1951 duo-wind? Case back:BULOVA,L1 and serial# Inside case back:BULOVA,10K ROLLED GOLD PLATE BEZEL,STAINLESS BACK,NEW YORK 10CSC 17 jewel movement is dated L2 Crown is unsigned Dial:Gold applied #s and has luminous dots at the hour marks and seems different than my other 51 duo-wind.It also doesn't have numbers around the seconds ring .
Yea the Thayer / Duo Wind distinction around 1951/52 is almost a flip of the coin. They seem to overlap in the ads, both second/third party ads, and the ads we see generated by Bulova.
I bet we could lay out an similar argument for this being a Thayer....I just didn't take the time to go down that road again.
I'd be two ticks tentative for Duo Wind, like Geoff.
This is one where I could almost consult my magic 8-Ball, but I prefer to use which ever ads. Main thing is I/we are as consistent as possible w/ distinction.
There are a couple of things that do not seem correct with this watch; mainly the dial has luminous dots with hands that are not luminous; and the crown is incorrect. The round case watch having the luminous dial should also have the luminous hands, and based on all of our available ads this luminous style dial would be priced at $59.50 and have come with the gold expansion band. When looking at all of the available ads, I could not find one that shows the Thayer with luminous dial/hands or an expansion band (Thayer ads show the non-luminous dial/hands with the seconds numerals 5,10,15... and leather strap priced at $49.50). In the 1954 pricelist I find one Thayer listed at $49.50, and no Duo-Wind models listed; both 1955 pricelists do not show either a Thayer or a Duo-Wind.
Ads for 10KT round case with the distinctive lugs:
Duo-Wind appears in the ads 1950-1952 (both luminous "G" and non-luminous "F", as well as non-variants for both)
Thayer appears in the ads 1952-1953, with one ad found in 1955 (all non-luminous)
So, for the non-luminous dials/hands there is a cross-over point in 1952 that it could possibly be either model, most likely 1950-51 it is the Duo-Wind "F" and then Thayer is appropriate for 1952 and for years to follow.
The luminous dial appears in ads through 1953 and is only referenced as the Duo-Wind and "G" variant, no reference to Thayer. I can't tell if the numerals on the luminous dials are embossed or the inlaid type or if the ads have both, they all seem to be gilt embossed.
It also appears that there are a variety of movements seen in these models; hard to know which are correct for which model.
I also could not distinguish between the dials showing Duo-Wind or Selfwinding and being assigned to only one model name; both show up in ads for Thayer, and though most ads for Duo-Wind (lume or non-lume) show only that name on the dial, some ads are indistinguishable to rule out the possibility that Selfwinding is shown.
This is my best take on the Duo/Thayer names based on the information I could find to date. I would ID this watch as the Duo-Wind, quite possibly the "G", with incorrect hands. I am ruling out the Thayer name based on no ads showing this model name with a luminous dial.
In reply to There are a couple of things by Andersok
Thanks Ken That helps refresh my memory. I cross-checked the Duo Wind vs Selfwinding on dials and in ads, but forgot what I found. I believe it was "we see both, or we can't read in some ads". I agree w/ your take on this watch. With Thayer ads appearing in 1952 (and other stuff) I think Duo Wind is as good a choice as any. Watch does have a 1952 movement.