A 1928 engraved lone eagle style with DATE WINDOW?

Submitted by GVP on December 19, 2010 - 3:03pm

Never seen one of these with a date window 10AC movement too...must be rare. shame it is broken inside.

 http://cgi.ebay.com/1928-Bulova-barrel-style-watch-nice-case-unique-date-/170579638955?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item27b756baab#ht_500wt_1156

Wayne Hanley
Posted December 19, 2010 - 4:00pm

WOW! I have never seen that tonneau case before and definitely have never seen a watch that early with the date feature. Very interesting to speculate: Was it a Bulova experiment or talented watchmakers work? Could it be a one-of-kind. With gold inlays yet!

Wayne

Stephen Ollman
Posted December 19, 2010 - 4:52pm

So who's gonna snipe it from me?

:-)

Wayne Hanley
Posted December 19, 2010 - 5:05pm

In reply to by Stephen Ollman

I have seen this case before & tried to ID.  Looks like a Richard varient. All of the Lone Eagle II, Richard and Richard varients that I have in my files are all 10AN 15j or 13AF 15j. The watch on auction is a 17j 10AC and seller claims the case is stainless w/Gold Inlays. 

 

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted December 19, 2010 - 6:10pm

Save Your money, a date window didn't exist in the late 20's and the 10ac wasn't produced until '33. Note the missing sub second hand, the gear is most likely the drive for the date wheel. Nice trick, but kills any value the watch may have had.

Wayne Hanley
Posted December 19, 2010 - 6:53pm

In reply to by FifthAvenueRes…

Mark

I knew that, but I really need the hour & minute hands.

Wayne

Stephen Ollman
Posted December 19, 2010 - 7:01pm

Actually they did exist in the late 20s and early 30's. I did some research into this and sure enough many of the high-end manufactures produced a date version back in the 20 and 30s.

I gather this is one of the few that Bulova produced. My guess is that they stopped production of the date window (maybe didn't sell well, or the machanics were a bugger...who knows) but the date window didn't appear again on Bulova models until a number of decades later.

I didn't win it and as such will cry myself to sleep tonight!

This 10AC is date stamped 1932. I hope we get to see under the hood of this beauty.

GVP
Posted December 19, 2010 - 7:34pm

In reply to by Stephen Ollman

 Didn't that go for quite some money for a busted up watch? that has surprised me. I wouldnt have known where to start fixing that up, would have been nice to take it to bits and see how it worked though

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted December 19, 2010 - 9:53pm

In reply to by Stephen Ollman

Stephen,

Maybe so, but not in this form. My opinion is the first forms of day date display are shown on the jump hour and wandering second Presidents. This watch has a more modern bevel cut to the window, not to mention late 50's style numerals that don't quite fit. Anyway, if Wayne took the hands You'd be stuck looking for a pair, so consider Yourself blessed.

Stephen Ollman
Posted December 19, 2010 - 10:11pm

In reply to by FifthAvenueRes…

Mark, are you referring to the dial numbers or the date numbers? The dial numbers are authentic for the early 1930 Bulova watches.

I think once we see under the bonnet we'll have a much better understanding of its authenticity and if Bulova ever did venture into this area. Like a said earlier, yesterday I saw documented a number of late 1920 and early 30 watches (not Bulova) that had the date window like this one shown.

Also the 10AC movement is unique. As this is the first time I've seen this model it does suggest that it's manufacture and variation was meant for something different.

 

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted December 20, 2010 - 5:28am

Stephen,

Yes, the dial numbers are spot on but the date numerals don't fit the timeline and just look out of place.