Fleming did wear an Explorer, but not until he'd written 10 Bond novels. You could argue that the movie Submariner and Fleming's Explorer came into the Bond world at roughly the same time. It's estimated he bought his explorer somewhere around '61 or '62, the same time when Dr. No started filming. To me, there are two proper Bond watches, a ref 6538 Sub, and an early ref 1016 Explorer I (potentially on an expanding bracelet). Sorry, I'm a Bond nerd.
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