A mystery of an old Bulova (?) watch

Submitted by Boris on January 18, 2017 - 8:20am

Good morning experts,

My mother-in-law, who died recently, had this watch (see http://www.bfcollection.net/images/bulova_01.jpg ) since the early 1950's. It was given to her in the Soviet Union. Yesterday, for the first time I noticed that the brand was Bulova, and not one of the Soviet brands they manufactured back then. The back cover contains a Soviet gold proof mark 583, and an abbreviation, in Cyrillic, MDMF5.

Bulova was not a household name in the Soviet Union. In fact, I have never heard of it until we moved to the United States. I wonder if it possible to find out whether it’s a real Bulova watch and what may be the story behind it.

Thank you very much!

Boris

Reverend Rob
Posted January 18, 2017 - 12:46pm

Hey Boris, welcome to My Bulova. We'll have to see the inside case back for any additional markings as well as the movement itself. 

mybulova_admin
Posted January 20, 2017 - 6:01pm

Boris, your mother-in-law's watch may be a marriage of parts, with a Bulova dial and movement and a third party case. The stamp on the back of the case certainly isn't from that of a normal Bulova.

It would be good to see inside the watch.