Welcome to the EYES ONLY newsletter!

I had a little break in Miami last week, and was able to take a picture at the Fontainebleau Goldfinger Hotel.

Tip on how to get into the pool area for a photo: ask the guard at the back entrance, on the boardwalk (between the hotel and the beach), instead of going in through the main entrance. If you ask nicely and tell them you are a Bond fan, they might let you in and take a photo. You can tell them you’ll stay in their sight which is true because you only have to stand about 10 yards from the guard to take a good photo. And wearing a pair of Orlebar Brown Moonraker shorts or a Goldfinger onesie might help as well.

Still no news on Bond 26, but check out the latest contest winners, a new SPECTRE vinyl set and a Q&A with our good friend Mark “Catching Bullets” O’Connell.

Remmert van Braam
founder BOND LIFESTYLE

CONTEST WINNERS

Sunspel giveaway winners

In the last contest, I gave away 3 sets of Sunspel clothes, and the winners have now received their prizes. Winners are:
Phill Amatiello, Jacob Nation and A. Stanley.
This was one of the most popular giveaways in recent years. Stay tuned for a new contest starting soon!

MUSIC

SPECTRE White Vinyl Set

The 007Store offers a new James Bond SPECTRE Soundtrack Double 12" White Vinyl Set - 2024 Edition. Pressed onto two opaque white vinyl discs, the 2024 reissue soundtrack album includes an instrumental version of Sam Smith’s main title song ‘Writing’s On The Wall’.

PODCASTS

Casino Royale minute by minute

Our friend Peter Brooker (From Tailors With Love) is putting out a great podcast series, breaking down Casino Royale minute by minute. Be sure to listen and don’t get behind too much, he’s already at minute #12 of 144!

Find the podcast on Spotify and iTunes.

Q. Which three Bond clothes or accessories do you wear the most?
A. I am fortunate to have a few Bond-skewed pieces of clothing in my wardrobe, but as some of them are high-end prices, I tend to get scared wearing them a lot. I do have a curious ritual of always wearing my Moonraker Drax Industries t-shirt when flying long-haul. It always feels so Bond '79! A crew cap I was given for SkyFall is strangely the Bond item I will wear the most however.

Q. If you could keep only 1 item of your Bond collection, what would it be?
A. Probably the personal items, letters and remembrances I have from my grandfather and his time working for the Broccoli family and EON. I have some warm photos and letters, and they are more valuable to me than things that others attach monetary worth to.

Q. What is your most popular post/video?
A. Would it be weird to suggest I do not know as a lot of my work and Bond commentator work is for publications or destinations I have little sway over tracking. I do know a good video interview with a Bond creative will always get strong traffic, and there are some of those on my YouTube page. My brilliant chat with composer David Arnold did indeed get great attention.

Q. Which Bond location do you still want to visit?
A. Octopussy's Palace and Piz Gloria. I one day almost want to do both locations in the same vacation - a sort of hot and cold of Bond meccas. I came close a few years back to flying up to Piz Gloria direct which would have been a John Barry soundtracked dream!! But heavy snow stopped that plan. The floating palace from Octopussy holds such great Bond '83 history and it makes total sense to this fan to one day bask in its location, design and culture.

Q. If you could meet any Bond actor (even if they’re no longer with us), who would that be and why?
A. I have been fortunate in my bullet catching travels to have met more than one 007 - be it at Bond events, launches or privately. And maybe nine future ones! Daniel Craig nearly photobombed one of our wedding photos (allegedly - I was obliviously facing the camera at the time!) and he almost did the same on a Bond premiere red carpet when my husband and I were taking it all in. I was unable to meet Sean Connery alas. So maybe he would be the one I would still like to sit down with. I met Sir Roger Moore more than once and he did not once disappoint. He was definitely the benchmark they are all judged by.

Q. Which Bond-related song do you want to add to the Bond Lifestyle Playlist on Spotify / YouTube?
A. What a great question. As I try to be a bit different, I have always adored Natacha Atlas and David Arnold's rendition of “You Only Live Twice”. Those Barry strings reimagined with Bollywood strings and flourishes is a stunning Bond track.

Q. Rolex or Omega?
A. Swatch! I am not actually a watch person. They and their boxes do not do much for me. Although that might be different if I had a larger wallet However, I do love the look and history of the Omegas especially and do own some slick timepieces. But I would be afraid of owning a classy Bond Omega as I would have to do the cuff-clutch all the time for every single photo when wearing it! Would it be wrong to say my favourite Bond watch was one Cubby Broccoli gave me. And I wore it to school and broke it. Yeah, let's not go there!