James Bond gives way to only one person. No prizes for guessing because it is none other than his creator Ian Fleming. The author is in news as his personal 1954 black dial Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer I goes on display at the National Watch & Clock Museum in Lancaster, PA. It is believed that this very watch was the real inspiration behind all the stylish Rolexes worn by the world famous secret agent.

The exhibit in reference will also be showcasing several other watches worn by 007 in both Fleming’s novels as well as Bond movies. For example, the several Submariners like he one sported by Sean Connery in 1962’s ‘Dr.No’ to the most tricked out magnetized version with a built-in rotating saw blade-equipped number from ‘Live And Let Die’ from 1973.

Coming back to Explorer I, this on is the first and the only Rolex owned by the author and was locked away in a bank vault for nearly 20 years after his death. The world got to hear of this watch for the first time in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ in 1963. Fleming wrote: “[Bond] could not just wear a watch. It had to be a Rolex.”

Via luxist