Royal Clipper, self winding, not original band, scuffed glass, inscription in the back is to my father’s uncle Ed Boyle: To “Uncle Ed” in recognition of 25 years service McCleod Coop. Power Ass’n
The watch started ticking the first minute I held it after being stored in my father’s cedar jewelry box since at least 1979, when his uncle died. I just recently inherited this myself. I had taken this to a local watch shop to be oiled but the watch maker said he saw some corrosion around the back cover and was afraid to open it. Does it look like this will be a danger?
Welcome to mybulova. Heirloom watches are the best! Thanks for sharing it. I agree with your ID. Your Uncle's watch is just like this one.
From your photos, I don't see a concern about opening the watch. Take a round wooden toothpick and run the point around the cover /ring seams. It won't do any damage and will remove any potentially crud. You just need to be careful after removing the ring to make sure no debris is on the cover that may fall into the watch. I wouldn't try it unless you have a proper case wrench, I'm just explaining the basic process. I suspect the person you took it to either didn't want to bother or wasn't qualified to service the watch. Shop it around and get a second opinion.
1959 Royal Clipper
welcome. I agree that is a 1959 Bulova Royal Clipper. I regularly restore watches 20 times worse than this and this one is very clean. As for the watch maker, honestly if he is like the ones in my area, all they want to do is work on Rolex and other luxury watches all day. That way they can get $800 for each service rather than what they can get for a non-luxury watch.
I agree it is a Royal Clipper, and as a watchmaker I can say that working on Rolexes is not the be-all, I prefer non- Rolexes.
One thing they hammered into us at watchmaking school:
You can't oil a dirty watch, and if it hasn't been fully serviced in more than 5 years, it is dirty. You won't see it necessarily just by opening the case back, but there will be dried out oil residue and dirt around all the pivots, stuck to the jewels.
Oiling it will simply mobilize this residue and wash it right where you don't want it. You want a full service, or CTR. That way, the jewels and pivots are pristinely cleaned and then lubricated. Some disassembly is required to oil it properly anyway, so you are already part way through the process. Since the watch is disassembled, you can also now easily inspect each and every part, and replace the mainspring, which should be done also. You can't clean the barrel without pulling the mainspring out anyway, so again, you are deep into the process.
Before I became a watchmaker, I destroyed a mint NOS dive watch (manual) simply by winding it and setting it over three months. At the time I figured, 'NOS, must be perfectly good to go!'
What happened was, (among other things) the cannon pinion was tight to the centre shaft with dried out lube. Moving it to set the time meant that the increase in friction put a lot more stress on the train. The CP is meant to slip during setting, and it can only do that effectively if it is lubricated and clean. (you have to remove it to clean it and lube it, and to safely re-install it, the motion works, in particular, the minute wheel must be removed so you don't crush the tiny teeth pushing the CP down, so again, deep into the process) After about three months, I was setting the time, and the third wheel pinion was ripped loose and the train was wrecked. Winding it would spin the hands, if I remember correctly.
So I'm a big advocate for proper service.
Nice looking design...Royal Clipper
Watchmaker afraid to open it sounds odd. It is not uncommon to find corrosion or other dirt and grime on the back, especially around the ring with all of the grooves. Just open it carefully to not allow any debris to fall into the movement.