Bulova 1950 -Unknown

Submitted by JPutt on September 25, 2021 - 9:24am
Manufacture Year
1950
Movement Model
8AC
Movement Jewels
17
Case Serial No.
1906233
Case shape
Rectangle
Case color
Yellow
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Crystal details
21.5 x 17.5 mm
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

Looking at the mybulova.com ads it I found a 1949 ad with the model listed as His Excellency LL, 10k GF, 21J. The case date code on this watch is L0 (1950) and is marked 10 RG. However, the movement of this watch is 17J. I could not find any examples of HE models that were 17J. Also, the dial has diamond markers at 9, 12 and 3:00 - I could not find examples of the HE with diamond markers. Looking forward to your comments.

John

Front
Movement
Case back
Inside caseback
1949 ad
neetstuf-4-u
Posted September 25, 2021 - 10:01am

 Nice one! I personally have this model in white and black dial. There have been multiple panel conversations on this model, some of us classify it as unknown and others call it 

Tuxedo - Tentative

Based on the number of verified examples, it is legit Bulova model as seen. Tuxedo is a match per time frame, movement, case shape and diamond dial but ads show it with engraved decoration on the bezel front; this might be a variant. The following link connects with one that has links to others in the database and a spirited debate about identification..

https://mybulova.com/watches/1951-tuxedo-11327?page=0

JPutt
Posted September 25, 2021 - 11:01am

Just read through most of the comments from the link you sent. Thank you. I see your watch with Black and White Dial. Except for dial colors my watch is an exact match to yours including movment and case date. I didn't mention that the crown is signed if that makes a difference or is helpful.

I was assuming that there was a movement swap here but it looks like this may not be the case. By the way, the dial is really similar to the Director that you all just identified for me.

Thanks again.

John

Geoff Baker
Posted September 25, 2021 - 10:20pm

I would ID this watch as an His Excellency (maybe without using a variant (LL) because of the difference in the dial). I like this model, very distinctive.

mybulova_admin
Posted September 26, 2021 - 7:06am

Geoff, can't be a HE, they were all 21 jewelled movements.

All the Tuxedo's we have in the Db are 17 jewels like the subject watch.,

I'm still in the Tuxedo camp. The only difference is the engraving and I'm more than happy to be proven wrong once we find a correct matching advert.

Geoff Baker
Posted September 26, 2021 - 9:43pm

and now it's MY turn to miss the obvious (jewel count). It's going around this week....

JPutt
Posted September 26, 2021 - 12:13pm

I did find an ad from 1940 from mybulova.com (https://mybulova.com/vintage-bulova-watch-ads?year=193) showing a 17J HE. This may have been a misprint - I saw what looked like the same model the next year at 21J.

One more thing to note: In the ad that I included with my description for the HE LL, the description shows a SS back. My case back is GF.

John

mybulova_admin
Posted September 26, 2021 - 6:04pm

John can you link the exact advert as the above link takes me to the 1930s adverts.

The His and Her Excellency series from 1947 onwards were all housed with a 21 jewelled movements.

mybulova_admin
Posted September 26, 2021 - 7:57pm

Ah yes the original 'His Excellency' a gorgeous watch. I actually saw one for sale on eBay a number of years back. Amazing to see a real one.

In this case the "His Excellency' was a one off model, rather than a series.