Bulova His Excellency, 1950 date with 1949 movement, black printed face with gilt numerals, hands, and 10K gld-filled case. Relpacement band? Model VV, I think, although it has gilt numerals, not black printed ones.
Closer match to the Bulova His Excellency 'UU'
True! It's the raised gilt numbers on the dial that are throwing me; shouldn't they be black printed?
Also, what differences are there between the VV and UU? Edit: Answered my own question after studying the ads once more. The difference is the crystal. It would appear to be a UU.
Too, I ran the advertised price you linked through an inflation calculator; it would be $716.05 in today's dollars! Wow, that was one expensive watch! (grin)
Based on a different ad http://www.mybulova.com/sites/default/files/vintage_ads/bulova-ad-1951-3.jpg from a discussion of this watch http://mybulova.com/watches/1950-excellency-6218, I'm inclined to think VV, (Edit: It's a UU based on the crystal and case combination) although the pictured watch still appears to have printed numbers on the dial... but it does appear to have the gilt hands.
I'm not sure at all about the bracelet. One of the gold-toned ends has "USA" stamped on it, and there's a "JB" in a triangle on some of the central links, and on some of the links closest to the watch is stamped "U.S.A. PAT. 2,249,086 2,765,615" ...I'm guessing not original? Very comfortable :)
In reply to Hello Alaric, welcome to by Geoff Baker
Thanks! Normally I sport a pocket watch; this is one of the few wrist watches I own, and when I dress for a wrist watch, this is the one I wear.
It's still accurate to within a few seconds a day, and although it looks poor in the photos, the case is bright, with no brassing except on the crown, and except for a few paint marks on the crystal (it scraped a wall after I replaced the crystal), looks sharp!
In reply to Hello Alaric, welcome to by Geoff Baker
Just out of interest, does this watch have the right crystal? The one on it now is identical to the scuffed-up one I got it with, but the watch repairman I took it to in Portland was insistent that I put a crystal on it that had bevels from the top and bottom, with a flat section in the middle, each covering about 1/3 of the face. He wasn't very happy when I insisted on replacing it with the same style :)
Did he know something I didn't, or was he trying to palm off old stock?
I would agree with His Excellency 'UU'. I do see on that 'VV' ad that it describes the dial and hands as being black, but then most of the UU ads show black print dial. I also notice in most ads that the crystal is pitched only to the center (like the GS CMX325-35G) and not the three tiered type. I say go with the crystal you like best, because it is unclear which type is correct; and the crystal catalogs are inconsistent.