I'm pretty excited by this one. Watch shows literally no wear. Dial is super clean and may have been re-lumed a LONG time ago, as it no longer glows. Previous owner just had it serviced and a new mainspring installed. Watch keeps perfect time and has an almost 30 hr reserve. I installed the period ad match NOS band.
By date, it's a 1942 Air Warden.
Ad dates are 1942 and 1946.
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In reply to I wholeheartedly agree with… by plainsmen
I have to disagree here. This is a Nighthawk. Look at where the seconds dial sits. Its too high. The Air Warden's seconds track sits flush with the minute track with the "30" taking the place of the 6. This is clearly seen in the ad here. Also, the Nighthawk doesn't have the seconds marked off on the dial, the Air Warden does in 10 second increments. The two watches are VERY similar, but not the same.
In reply to I have to disagree here… by BlackbirdM3
In reply to Nighthawk = Black dial pre… by neetstuf-4-u
Except that both exist in the same years. Yes the Nighthawk came out in '41, and the Air Warden in '42, however both have black dial variants. There are several of both misidentified on here, Nighthawks in with Air Wardens, Air Wardens listed as Nighthawks, even though they are clearly different. The black dial Air Warden should have a 10BE or 10BS movement, the Nighthawk with a 10AX, or 10AK.
Here is a black dial Nighthawk.
In reply to Except that both exist in… by BlackbirdM3
Sorry, but the only ads for 1942 and forward show this configuration with WHITE DIAL as Air Warden. There is one 1943 white dial example in the database ID'ed as Nighthawk (that needs re-evaluation) that was named in 2011 when the site was new prior to the discovery of ads clearly showing it as Air Warden..
In reply to Sorry, but the only ads for… by neetstuf-4-u
It wouldn't be the first time that a Bulova ad showed the wrong watch. Not actually surprising since a guy doing a drawing of a watch could easily miss the finer nuances between two very similar models. The same goes with a photographer shooting pictures or writing the ad. Unless the person doing the ad has a copy of said watch and actually knows the difference, they didn't know and didn't care. Yes this throws the whole identification by advertisement into question, but it has been documented that mistakes have been made.
I'm sticking to my ID as a Nighthawk and not a Air Warden based off the location of the seconds dial, the lack of numbers on the seconds dial and the wrong movement.
I have both a black dial Air Warden, and a silver dial one. The silver dial one is the only one like it I've found. It has applied gold numbers with a different font, but everything else is identical short of the dial color.