Bulova 1937 Lady Bulova

Submitted by echevlen on September 21, 2012 - 1:33am
D
Manufacture Year
1937
Movement Model
6AM
Movement Date Code
Arrow
Movement Jewels
17
Movement Serial No.
-
Case Serial No.
7205759
Case shape
Cushion
Case color
Yellow
Gender
Ladies
Watch Description

This is another Goodwill discovery by my wife.  I believe it is a 1937 watch because of the arrow near the word "Swiss" on the plate.  The fact that it has two, rather than four, diamonds on the watch case (at the 6 and 12 positions) makes this one different from the ones I found in the online catalogs.  The inside of the back of the case is faintly engraved "Bulova Fifth Avenue."  As discovered by my wife, this watch is not running.  I plan to restore it over the next few weeks (or longer).

Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova watch
JP
Posted September 21, 2012 - 4:06am

Nice looking watch. I may have a movement for it or at least parts if you need me to look.

 

bobbee
Posted September 21, 2012 - 12:41pm

Agree with Lady Bulova. This 1939 ad has the same watches as in Mark's link above, but clearer, and it looks like the Lady Bulova "D" to me.

William Smith
Posted September 21, 2012 - 3:39pm

Sure looks like the "D" to me too.  Movement photo in root record shows a better view of the "steps" on the side of subject watch.  Subject watch next to 1939 ad snippet from above:

mybulova_admin
Posted September 21, 2012 - 5:16pm

Yep works for me. Lady Bulova 'D'

echevlen
Posted September 21, 2012 - 5:34pm

William Smith, bobbee, and mybulova_admin  have sharp eyes.  My watch does indeed look like the Lady Bulova D shown in the 1939 ad.  But that raises a question.  The plate of the watch has an arrow mark on it, and also a BXW stamp.  I interpret that to mean that the watch, or at least its mechanism, was made in Switzerland in 1937.  But I don't find the two-diamond case (of the Lady Bulova D) in the 1937 advertisements, but only in the 1939 advertisements.  How are we to interpret this?  Possible explanations include:  (1) Not every watch made in 1937 appears in the ads we have.  (2)  A picture of my watch is in the 1937 ads, and I just overlooked it.  (3) The watch was made in 1937, but was not cased until 1939.  (4)  The arrow mark was used even after 1937.  None of these explanations feels exactly right to me, but I'm very much a beginner at this.  What do y'all think?

Hmm, visiting myBulova.com seems to have infected me with the Bulova bug.  Is there a cure?

bobbee
Posted September 21, 2012 - 5:54pm

The only "cure" is to feed the habit!

If you look at fifthavenuerestoration's (Mark's) linked ad, you will see it is the same ad as the one I posted, and is a year earlier. The ads we show on the posts will be as close to the year the watch was made as possible, and a year or two is pretty close!

Keep 'em coming, Eric!

William Smith
Posted September 21, 2012 - 5:56pm

No known cure, but that's a good thing!  Great observations too!  The BXW on the balance cock is the Swiss to USA import code used by Bulova. You got that one.  It's for the movement, but in other examples the movements may have come from Switzerland in cases.
Your (1) above is correct.
Your (2)  I didn't see your watch in 1937 ads either.  See (1) above :)
Your (3)  The case serial number suggests production was 1937, as does the movement date symbol. We just don't see it in the ads we presently have till 1938/9. 
(4) the arrow date symbol was specific for movements finished off in 1937.  

It's not unusual to see a watch movement/case dated a few years before or after a vintage ad, and unless there is a model name change in these few years, we ID based on the ad.  For a beginner- you pretty well have it!  ...both the methods to our madness, and the "Bulova bug"...  Welcome aboard!

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted September 22, 2012 - 10:41am

"My watch does indeed look like the Lady Bulova D shown in the 1939 ad.  But that raises a question.  The plate of the watch has an arrow mark on it, and also a BXW stamp.  I interpret that to mean that the watch, or at least its mechanism, was made in Switzerland in 1937.  But I don't find the two-diamond case (of the Lady Bulova D) in the 1937 advertisements, but only in the 1939 advertisements.  How are we to interpret this?  Possible explanations include:  (1) Not every watch made in 1937 appears in the ads we have.  (2)  A picture of my watch is in the 1937 ads, and I just overlooked it.  (3) The watch was made in 1937, but was not cased until 1939.  (4)  The arrow mark was used even after 1937.  None of these explanations feels exactly right to me, but I'm very much a beginner at this.  What do y'all think?"

echevlen,

The answer to Your question is: (1) Not every watch made in 1937 appears in the ads we have.

Both the first numeral of the Case serial number and the Movement datecode match, confirming a 1937 production Date. The best We can do is match a Watch to an ad of the same period, at times We can match a Watch to a vintage Advertisement Date for Date, at others not so.