After the release of Thunderball, James Bond stopped wearing sunglasses altogether for years. In fact – correct me if I’m wrong – George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton all went without eyewear completely and it wasn’t until halfway through Pierce Brosnan’s tenure as 007 that James Bond sunglasses were re-introduced to the series.

Suddenly in The World Is Not Enough – in my mind easily the best of the Brosnan movies – James Bond wears glasses again, although only one pair of three are actually sunglasses. The first is in the pre-titles sequence in Bilbao, where he is meeting the Swiss bankers; these are Calvin Klein model cK 718F with clear lenses that are tricked out with a remote control detonator – if only they’d left it there with the PTS as the following Thames boat chase is far too long.

Later on in Q’s lab in tries on a pair of blue-lensed glasses, although their secret isn’t actually revealed until later in the casino, when 007 is able to check out the weaponry packed by Zukovsky’s heavies thanks to x-ray vision – or according to The James Bond Encyclopedia (John Cork & Collin Stutz) they contain a transparent polymer video screen which displays filtered infrared video to reveal objects hidden under the top layer of clothing.

Despite Calvin Klein’s official association with the film it turned out the glasses were bought at a high street optician’s shop and the lenses replaced. According to a post on ajb007 The Ian Fleming Fleming Foundation confirmed this with Eon, who said that the model was 9048 Ant Blue 50X19 from manufacturer Blue. The Ian Fleming Fleming Foundation also contacted Calvin Klein, who supplied the information regarding the use of CK 718F.

It’s little wonder that the x-ray specs are remembered rather than the sunglasses worn in the ski sequence as the shots in which Brosnan wears them are brief – much of the sequence is seen in long shot and these sunglasses are nowhere near as memorable. These are Calvin Klein model CK 2007, which – like the other frames appearing in The World Is Not Enough – are no longer available.

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