Bulova 1973 Accutron

Submitted by Sguy on February 24, 2019 - 3:37pm
100
Manufacture Year
1973
Movement Model
2180
Movement Jewels
15
Case Serial No.
T017731
Case shape
Round
Case color
White
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

This watch belongs to a friend of mine. He is a jeweler, and a co-worker gifted this watch to him when he left the company. The gentleman who gave him the watch is in his late forties and it was given to him by his grandfather. That is about all that is known about the history. It is in working condition, it sounds great. As you can see in the photos, it has no date code or symbol that we can see. I put the year at 1960 only because I had to put a valid year in to add the watch, I have no idea what year it actually is.

Accutron 100 Bulova watch
Bulova watch movement
Bulova watch case
Bulova watch case back inside
Andersok
Posted February 26, 2019 - 6:02pm

Great ad for the '100'. I also had this ad from 1973, but the dial font is different. I wonder does the -5W designate a dial specific style or color, and would there be other #W or #Y designations for the same style number?

SpaceviewM2
Posted February 26, 2019 - 7:02pm

In reply to by Andersok

[quote=Andersok]

Great ad for the '100'. I also had this ad from 1973, but the dial font is different. I wonder does the -5W designate a dial specific style or color, and would there be other #W or #Y designations for the same style number?

[/quote]

I know the 'W' with this Style number watch indicates (Stainless Steel). Not all ads/sales rep photos with Style numbers get that specific with (W or Y) but this one happens to. The 'W" on gold watch Style numbers reference (White Gold). If a Style number has a 'Y", it would indicate Yellow Gold. I am not exactly sure what the -5 part of the Style number would indicate. Your Accutron 100 pic dial is certainly different then the sales rep ad dial I posted. I can't explain why there is a difference.  We have seen some non-Bulova produced ad pics not match up properly with the descriptions below them but I really can't explain that pic without guessing.   Also, I found that Maroon dial you posted earlier. It is Style #21117-7W Model Accutron 265 (below). As you can see, just dial color makes a big difference in Style number and model numbers. As we all know, it can get complicated very fast.    

Andersok
Posted February 26, 2019 - 7:42pm

Good stuff, thanks for sharing.

I thought the 100 ad with the different dial font could be a mistake, but here they are side-by-side. They both state Arabic numerals, but are distinctly different.

1974 Ad

Complicated indeed!

mybulova_admin
Posted March 1, 2019 - 10:09pm

Have we been able to confirm the date code of N3?

Great references to the Accutron '100'

Geoff Baker
Posted March 2, 2019 - 8:05am

I agree with the Accutron 100 tag, waiting on verification of year

 

Sguy
Posted March 4, 2019 - 12:19pm

In reply to by Geoff Baker

Cell strap was removed. No date code on movement at all. Based on the ad match it looks like a dead ringer for the accutron 100 21118-5W

Kathy L.
Posted March 2, 2019 - 11:16am

Agree with Accutron 100 as well.

Geoff Baker
Posted March 5, 2019 - 7:29am

I guess I'll suggest 1973. Panel?