How would you rate this refinish dial?

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Submitted by yugioh1776 on May 10, 2012 - 7:18pm

Not too long ago I bought what seems to be a early Bulova Senator dating to 1928  yet at some point in its early life the dial was redone with the name change from bulova to "Boston",this is still a wonder to me why. Anyway since it has the wrong name, radium, and condition problems I sent it to IDC. As you can see the style of the 9, 7, and 5 have been change from how it use to be and something doesn't fit right with the font of the lettering. So do you think these changes are acceptable, is this how it would have look like in 1928, or has it been wrongly printed ?

This is the first time I've question their work as they always seem to do a excellent job.

Before:

After:

OldTicker
Posted May 10, 2012 - 7:33pm

Here is one that is in the database, looks like IDC just used what they have on file to redo it to the correct style.

Maybe the Boston dial was from another maker?? and not changed?

yugioh1776
Posted May 10, 2012 - 7:46pm

Hmm maybe....well it fits exactly to the movement and the dial feet are not changed that why i thought it might be an early refinish....also like almost all bulova dial from this time "Swiss" is stamped in the metal .

yugioh1776
Posted May 10, 2012 - 7:51pm

Also now looking closer i see that on the "boston" dial their is some space between the 30 seconds and "Swiss" where as the refinish has it overlapping ....in addition the 10 and 50 seconds seems to have some bleeding in the printing.

OldTicker
Posted May 10, 2012 - 8:04pm

The refinish is a bit sloppy, at least from the picture, not real crisp, but I think the number styles are what you would find on a early Senator.

It looks like it is not lumed yet, so that will take care of some of the rough edges on the numbers...If you are not 100% happy, contact them, I am sure they will be happy to redo it...

Reverend Rob
Posted May 10, 2012 - 9:11pm

Interestingly, Westfield made a watch called the 'Boston', and although I don't have one to check, I have seen others where they printed the model name on the dial. Your movt is stamped Bulova, isn't it? 

Daca102090
Posted May 10, 2012 - 9:50pm

Yeah, looks like they had an intern take a turn at the finish.  With the costs of a refinish I would insist on their getting it right and with a better finished product. 

vintagebulova.com
Posted May 11, 2012 - 6:51am

Do not judge the quality of IDCs work by the after pictures posted on their site.  They are not intended to be of high quality.  Here is an example of their pic vs what the dial really looked like. 'Nuff said.

Jay


http://vintagebulova.com

 

 

bourg01
Posted May 11, 2012 - 10:43am

You got that right on Jay. IDC's pictures are pretty grainy and a poor representation of the finished product. Their pic here is a little better but the dial is far better.

yugioh1776
Posted May 11, 2012 - 3:48pm

I understand that the quality of the photos are not the best but like i say if you see the the sub-second part it look like the ink has bleeding and the font for "Bulova'  looks different ... I'm going to ask if they can post another photo

bourg01
Posted May 11, 2012 - 4:39pm

You could pay for the dial and see what it looks like when you get it. If your not happy send it back and they will re-do the finish for you. I wouldn't be concerned with the numeral changes, this is consistant with the 1927 Lone Eagle dials.

William Smith
Posted May 11, 2012 - 4:52pm

...and as in the examples above, it may look much better when it arrives....  This is a reputable company, and they should have no problem making things right for you if your not happy. 

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