What Pen Did Bond Use?

[Jamesbeat]

I know this has been discussed before, but usually the suggestions have been along the lines of very expensive luxury pens (MB etc) or 'weaponized' gadget pens.

Another point that was often made was that he would insist on a British brand.

 

I'm a huge Bond fan.

Naturally, I enjoy the films, but it's the Fleming novels that I'm a really big fan of.

 

The literary Bond is quite different from the movie Bond, especially the later movies.

He didn't have many gadgets, and those that he did have were believable.

 

He also wasn't as... pretentious as he was in the movies.

He certainly liked fine food and drink when on a mission, but when at home, his tastes were more modest.

He even gets a little embarrassed about his eating habits, and explains them away by the fact that he often has to eat alone, and therefore tries to make his meals as interesting as possible.

 

He wore a Rolex, but at the time, Rolex was not so much of a luxury brand as a pioneer of expensive but very rugged watches.

He drove a souped-up Bentley, but far from being flashy, it was very old and second-hand.

His car was from the time when Bentley was a manufacturer of racing cars, not rebadged Rolls Royces.

 

His clothes and other possessions are variously described as 'battered', 'yellowing', 'faded' and 'once-expensive'.

He was reasonably well-paid, but by no means wealthy.

He bought quality gear, but he used it hard and made it last.

 

He wore suits, but at that time, suits were the norm, not the exception.

He wore tropical-worsted lightweight suits, and also wore shirts with short sleeves, and slip-on shoes, which would have been considered pretty informal.

 

The literary Bond is definitely a pragmatist, not a showoff.

 

Fleming did not tell us about Bond's writing instrument (except a department-mandated colored crayon that he used to annotate documents), but he does tell us about another personal item - his razor.

We know that Bond originally used a Gillette razor, but discarded it in favor of a Hoffritz knockoff of the Gillette that he picked up on a trip to New York.

 

This dispells the myth that Bond would have patriotically stuck to British brands for his personal items.

 

Taking all of this into account, what pen would Bond have used?

 

Given his no-nonsense attitude and his reasonable disposable income, the fact that he buys quality items that will last but aren't flashy, and the time period in which the novels are set, I think Bond would have...

 

A Parker "51"

 

I also think that he would have happily switched to a ball-point once they became reliable and ubiquitous.

 

What do you think?

Edited March 11, 2015 by Jamesbeat

[rochester21]

I agree with the P51 suggestion, but where can you buy poisonous ink from? Being Bond and all, he probably had to kill someone once in a while. And nothing does the job better that a bit of poisonous ink....shaken, not stirred.

 

Pilot VP is another option, but it would have been suitable for a latter version of Bond, from newer movies. Each era has it`s own icons.

Edited March 11, 2015 by rochester21

[Jamesbeat]

I'll buy the poison ink, but I don't think a modern Bond would use a fountain pen at all.

A fountain pen would make him stand out from the crowd nowadays.

 

When the books were written, most people probably used fountain pens, and most men would have worn suits.

 

A 2015 Bond would probably wear 'office casual' and carry a Bic in order to blend in.

 

That's actually quite sad when you think about it

[guild]

 

Parker 75 Cisele.

 

[Jamesbeat]

The Parker 75 came out in 1964, which is the year Ian Fleming died.

I think the pragmatic Bond would have switched to one of the new ball-points by then.

[thatotherguy1]

I'm a Fleming fan as well. If I'm enjoying a Bond story it'll probably be one of Fleming's novels, and if it is a movie it'll be a Sean Connery one since, IMHO, Connery is the one Bond that followed Fleming's Bond fairly closely.

 

The only reference to the pen Bond uses that I remember was in "The Spy Who Loved Me", in which Vivienne Michel commented that Bond had written the note he left her with "a proper pen, not a ball-point". If there are more references, I'd love to hear them, but that's the only one I remember.

 

With the exception of Thunderball, I've found that Ian Fleming leaves most of his equipment descriptions tantalizingly vague. For example, the Rolex Bond wore was assumed to be a Submariner due to its large (radioactive/radium, as proved in Thunderball) phosphorescent indices and the fact that he wore it underwater regularly, but it was only described as a Rolex oyster perpetual wristwatch on a Spiedel Twist-O-Flex bracelet. We do know quite a bit about Bond's Beretta and its leathern shoulder holster, and we know about his eating, drinking, driving, and smoking habits quite well. Other than that, it's all left for the reader to decode.

 

Given my opinion and mental image of Fleming's Bond, I think that he would have used something a bit flashier than a 51, perhaps solely because he had bought it years before and it just hadn't quit yet. Perhaps that would be a Parker Vacumatic or a Conway Stewart of some sort, maybe even a pre-status symbol Montblanc considering their reputation for durability and Bond's fondness for understated design.

 

It's interesting how we know how Bond likes his eggs cooked (and even have a recipe from Octopussy and the Living Daylights) and Casino Royale gives us the recipe for his favorite Martini, much less the fact that Fleming portrayed him as smoking 70 Turkish blend Morland Specials with the three gold rings per day, but we don't know about most of his daily gear

Edited March 14, 2015 by thatotherguy1

[OcalaFlGuy]

Bond Would Have to use something by Conway Stewart.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[comixfan]

I remember reading somewhere that Fleming gave Bond a Rolex Submariner because it was so big and chunky that he could use it as a weapon of last resort if he needed to. In that spirit, I would imagine 007 would use a pen that is as classy-looking as it is lethal. Does Montblanc make a tactical pen?

[pepsiplease69]

I haven't read any of the novels so I can't say I'm familiar at all with the literary bond.

 

But based on what I've read here, my vote would be for a Lamy 2000 (makrolon)

 

Rugged, pragmatic, functional, and most of all, stealthy.

 

Lovely topic btw..

[oregano]

I'm sure this has been mentioned somewhere but he did use a pen as a weapon in Moonraker (I think; it was one of the Roger Moore films), not sure what type of fountain pen it was. Personally I think a Montblanc rollerball would be perfect for him. And if he chose a Conway Stewart, I'd like to think it was something like my black Marlborough Vintage

Edited March 14, 2015 by paloma32

[Jamesbeat]

The generally accepted reason that we assume that his Rolex Oyster Perpetual was a Submariner is the fact that he was a Naval Commander.

 

In those days, Rolex weren't a luxury watch manufacturer like they are today. They were producing cutting edge technology, and made some of the most rugged diving watches available.

 

If you were a diver (or in the Navy in general) and could afford one, you bloody well bought a Rolex Submariner.

 

I believe the French special forces divers were issued Rolex Sea Dwellers (similar to the Sub, but able to go even deeper), not to impress the fellows at the yacht club, but because it was the watch that serious divers used.

 

I have a Submariner (told you I was a Bond fan!) and I can't imagine it would make a very effective knuckleduster.

I don't think Fleming really understood the principle of the knuckleduster, which is to transfer the force of the blow to the heel of the hand, but OHMSS is still one of my favorites.

 

Nothing he owned was flashy, or intended to win the approval of others.

 

The distain he shows for the tastes of Auric Goldfinger and Hugo Drax (even before he realizes they are bad guys) demonstrates that he is not impressed with baubles and trinkets.

 

I just can't accept that Bond would have owned a flashy pen.

[PS104]

As has been deduced it depends what era you're in. A fountain pen in the 60s but after that definitely a BP of some sort. Even in the 60s he would have stood out as some sort of wierdo, ie, not blending in.

Nowdays if he used an FP he would probably be on FPN with a martini instead of bedding all those babes.

As for his smoking those Turkish cigarettes today, totally verbotten.

The most memorable scene at the baccarat table was when some asked who he was, to which he replied (cigarette in mouth) "Bond. James Bond". Totally cool.

[unimpressed_llama]

I agree with the P51 suggestion, but where can you buy poisonous ink from? Being Bond and all, he probably had to kill someone once in a while. And nothing does the job better that a bit of poisonous ink....shaken, not stirred.

 

Pilot VP is another option, but it would have been suitable for a latter version of Bond, from newer movies. Each era has it`s own icons.

I think Baystate Blue would do the trick.

[adam of bertrams inkwell]

I forget which movie it was, but I remember Bond using a solid gold Montblanc 149 that was filled with "acid" to break out of a jail cell. Can you imagine what the "acid" would do to the piston if it were real?

[benbot517]

I don't know if he ever used it for its original, intended purpose, but in Goldeneye he was given a steel Parker Jotter grenade. Worked as a normal pen, but click three times, throw and BOOM! No more Jotter.

[mirosc]

novel-Bond:

I'd go for a ballpoint

 

movie-Bond:

Does it matter what Bond would use?

I guess it's more important to ask what Q would hand him.

Given Q's love for crazy contraptions my vote is for the Snorkel

:-)

[Ceelo]

I'm not sure it works for the period the novels were intended but my vote is for the Parker 75 Cisele, used of course. While a touch flashy I think it's understated crosshatch design and interchangeable nib would suit a gentleman perfectly.

[jar]

A cartridge pen.

[mirosc]

A cartridge pen.

loaded with PPK, errr,.... PPS

[Kataphract]

For personal use, a reliable and enduring fountain pen. A Pelikan seems more likely to me if only because it would be more idiosyncratic than a Parker.

 

He would not, ever, ever, take part in a thread discussing who would use what pen - he would be secure in his own choice, because it would be right for him.