Bulova 1952 Academy Award

Submitted by FifthAvenueRes… on April 9, 2011 - 10:12pm
II
Manufacture Year
1952
Movement Model
7AA
Movement Jewels
21
Case Serial No.
6284342
Case shape
Rectangle
Case color
Yellow
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

Case measures 37mm lug to lug x 21mm wide non inclusive of the Crown using Calipers. Ultra rare Harlequinn Dial shows a combination of applied Gilt Arabic numerals and square 'dot' markers, Bulova signature is applied Gilt and the Dial is absent of any Minutes track. Hour and Minute Hands are Gilt Modern and believed incorrect and a traditional '21 J' Index style Seconds Hand appears on a 'cross hair' sub Dial fully obscuring the 6. 21 Jewel 7AA Movement Dated L1. Caseback is Gold and stamped L2. 

It is My beleif, although unsupported, that this Watch is from the 'ACADEMY AWARD' series of Watches produced by Bulova in the early 1950's. The Striped and Diamond Dials on those known pieces and the Harlequinn pattern shown on this Watch are all patterns synonymous with the 'Court Jester', an original form of Theatrical  entertainment dating to Medievil times and with Theatre in general. This Watches fingerprints are the same as other known 'AA's - 21Jewel 7AA movement, Gold Caseback and a Dial showing an open Seconds track. vintage display ad Dated 1952. - Many Thanks bobbee!

Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova Watch
Bulova Watch
Bulova Watch
FifthAvenueRes…
Posted April 19, 2011 - 8:42pm

bourg01
Posted November 18, 2011 - 5:52pm

Sorry Mark, but I think that's really stretching a theory. An Excellency version maybe but an AA, I doubt that very much. To even support that notion we would have to see ads. We all know the dials can be swapped out so a checkerboard dial in the case shown above just doesn't cut it as possible for me.

I'd like to see an ad with your case and  the curtain or X dial naming it an AA model. Also being dated 1952 on the case makes it even more suspect to being an Excellency model. I might also remind you that niether this case or dial has been seen in any AA model ads and we now have several.

William Smith
Posted May 1, 2012 - 2:17pm

I like the court jester observation/comment. I had not thought about this example to date, but this was common in Bulova Model naming in several other watches/series.  Good observation.

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted May 1, 2012 - 2:23pm

Yes Will, the Dial shows 'AA' characteristics - The placement of the Hour markers, the absense of a Minutes track and  the 'open' Seconds register.

The Case composition is the same as known 'AA's.

The 21 Jewel 7 AA movement adds fuel to the fire.

IMO

NOVA
Posted May 1, 2012 - 2:27pm

And we now also know that the 1952 date is not a problem.

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted May 1, 2012 - 3:04pm

agreed.

This Watch is a very strong candidate to be a part of the 'AA' series.

bobbee
Posted October 22, 2012 - 6:33am

Agreed, "Park Lane". Beautiful!

William Smith
Posted October 22, 2012 - 7:45am

Park Lane.  Great

bourg01
Posted October 23, 2012 - 2:40pm

I have to agree with Park Lane based on the ad shown above.

I recall we could have ID'd as tentative "Chesterfield A " based on the crystal data I found a while back. I had the same watch and this crystal was an exact match to the original glass one I replaced. We might want to check the data base and see if we did that with any others.