I have continued to conduct further research into the history of the “golden gun” from the James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun, following mainstream media reports that the original prop was stolen from Elstree Props at Elstree Studios, as well as conflicting information about how many of the props were made, who made them, and where they are today.
Recent related articles can be found under: Market Watch | James Bond “Golden Gun”
It appears that the “golden gun” featured in the book, James Bond – The Secret World of 007 by DK Publishing may be one of the originals made for and used in the film. There is a newer version of this book, but the one I have is the first edition published in 2000. The book is “authorized by Eon Productions, Limited, creators of the Bond films” and has special thanks credits to individuals at Eon. I have had this photo reviewed by two experts who believe it is one of the originals:
By way of comparison, this compilation photo depicts the presumed authentic golden gun above (TOP), the “prototype” sold by Christie’s in 2001 and discussed in another recent mainstream media news feature (MIDDLE), and an example of the officially licensed replicas produced by SD Studios, this example recently sold by The Prop Store of London (BOTTOM):
Upon examination of the three examples, you will note significant differences.
Below is a close-up comparison of the Colibri lighter component:
Below is a close-up comparison of the cigarette case component:
As another update from the most recent article, the “Quartermaster” has added a more detailed account to his website regarding his recent visit to Pinewood Studios and meeting with Peter Lamont:
An excerpt:
The original gun was made from balsa wood with a real gold waterman pen which screwed in as the barrel. He said that Colibri in fact had nothing to do with the making of the film gun. He said that he took his model to Colibri, with the intention of them making the gun for real from metal featuring the relevant component parts stated in his model and plans. What they made very quickly was a gun that was an absolute mess according to Peter, which was made from bits of lighters and went together magnetically. He also said it collapsed and fell apart too easily and was very poor. Colibri were insistent in charging Cubby Broccoli for its construction which Cubby was refusing to pay as he was not impressed by their work on the gun. Peter then said that he took his model and plans to Rose in London who was a silversmith company and they made a total number of; three Golden Gun s for the film. One was solid, one fired a cap and one assembled and disassembled. The gun which broke down slotted, slid and clicked together and Magnets were not used. All of these guns were made from silver and were Gold plated and EON Productions still has all three film used guns.
Again, visit the Quartermaster site for the full account.
I will continue to update this story as new information becomes available.
Jason De Bord