“The iconic weapon was put together from everyday objects”

The image above is of one of the most famous gadgets in the James Bond canon: the Golden Gun. It was owned not by Bond himself, but by 007’s nemesis Francisco Scaramanga in the 1974 film The Man With The Golden Gun. This titular weapon was assembled from four innocuous golden parts: a pen, a cigarette lighter, a cigarette case and a cufflink. It was a cool gadget in the film, though it was pure fiction, unlike Bond villain Auric Goldfinger’s laser, which appeared in the 1964 film just a few years after the world’s first industrial laser was built. Nearly 60 years and dozens of 007 films since, plenty of Bond tech that seemed pure fantasy at the time has been made reality. Turn to page 26 to find out more.