Bulova 1963 Accutron

Submitted by SpaceviewM2 on March 14, 2021 - 9:31pm
559
Manufacture Year
1963
Movement Model
214
Case Serial No.
G98286
Case shape
Round
Case color
Yellow
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Crystal details
1220
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

This is a Bulova Accutron Model 559 in case 2409. The Style # is 25054Y in 14kt Yellow Gold. The Circa is 1963 which is the newest 14kt Gold Accutrons I own. The case lug design is quite unique and when I saw it for sale, I decided to buy it. I hadn't seen many of these cases before. The numerical dial is quite plain but I try to collect original appearing Accutrons so the dial and hands were in great shape and correct for this watch so I thought it was worth restoring. The M3 movement was restored by Rob Berkavicius and I also sent the case out to Replateit in Canada for restoration. It was in pretty rough shape.  They did a very nice job. I guess I had this restored about 2 years ago or so. Attached are a few pics of it along with a 'before and after' on the case restoration. I didn't see any in your database so I decided to post this watch. Yes, I am the owner of this watch. 

Accutron Model 559
Accutron Model 559 Caseback
Caseback Before & After
Model 559 Advertisement
mybulova_admin
Posted March 15, 2021 - 3:22am

Quick question, you said you had the case redone. What did they do? Was it just a 14Kt gold replate on top of the existing 14Kt solid gold case? Turned out great. 

SpaceviewM2
Posted March 15, 2021 - 10:42am

In reply to by mybulova_admin

Replateit is a watch case restoration company. https://www.replateit.com/

 

  I guess the term replateit may confuse some as that is only part of what they do for watch restoration. I have sent them 1/2 dozen solid gold cases and in the case of solid gold, there is no need to plate it as solid gold cases are not plated.

    Some cheaper watches we see say 'gold plated' or some form of that phrase on the caseback. In that case, they would repair the case base metal (blemishes, scratches etc and then offer to 'apply' a thin layer of gold (plating) to restore the original look of the watch.  They measure this very thin layer of gold in Microns and you can talk with them on that repair application. But this 'plating process' is for watches that are not solid gold. Solid gold watches are just that, solid gold and do not require any type of surface plating.  There is one exception to that. If you send them a 14kt White Gold case, they do offer a decorative 'option' to apply a 5 micron layer of Rhodium after any case repairs. Its not required but an option which is strictly decorative. I have done that on two white gold cases and when you sit them side by side to a none restored white gold case, you can't see any difference in appearance, at least when viewing with the naked eye.      

What they have done to my solid gold watches is fix any blemishes, scratches etc on the case using their repair process and once the repairs were made, they attempt to restore the original surface look (recreate polish areas & factory graining of the watch).