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Famous female contenders
There are a few watches that have been given monikers due to associations with the women who wore them: Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore in the third James Bond film, Goldfinger sported a Rolex Reference 6542 GMT-Master; Nina Rindt, wife of Formula One driver Jochen Rindt, and her Universal Genève chronograph; and Raquel Welch wearing a Breitling Reference 765 AVI chronograph in the film Fathom all spring to mind.
Those watch models, however, became well known as whole watches and not as particular dial variations.
Blackman gets the most attention for being the first woman to wear a Rolex on film in 1964, which didn’t look out of place on her wrist at all.
A photograph I unearthed from four years prior highlighted that a tool watch looks good on a feminine wrist. The photograph above from 1960 showing a woman in world-record deep diver Hannes Keller’s team wearing a Rolex/Tudor Submariner stood out to me.
Browsing other photographs in the same collection, I realized she was looking after the watch for another member of the dive team. Regardless, the timepiece suited her.
Vanessa Redgrave and the Rolex Submariner Reference 5513
English acting icon Vanessa Redgrave attracted some watch collecting interest when she wore a Rolex Reference 5513 Submariner in the 1966 film Blowup. Redgrave wore the Submariner on a leather strap instead of its stainless steel Oyster bracelet. And over the sleeve of her shirt.
A Rolex Submariner Ref. 5513 with Explorer dial, circa 1964, auctioned at Sotheby’s in 2019 for £150,000 (photo courtesy Sotheby’s)
You might be wondering why am I bringing up this timepiece now, 55 years later. Firstly, a Rolex was an interesting choice for the lead actress to wear in a 1960s film. Secondly, the watch’s whereabouts are unknown. And thirdly, the watch was “hiding” one very special detail publicly unknown until now.
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