Bulova 1954 21st Century

Submitted by Daca102090 on April 15, 2012 - 9:39pm
Manufacture Year
1954
Movement Model
8BA
Movement Jewels
17
Movement Serial No.
None
Case Serial No.
8185495
Case shape
Rectangle
Case color
Yellow
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

The movement is marked L3 and the case is marked L4  Very nice shape and a very intersting design to the case.

Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova Watch
William Smith
Posted July 30, 2014 - 8:01pm

In reply to by bobbee

We could send them all to the red zone or just discuss and change w/o running formally through the gauntlet.  Sounds like Ivanhoe isn't the correct model name now that we have more crystal info and an ad :)

At the very least, I'm changing to one tick for not confirmed as listed.  

1955mercury
Posted February 14, 2015 - 12:33pm

In reply to by William Smith

If memory serves me correctly, I think this model was originally ID'd on crystal specs alone way back when. The only ad that has surfaced is the one Bobbee posted identifying it as the "21st Century", which is much better than a crystal catalog. There's got to be an unknown at present "Ivanhoe" model out there somewhere, but  which one could it be?

William Smith
Posted February 14, 2015 - 12:55pm

Yea and we discussed the translation of the "Siglo 21" to "21st Century", but I don't think we saw either model listed in the 1954 Bulova Price List supplement or 1955 Spring or Fall Bulova Price Lists.  That's why I'm at one tick for being ID'ed as the Ivanhoe.

EDIT:  No "Siglo 21" (as expected) and no "21st Centruy" listed in those pirce lists either, but a single Ivanhoe model is listed.  Price for Ivanhoe is $59.50, if that coorelates to the Siglo ad at all.  So the Siglo 21 ad, even if correctly translated to "21st Century" does not appear to be an advertised model name for the watch in USA.  Maybe the Siglo 21 is simply a name someone made up for the Ivanhoe for overseas.   

I'm rethinking Unknown for these records.....but still at one tick for now.

bobbee
Posted February 15, 2015 - 6:24am

November 1954 price list snippet.

 

We have an advert for this watch. Translation is for "21st. Century" name. 

Why can't we give this watch it's correct name, yet give other watches a name with zero proof? Seems like a p***ing contest to me.

 

 

 

21st. Century right there at $65. Yellow case too. Ivanhoe not in that price list.

1955mercury
Posted February 15, 2015 - 12:26pm

In reply to by bobbee

Very good point Bobbee. I think nearly everyone in the Bulova collector world is calling this model the "Ivanhoe" or the "Mustache" model from information found here. How long would it take to get what I think is the correct ID for this model into circulation to correct this? I would imagine it would be quite a while. That's why I'm a proponent of leaving models as "Unknown" until there is reasonable evidence for a correct model name.

William Smith
Posted February 15, 2015 - 1:58pm

In reply to by bobbee

Thansk for correcting me on this one Bobbee.  I though we had found a "21st Century" in the price list, but I re-checked using my hellphone interface vs a computer, and didn't find it.  
So disregard my "no price list" comment.

EDIT:  ...and the Nov 1954 price list is a "supplement" which comes out monthly between the full quarterly lists, so its usually showing "newly released models" or "existing models with a price change".  New model or price change in 1954 fits the dates for these watches.  I don't think there were many- if any- price changes in existing models in the '54 supplement list.  Bulova usually did this in one feld swoop in the quarterly price lists, so maybe this is the year this model was first advertised as "21st Century".  Wondering if we have examples before this date? If we have pre-1954 examples, these could still be argued to be Ivanhoe, but again that would be with no ad and only the name "Ivanhoe" on a crystal package.  I don't even remember if the dimensions of the watch bezel corresponds with the Ivanhoe crystal specs dimensions....

Sometimes we can be pretty arbitrary and inconsistent, but not too often :)

bobbee
Posted February 15, 2015 - 12:44pm

For those unsure of the meaning of 'siglo 21",  here is a screenshot from GoogleTranslate.

 

William Smith
Posted February 15, 2015 - 2:41pm

Here's a crystal package graphic Shawn uses in one of his 1959 watch records.

Crystal looks a little square to fit Ivanhoe/21st Century watches. I don't know how to date the crystal package short of the date of the crystal catalog in which it was first advertised, and that would not necessarily rule out an earlier release of the crystal.  

bobbee
Posted February 16, 2015 - 7:11am

In reply to by William Smith

This crystal is not only too "square" to fit the watches in the discussion, it is a tonneau shape.

Not relevant to this model.

William Smith
Posted February 16, 2015 - 11:26am

I thought the relevance was based on the crystal being named 21st Century.