woman) you’ve probably left it too late to step into the Crockett & Jones chukka boots worn by outgoing Bond Daniel Craig in No Time to Die – but you could buy his Barton Perreira sunglasses from the film, or even that grey Tom Ford suit he made such a mess of during the motorbike and train chase sequences (bottom).

Both are up for grabs in a forthcoming charity auction organised by Christie’s and EON Productions that could prove to be the highest-grossing sale of Bond memorabilia ever staged.

Comprising 60 lots to represent the 60 years since Connery first brought Bond to the silver screen in 1962’s Dr No, the sale will take the form of a 25-lot live, invitation-only event being held at Christie’s London HQ on 28 September and a further, online-only sale of 35 lots that will run from 15 September until ‘James Bond Day’ on 5 October.

Each of the six stars who have played Bond in the ‘official’ films will be represented by the last six lots being offered in the live auction, with the sale overall being set to include watches, clothes and other significant props that have appeared on screen as well as artwork, behind-the-scenes photographs – and even a five-night stay at GoldenEye, Bond author Ian Fleming’s Jamaican villa.

Christie’s has staged three previous ‘official’ 007 auctions which, between them, have raised almost £5m for charity. But with a conservative low estimate of £3m, this one could outshine them all – not least since the star lot is expected to fetch £1.5 to 2m.

It’s the actual Aston Martin DB5 stunt car that makes a dramatic entrance in No Time to Die during the opening chase sequence through the Italian town of Matera.

Although eight stunt DB5s were built for the film, this is the only one being offered for sale and, although it looks indistinguishable from a real DB5, it is actually a high-tech mock-up built by Aston’s Special projects Department using a space-frame chassis, rally-type suspension, race brakes, carbon bodywork and a BMW engine.

Proceeds from the sale of the car will go to The Prince’s Trust and the Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund, and other vehicles up for grabs include the 1981 AM V8 that Bond retrieves from a London lock-up before driving to the Norwegian childhood home of love interest Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) via the spectacular Atlantic Road.

A carbon copy of the car from 1987’s The Living Daylights, it is estimated at £500,000 – 700,000 with that money being earmarked for refugee charity UNHCR.

One of 25 DBS No Time to Die special editions based on the car driven in ‘NTTD’ by Agent Nomi (Lashana Lynch) and signed by her and producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli could raise up to £400,000 for the Royal Foundation, while a trio of Jaguar Land Rover stunt cars from the film comprise a pre-production Defender 110 (£300,000 – 500,000); a Range Rover Sport SVR (£80,000 – 120,000) and an XF saloon (£50,000 – 70,000).

Non-vehicular props, meanwhile, are highlighted by the titanium Omega Seamaster 300m ‘007 Edition’ which was worn by Bond to ‘eye-watering’ effect in No Time to Die and could fetch up to £20,000 for gender equality group Time’s Up UK.

Designed with Craig’s input, the watch is seen on several occasions in the film, most prominently in the so-called ‘third act’ when 007 gadget man Q (Ben Wishaw) and Agent Nomi (Lashana Lynch) are heading towards the island lair of villain Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) ‘somewhere in the Sea of Japan’ in a Boeing Globemaster transport plane.

During the flight, Q presents Bond with the new watch, explaining that he has fitted it with a coiled device capable of emitting a “limited radius electro-magnetic pulse” that will “short any circuit in a hard-wired network – if you get close enough.”

Bond subsequently uses the gadget to explode the electronic eye worn by nemesis Luytsifer Safin’s henchman Primo (Dali Benssalam) during a dramatic fight scene in Safin’s chemical works, killing Primo in the process.

Also on offer will be the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M that 007 wears during the film’s dramatic opening sequences where the watch survives fights, explosions, bridge jumps, motorcycle stunts and a bullet-heavy car chase. It, too, could realise up to £20,000, with all proceeds going to eye charity Orbis.

A third and final watch lot included in the sale takes the form of a limited edition set of two Seamasters in a Globe Trotter presentation case signed by George Lazenby, the one-time Bond who starred in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Number 229 from an edition of 227 sets made to mark 50 years since the release of the film, the case contains one steel watch and one gold one and is estimated to fetch £40,000 – 60,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Other lots on offer include the aforementioned Barton Perreira sunglasses and Tom Ford suit (each estimated to fetch £10,000 – 15,000); the Jet Boat seen in the opening scenes of 1999’s The World is Not Enough starring Pierce Brosnan (£20,000 – 30,000) and a gold-plated, crystal-encrusted prop egg from the 1983 Roger Moore film Octopussy that could raise up to £10,000 for UNICEF.

To see everything on offer, go to christies.com/events/james-bond-sixty-year-anniversary/what-is-on

All photos: Christie's Images Ltd. 2022 – Strictly Copyright