Dial with masonic symbols
In reply to I'm changing my ID to by William Smith
Hi William,
I believe that even if the watch was made by Bulova, it would'nt be made for the common retail market, but to a restricted one - Masonic Lodges, considering the connection of Bulova brothers with Masonry.
It's just a possibility...
Thank you for your comment.
I certainly considered a vote toward Non-Conforming and agree that it should be such.
FDT what we mean by this tag is that the watch is currently not in its original configuration. We are not affiliated in any way with Bulova so all of our 'knowledge' is acquired through old Bulova advertisements, publications and Ephemera. We tend to err on the side of caution when assigning a name that we cannot directly link to a piece of Bulova provenance. When in doubt we will name watches as "Unknown" (we can't find a Bulova published association containing a proper name) or "Non-Conforming", we see all original Bulova parts but not in a configuration known to have been produced by Bulova. Often Non-Con watches have parts mixed from different years or styles.
I would also clearly state, for all the world to know and understand, we occasionally get it wrong, we are not perfect, we do the best we can but we are really good at making mistakes.
In reply to I certainly considered a vote by Geoff Baker
Hi Geoff,
Confirming that the case and the movement are original Bulova, I would face the possibility of the watch have been manufactured by Bulova for a restricted market - Masonic Lodges - Considering the conection of the Bulova brothers to the Masonry...
Considering this possibility, then it woud make sense the absence of advertisement or publications.
I heard about other Bulova watches with the same kind of symbols.
Thank you for your comments.
Might I make a suggestion FDT? Contact Robert Miller at International Dial Co. and send him a photo of your watch. This is the email address: [email protected]
He told me that his company used to refinish dials for Bulova back when Bulova made these watches. It's a long shot, but these Masonic dials may have originated from his company and they may have made them for Bulova rather than individuals. I wouldn't go with non-conforming yet because I've seen too many Bulovas with these Masonic dials on them.
In reply to Might I make a suggestion by 1955mercury
Hi 1055mercury,
Thank you for your suggestion that I will follow.
I also heard about some Bulovas with this same symbols on the dials.
I believe that, considering the connection of Bulova brothers with Masonry, it is possible that Bulova made this watches not for the traditional retail market but to Masonic Lodges.
Let's see if Robert Miller can help.
Thank you
In reply to Hi 1055mercury, Thank you for by FDT
In reply to Please give us a follow up of by 1955mercury
In reply to Please give us a follow up of by 1955mercury
Hello 1955mercury,
Here's what I received from Mr. Miller:
"We made and have refinished many different masonic dials for almost every watch company that sold them. I would have to have your dial in hand to see if we made or refinished this dial in the past Most like we did"
Thank you again for your interest.
A trusted source inside Bulova, a technician for many years has confirmed to me that Bulova themselves provided the watches complete with Masonic Dials. They always have, and they still do.
So perhaps the ID of this watch should be something like 'Andrew/Masonic'?
In reply to A trusted source inside by Reverend Rob