Bulova 1943 Military Issue

Submitted by alanroseman on May 20, 2016 - 4:42pm
Manufacture Year
1943
Movement Model
10AK
Movement Date Code
Cresent Moon
Movement Jewels
17
Case Serial No.
542677
Case shape
Round
Case color
White
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Crystal details
Military
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

Recently received as a gift from a fellow collector.  He knows that Bulova is my special interest.

I can not seem to find a photo of a dial such as this, except on the Hamilton version.

Note: 24 Hour indice

Note: Recessed Sub dial

It Looks like a cross between the "Night Warden" and a Military ORD...

Have you folks seen another like this?  I'd appreciate any input...

Alan

1943 Bulova watch
1943 Bulova watch
1943 Bulova watch
1943 Bulova watch
Geoff Baker
Posted May 21, 2016 - 7:02am

Hello again Alan, this is a very nice watch. There are a couple Bulova watches that are very hard to properly identify. The Accutron Spaceview and all Military watches are so popular that they are quite often 'put together' (assembled from components from several watches or watch parts).  The people that create those watches don't do it so much as to deceive as they do it to fill demand, they generally don't present them as authentic. If this watch had been handed down from a father or grandfather, it's provenance would be unbroken and known. In the case of Spaceview watches, even having purchased them from a Bulova dealer doesn't verify authenticity as dealer quite often made them up to satisfy demand.

We do not have WW II issued watches with this dial but we do  see this dial on Viet Nam era watches. That doesn't mean it isn't authentic, it just means we haven't seen it before. My guess is that it's either a replacement or a refinish to non original spec.

I think would classify this watch as "Military Issue".

alanroseman
Posted May 21, 2016 - 7:07am

In reply to by Geoff Baker

Geoff

Thank you for the thoughtful answer.  I will re-explore paying special attention to the Vietnam era dials.

Cheers, Alan

jabs
Posted May 21, 2016 - 7:56am

I agree with Military Issue ID

alanroseman
Posted May 21, 2016 - 8:50am

In reply to by jabs

Guys,

One can find this exact dial face complete with recessed subsecond hand, but branded as Hamilton.

William Smith
Posted May 21, 2016 - 2:28pm

Companies who had military contracts w/ the government were probably given specs for dials, and they were very similar across companies, with one of the differences being company name on dial.

I'm good with the "military issue" ID for now, but I'm being lazy (and too busy) to research much further now.

Maybe one of our Military buffs will chime in on the possible ID.

alanroseman
Posted May 21, 2016 - 2:46pm

Thanks and let's hope a military version expert chimes in