Bulova 1943 Military Issue

Submitted by shooter144 on March 30, 2011 - 10:53am
Manufacture Year
1943
Movement Model
10AK
Movement Date Code
X
Movement Jewels
15
Movement Serial No.
-
Case Serial No.
032651
Case shape
Round
Case color
White
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

Screw down back with rubber seal and dust cover. As found, winds set runs strong, near mint dial

Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova Watch
Bulova Watch
bobgpw
Posted August 14, 2013 - 4:42pm

Sorry to re-open an old thread...

 

I have just bought one of these watches.

The case back is stainless steel and very smooth, so I assumed that it was a "demobbed" watch as we Brits would say.

However, when I removed the case back I noticed that by holding it up to the light at the right angle you could see the impression of the ORD DEPT stamping on the inside face of the cover.  That's to say the letters are all reversed.

On mine I can clearly see ORD DEPT, USA and BULOVA WATCH CO.

So was the stamping ground off by the previous owner or by the post war retailer that acquired the watch?  The grinding must have been done in a machine and witha great deal of accuracy as the case back is quite thin.

On that basis, those who have "blank" case backs might want to check inside again and see if the impression of the stamping is still visible!

Good luck,

Bob

William Smith
Posted May 2, 2014 - 5:03am

In reply to by bobgpw

Thanks Bob

I have a couple similar w/o the ORD DEPT stamps on the back, and the back sure looks very "smooth".  I'll look inside.....if I can remember where my military Bulova are stashed in my closet.

bobbee
Posted May 15, 2014 - 2:57am

I have seen many plain backed milwatches, these are usually unissued, but some show proof of being machined down to remove the original engraving, and some can be seen from inside the case back to have faint impressions of the original markings, as mentioned earlier. But not many.

The subject watch is actually unissued, as a serial number can be seen stamped into the back, but no military nomenclature. This may be a replacement back for a damaged original, but without proof of this, the DB designation of this watch should be changed to unissued.

Edit- I see by the four single ticks in the panel vote bar that there seems to be a consensus among those panellists who bothered that this ID is incorrect.

William Smith
Posted December 23, 2014 - 5:17pm

I think this is an Non-Issue Military (style) watch.

William Smith
Posted January 22, 2015 - 5:55pm

This one should be a "Military Non-Issue"?   Interesting the small serial number on the outside case back.