Bulova 1938 Rite-Angle

Submitted by Reverend Rob on October 5, 2020 - 9:24pm
Manufacture Year
1938
Movement Model
8AL
Movement Date Code
Cresent Moon
Movement Jewels
17
Case Serial No.
8667211
Case shape
Rectangle
Case color
Yellow
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

This is a customer's Bulova Rite Angle, 1938 by the date symbol. It had suffered a sudden mainspring break at full power, which backlashed the train and bent the 4th wheel pivot, among others. The spring had shattered into three pieces, which is not that unusual if a spring is old and brittle or has been cleaned ultrasonically. What you see here is the watch before any repairs- the customer does not want it done. The 8AL is derived from an AS 970 ebauche, with Bulova escapement/balance mods. By kind permission of the owner.

1938RiteAngle1
1938RiteAngle2
1938RiteAngle3
1938RiteAngleDial
1938Bulova8AL
Geoff Baker
Posted October 5, 2020 - 10:07pm

Easy ID Rob - nice work. 1938 Bulova Rite Angle

Reverend Rob
Posted October 5, 2020 - 11:13pm

Thanks, Geoff. One other thing I should mention- The movement shroud is not original to this watch. You can spot this usually by the cutouts for the daily screws or the case screws. In this case, there are no cutouts for the case screws, which are empty here. As well, although not visible in the photos, there are holes in the side of the shroud (ring) that are clearly for a later movement. This one uses the dial foot screws mounted to the plate, that turn and cut into the dial feet slightly, pulling it tight. They are perpendicular to the plate like all the other bridge screws. Later movements have horizontal screws coming in from the sides of the main plate.

Basically the watch was in for assessment, no repairs or alterations have been done. 

neetstuf-4-u
Posted October 6, 2020 - 7:37am

1938 Bulova Rite Angle

Don't believe I've ever seen one with this black/gray face, which is normally associated with WWII era watches. Very cool.

JimDon5822
Posted October 7, 2020 - 2:32pm

1938 Bulova Rite Angle with unknown Black Dial Variant.  I wish we know more about these black dials and could find more ads with these dials.  They seem to have made their way into quite a few watches in the late 1930s early 40s.

Kathy L.
Posted October 7, 2020 - 3:36pm

Nice Rite Angle with that dial.

1938 Bulova Rite Angle

Geoff Baker
Posted October 7, 2020 - 10:16pm

We got one almost exactly the same RITE (Angle) here, compliments of Mr. Falcon.