1983 Bulova Divers Watch

Submitted by mybulova_admin on February 22, 2019 - 9:31pm

Manufacture Year: 1983 
Movement Jewels: 17
Case Serial No.: 0892791 

This one is just outside our usual range, but I wanted to show it just for a few interesting tidbits. The Quartz crisis is in full swing, and this is the last of the Swiss automatics. Quality here has been downgraded significantly, and the movt itself is so mass produced as to have riveted components. I have another Bulova with the same movt, and despite not even being designed to be serviced, it runs extremely well.

I had been searching online for Bulova dive watches and in a flurry of bidding, I overlooked some key elements here. This is not a desirable model, and at first glance looks older than it is. 

This is an AS 530822, and seems to be the last gasp of the Swiss ebauche maker. In this case, no modifications have been done by Bulova, save to ink stamp their name on the rotor. 

The bilingual day disc, although at first glance appears to be French/English, is actually Spanish/English. Instead of the French 'Jeu' for Thursday, it has the Spanish 'Jue'. In the picture we see 'Mie' for Miércoles. (Wednesday) as opposed to 'Mer' for the French Mercredi. 

In addition, you will note that the dial says '660 feet' instead of the usual '666' feet. This is in response to complaints regarding the so-called 'devil's number' on Bulova 200m watches. 

In actuality, 200m is 656 feet, so why they went with a bit extra is beyond me. If you really want to get picky, '666' in Revelations has absolutely nothing to do with the devil anyway, it is a couched political critique of Rome. 

So here it is, a relic of the era, a fading industry of fine mechanical watches, amongst many extinctions, already a shadow if its former self.

I should mention that the Hong Kong case is not unusual, higher end watch companies had been using cases made there since the late fifties. (And stamped 'Swiss' to boot) Bulova was not one of them until much later in the game. 

1983 Bulova Divers watch 1

1983 Bulova Divers watch 2
1983 Bulova Divers watch 3
1983 Bulova Divers Watch 4