Doncaster actress Diana Rigg's James Bond wedding ring fetches whopping £52,000 at auction

A ‘wedding ring’ sported by Doncaster actress Dame Diana Rigg after her ‘marriage’ to super spy James Bond has fetched a whopping £52,500 at auction.
The distinctive ring was used in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.The distinctive ring was used in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
The distinctive ring was used in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

The gold ring, given by actor George Lazenby to Rigg in 1969 007 movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, came under the hammer at famed London auctioneers Sotheby’s last week.

And its price far exceeded its expectations, making more than six times its estimate with the lot only expected to make £6,000 to £8,000

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It is the only time that the suave spy has been married on screen and the ring attracted massive attention and a fierce bidding war at the Fine Jewels auction.

The ring was worn by Diana Rigg in the 1969 James Bond film.The ring was worn by Diana Rigg in the 1969 James Bond film.
The ring was worn by Diana Rigg in the 1969 James Bond film.
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The ring features heavily in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service which starrred Lazenby in his only Bond film and Doncaster’s Dame Diana as his adventurous but ultimately tragic partner and wife, Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, or less formally Teresa "Tracy" Draco.

The distinctive and incredibly rare item was one of two made for the film’s wedding scene, designed by jeweler Charles de Temple.

Born in Mexico in 1929, de Temple became a jeweller in Massachusetts before moving to Britain where he became a central figure on the ‘swinging London’ scene—creating one-of-a-kind jewels for the modern women of the city.

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He was renowned for flamboyant statement pieces, and was also commissioned to create the ring Honor Blackman wore to the London premiere of previous Bond film, Goldfinger.

Central to the film’s narrative, the ring serves as Bond’s wedding band to Tracy, and features the words “All the Time in the World” spelled out in gold—a motif which runs throughout the film, and is incidentally also the theme tune to the film, sung by Louis Armstrong.

In a tragically ironic plot device, newly-married Tracy Bond is murdered by Blofeld’s assassins at the end of the film, and the final moments of the film are 007 sobbing the ring’s fateful words “there’s no need to hurry, we have all the time in the world” as he cradles her lifeless body.

The ring is accompanied by a letter from an employee of Charles de Temple and a facsimile of a letter from the consignor detailing the ring’s provenance. It is also signed C de T, and comes in a fitted case stamped Charles de Temple.

Dame Diana, now 80, was born in Doncaster in 1938, and is best known for playing Emma Peel in The Avengers as well as more recently, Olenna Tyrrell in Game of Thrones.