Curry & Paxton Thunderball sunglasses

Curry & Paxton "Sean" sunglasses are inspired by on the original sunglasses worn by Sean Connery in Thunderball (1965).

The original brand of sunglasses worn in the film was probably the "Cool-Ray Polaroid N135 styled by Cari Michelle".

Sean Connery only wears sunglasses in From Russia With Love (in Istanbul when he enters the Hagia Sofia) and in Thunderball. In that last movie, the glasses can be seen when Bond and Domino are at the beach in the Bahamas. Bond wears a Pink Gingham Check short sleeve shirt, pink Jantzen shorts and his Rolex Submariner on nylon strap.

The sunglasses are a black Wayfarer model with two rivets on each side and front of the temples. There has been much debate among Bond fans as to the brand of these sunglasses. The Curry & Paxton Sean model is the result of painstaking research and investigation and the company claims to have recreated them from an original, vintage pair of Cool-Ray Polaroid N135 sunglasses, identical to those worn by Connery as 007 in Thunderball.

And compared side by side, the Sean glasses are indeed almost identical to the Cool-Ray sunglasses. I would personally recommend getting the Sean model as it's of a much higher quality than the now vintage Cool-Ray sunglasses (if you can find them).

In April 2024, the Sean model was upgraded: it has the same design but it is now available in solid Black and Dark Tortoiseshell colors and the frame is now Made in England.

The Sean is available at Curry & Paxton ($389 / £290) as sunglasses and an optical frame.

About Curry & Paxton
British optical specialists Curry & Paxton first made precision lenses and ophthalmic instruments during the Victorian age and fast became one of the most respected names in their field. Sir Michael Caine wore glasses by Curry & Paxton in the 1960s in The Italian Job and all of the Harry Palmer movies including The Ipcress File. The pair worn by Caine, and other pairs inspired by style icons James Dean, Cary Grant, John Lennon and Robert Redford are now available at Curry & Paxton.