Bulova 1922 -Non-Conforming

Submitted by mirtlem on October 10, 2014 - 9:52am
Manufacture Year
1922
Movement Model
AI
Movement Jewels
15
Movement Serial No.
53752
Case Serial No.
1534
Case shape
Round
Case color
White
Case Manufacturer
American Standard
Gender
Ladies
Watch Description

Nice old Rubaiyat, 14k WG, 15J Swiss AI Movement (Bulova W. Co), 3 Adj. Original matching band.

My wife will love it.

Mike

Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova Watch
Bulova Watch
Bulova Watch advert
mirtlem
Posted October 10, 2014 - 9:54am

Couple more pics.

bobbee
Posted October 10, 2014 - 11:39am

I think that may be a re-cased Rubaiyat.

Those case shapes don't appear in Bulova ads until Autumn 1922 at the earliest, along with the ASWCC "shield" logo. This is over a year after Bulova start the Maxim lines.

Beautiful watch, and all-Bulova, but non-conforming.

mirtlem
Posted October 10, 2014 - 11:48am

Yes, I saw that. The movement, case, and strap are likely 1922-1923, and the face is earlier, 1919-1920. There could be some overlap there. It's possible the customer simply wanted "that face on that watch", since it's easyto imagine a scenario where Rubaiyats and Bulovas coexisted in the same watch display. Not sure we'll ever know.

Mike

JP
Posted October 10, 2014 - 12:55pm

Non-conforming but very beautiful.

jabs
Posted October 10, 2014 - 2:01pm

For those old watches it difficult to start thinking that everything is clear and then everything differently

the oldest watch fascinate me and I do not mind too much if it can not exactly classify

It is an irreplaceable impression of touching history

Richard Callamaras
Posted October 11, 2014 - 3:43am

We have this case in the data base as a 156. I believe that is not accurate. But none the less a a beautiful watch. I would agree that it could probably be a mix match case and dial, but seems to be an original bracelet! Wonderful and worthwhile purchase. I would say non-conforming. Glad one of us got this watch. It was up for sale for a very long time. I would like to mention that this seems to be the only non metallic gold rubaiyat dial I have ever seen. What is more unique is that it looks simultaneously, that the word rubaiyat has not been touched, but the dial has been heavily addressed....not sure what happened here? A wonderful mystery perhaps with this one also. Enjoy your beautiful watch.

mirtlem
Posted October 11, 2014 - 9:39am

In reply to by Richard Callamaras

Thanks, Richard. I have been trying for a long time to find a watch that my wife would get excited about, and when she looked over my shoulder at the watch and said "ooh, I like that one!" it was easy to pull the trigger. After a bit more work to service the movement and refresh the dial, it will be a spectacular fancy watch. 

Mike

mybulova_admin
Posted October 11, 2014 - 9:16am

More research needed for me. The case isn't a match for the 156 and I cannot find anything yet that is a match. We know that the solid gold cases were stamped differently than that of the gold filled, and it unfortunetly lacks the case serial number that helps us determine its year of production.

Again we see a potential Rubaiyat watch with a movement that has a serial number...a low one at that.

This watch may well be from the cross over period.

Regarding the dial, these dials are very resistant to rubbingand cleaning. I suspect that the dial has been cleaned. The first apsect of these dials to go when being heavily cleaned is usually the name. The numbers tend to handle cleaning better than the name. Care should always be taken when cleaning any dial, especially near and on the name.

Richard Callamaras
Posted October 11, 2014 - 9:48am

Agreed but the dial wear from the cleaning goes through the name and numbers. I restore a lot of these watches. There is little to no way that the dial would be rubbed or bathed clean and it would leave the numbers and name that intact. This is a great watch. The case serial on these solid gold watches are usually shorter and always different than what we are used to on the other watches of this era. Would love to id this case, I love it. I've been looking hard for it. No luck...yet :-) Mike, this watch will throw her off the sent for about a month. Then she'll be right back on your back about collecting.....:-) :-) I have my wife on a steady watch every two months diet, seems to be working ok :-)

mirtlem
Posted October 11, 2014 - 10:09am

Thanks, Richard! Great advice. I will give it a shot!

Regarding the dial, it is not a direct match for any of the period ladies watches we have, or have seen, Rubaiyat or Lady Maxim. The font is different. Perhaps this is a redial, or a unique "crossover" model. Time to find that ad, gents!

Mike