I was sent these pics with info on this watch, it is an interesting example. Inside the case it is marked 'Germany' and 'US Zone', which leads me to believe it may have been sold to US servicemen serving in West Germany. The casemaker is Robert Pfisterer of Pforzheim, Germany, so this was possibly cased in Germany for the German market, specifically US miltary personnel. It carries the usual import code on the movt, which means it was imported and modded as per usual by Bulova USA. The case appears to be chromium plated with a stainless steel back. After that, it appears to have been cased in Germany and sold there. I could have sworn we had an example of this somewhere, but I can't locate it.
It looks like a Senator, but what say you all?
That's really curious. US Zone signifies Occupied Germany after WWII. There were 4 sectors during the occupation from 1945-49: US, French, Soviet, and British.
In 1949 Germany was divided into East and West; and West gained governing independence in I think 1955. One would think caseback would be West Germany, unless it was old stock "appropriated" by Bulova and used in 1957. After 1955 there was no "US Zone". It was The Federal Republic of Germany.
Movement bears an import code, which means it either came to the US and went back, or was trucked over the border from Switzerland when the US military was the government in the US Zone; or watch was assembled and dated several years after the components were produced.
I love a good mystery.
In reply to That's really curious. US by neetstuf-4-u
My guess would be it was part of a block of watches purchased by the Military for sale in the PX's for servicemen in Germany. The movts are standard and US modded. The cases are German made by Pfisterer. It may have been to satisfy certain requirements for sales post war in the area.
Here is the Pfisterer patent dating back to 1951. It is interesting to note that the patent is for the locking ring and non-rotating case back. It specifically mentions the anti-rotation key that fits into the recess:
This same arrangement is seen on many Bulova cases.