Persol 861

James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) wears a pair of Persol 861 sunglasses in the movie GoldenEye (1995).

The Persol 861 sunglasses can be seen when Bond drives the BMW Z3 with Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) as his passenger to meet CIA ally Jack Wade (Joe Don Baker) who appears in a Cessna 172P Skyhawk plane.

Bond wears the glasses with a cream colored Brioni suit, white Sulka shirt and his Omega Seamaster 300m.

Brosnan also seems to wear the same glasses on the set in Monte Carlo in between the filming of the boat and helicopter scene in Monte Carlo, but they don't show up in the film.

The Persol sunglasses in the film have a tortoise / havana frame, probably brown lenses (although this is not confirmed) and a large silver "Persol arrow" on the hinges. The arms have the Meflecto system which allows the arms to bend according to the unique shape of the wearer. The system is a complex system of metal cylinders embedded into the acetate stem.

Note: the sunglasses worn by James Bond in GoldenEye are NOT the Persol 2611 model. A pair of the 2611 was once signed by Pierce Brosnan and put up for auction, but contrary to what was said at the time, those glasses were not actually seen in the film.

GoldenEye is the first movie in which James Bond wears Persol. Brosnan also wears Persol, modelnumber 2672, in Die Another Day (2002) and Daniel Craig wears Persol 2244 and 2720 sunglasses in Casino Royale (2006).

Persol was a standalone brand since 1917, but in April 1995, during the filming of GoldenEye (which took place from January - June 1995) the brand was acquired by Luxottica Group S.p.A.. This company is the biggest eyewear company in the world and owns dozens of brands including Ray-Ban, Oakley and Oliver Peoples.

In the same film, Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp wears a pair of black and gold Versace shield glasses when she drives the Ferrari F355 GTS, and Bond's CIA friend Jack Wade wears a pair of American Optical Aviator sunglasses.

Alternative sunglasses

Since the Persol 861 are now vintage and hard to find, here are some suggestions for current Persol models that have a similar look.

The Persol PO3291 24/57 is probably the closest in design to the 861, in the color Havana (24) and Browen Lens (57).

Find the Persol PO3291 on Amazon ($367, available in two different sizes, and several lens / color combinations including brown lens), or for $307 on Specs Collective, on GlassesUSA or Designer Optics (all these only offer the green lens option).

Update: the Brown lens variation is currently on sale at Persol.com for $185 / £135 (instead of $370 / €270). The Green lens model costs $340 / €220.

Another alternative and popular model is the Persol PO3048 which is a bit cheaper ($252) and is also worn by Titus Welliver in the series Bosch: Legacy.

Find the Persol PO3048 on Amazon.

You can also look at other Persol models, like a vintage 859, or newer PO3288 or PO3301.
 

See more Persol sunglasses in Bond films.

With thanks to rypho1 at AJB007 for the ID