James Bond `Dr. No' gun fetches $106,202 at Christie`s auction

06-Dec-2006 • Collecting

James Bond's Walther PP gun, wielded by Sean Connery in the 1962 movie, ``Dr. No,'' sold for 54,000 pounds ($106,202) at Christie's International in London yesterday, double its presale estimate - reports Bloomberg.

Connery's gun was the most expensive of 60 weapons featured in Bond films in the past 40 years that Christie's sold for a total of 217,572 pounds, along with other movie memorabilia. The buyer's name wasn't disclosed. Roger Moore's Walther P5 handgun, used in the 1983 film, ``Octopussy,'' fetched 7,200 pounds, missing its top estimate of 8,000 pounds.

The auction, which showed that some 007 stars fetch a premium in the art market, may have benefited from the success of ``Casino Royale,'' the latest Bond film, which was the No. 2 U.S. box- office hit over the weekend, behind ``Happy Feet.''

Christie's set a record for a dress designed for a movie, selling Audrey Hepburn's Givenchy dress from the 1961 film ``Breakfast at Tiffany's'' for 467,200 pounds, or more than six times its top estimate. The black satin evening gown was bought by a European bidding on the telephone, Christie's said.

The dress, designed by Hubert de Givenchy, was sold to benefit poor people in India by Mr. and Mrs. Dominique Lapierre, who received it from Givenchy.

The Bond guns were sold by the Prop Store of London on behalf of the armorers who supply weapons for 007 movies.