Bulova 1953 Watertite

Submitted by Reverend Rob on January 24, 2017 - 12:54am
F
Manufacture Year
1953
Movement Model
10BUC
Movement Jewels
17
Movement Serial No.
-
Case Serial No.
253360
Case shape
Round
Case color
White
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Crystal details
28.2 mm
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

Well I thought I might have another Seabee here, but now I am leaning towards Watertite, mainly because of the dial.

This has the larger  than some watertites, but I believe that this may only apply to theolder ones, and a much more complicated case. The outer bezel accepts the case back, which is quite deep, from below, and then the reflector and crystal and outer ring compress the crystal against the flange for a seal. Unfortunately the case is chromium plated and will have to be stripped and re-plated.

The last picture is with crystal removed, because it is a mess. 

1953 Bulova Watertite F  watch
1953 Bulova watch
1953 Bulova watch
1953 Bulova watch
mybulova_admin
Posted January 11, 2024 - 9:44pm

In reply to by DogfaceNobody

Ah now I see what you mean, so the inner diameter of the crsytal has to match the outer diameter of the watch bezel, whilst at the same time having the correct out diameter as well. 

DogfaceNobody
Posted January 12, 2024 - 9:46pm

In reply to by mybulova_admin

Well, I'm pretty sure I found my watch.   A 1953 Sea Bee

Bulova 1953 Seabee | myBulova.com

Everything matches.  Dial, movement, case.

I found a crystal from a kind seller on eBay that fixed me up (I hope).

It turned out to be a GS PA432 crystal or a Bulova 1112E-1

 

Reverend Rob
Posted January 26, 2017 - 1:08am

Do you mean the 1950?  Same model, I believe, the Seabee, but this one is a 1953. Same size crystal, I think the overall case size is close, I'll have to check. The '51 is the same case style, but made of stainless throughout, while this one has a plated bezel, stainless back and tension ring. On this one the body of the case is friction fit from underneath into the bezel, and the crystal is locked to the flange with the tension ring. 

Andersok
Posted January 29, 2017 - 8:26am

My vote is for the Watertite F. This being the 17 jewel version, it would be the 'F' variant. There was a 15 jewel version 'C'. These had the chrome plated case with stainless back, and the radium dial numerals with a dot on the trilons. Other watertite models had different variants based on strap or band, but I did not find this variant to offer that distinction, only an option for jewel count.

1952 ad

 

Geoff Baker
Posted February 4, 2017 - 6:44am

I'm going back to Watertite too. "F" variant.

mybulova_admin
Posted August 24, 2023 - 5:56pm

In reply to by Stinky_Sullivan

Can you explain the thinking behind top loaders not being chrome?