Bulova 1949 His Excellency

Submitted by neetstuf-4-u on October 6, 2017 - 12:38pm
Manufacture Year
1949
Movement Model
10BH
Movement Date Code
49 (A9)
Movement Jewels
21
Movement Serial No.
-
Case Serial No.
2191355
Case shape
Tonneau
Case color
White
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Crystal details
appears original
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

 Anyone ever seen one of these before? Based on this ad, it would appear to be a 1949 (case and movement) His Excellency "XX" white gold plate variant sporting yellow gold gilt numerals and hands. Signed 4 times.

http://www.mybulova.com/sites/default/files/vintage_ads/bulova-ad-1949-…

Ad makes no mention of face color choice (black vs. silvered), so is this an XX standard configuration for the variant "V54R 1005 White", or something else? Watch is pretty good physical condition but a non-runner. Appears to have a bad balance staff or related jewel. Mounted on a crispy leather band as found.

1949 Bulova watch
1949 Bulova watch
1949 Bulova watch
1949 Bulova watch
1949 Bulova watch
Reverend Rob
Posted October 6, 2017 - 9:56pm

Looks like a 1949 'His Excellency' to me, very likely a re-dial. 

 

neetstuf-4-u
Posted October 9, 2017 - 3:04pm

In reply to by Reverend Rob

I have been wrong before, but I don't think it's a redial. no notches in face edges.

neetstuf-4-u
Posted October 9, 2017 - 2:21pm

Panel thoughts?

Reverend Rob
Posted October 10, 2017 - 11:06am

The reason I suspect this is that Black is the most common re-dial colour, and the the dial here looks very fresh and shiny, without a lot of patina or crazing, fading, etc. Not all re-dials will have notches. 

neetstuf-4-u
Posted October 10, 2017 - 4:47pm

In reply to by Reverend Rob

Dial is peppered with tiny chips and scratches, as well as edge chips that expose bare metal.  Based on origin of watch it seems unlikely, but maybe you are right. I have to remain neutral until another verified example of an XX in white gold plate (V54R 1005 White) surfaces.

Reverend Rob
Posted October 11, 2017 - 1:35am

In reply to by neetstuf-4-u

If it is a re-dial, it isn't recent, and I don't mean to imply that this is inherently bad. I appplaud any efforts to keep these timepieces in use, and in fact many of my own customers want the dial done when the restoration is performed. Oftentimes a well running and carefully restored watch is let down by the poor condition of the dial, and if it is done properly, can only preserve and enhance the end result. There are watches that are so valuable and so rare that you would not do this to, of course. 

Andersok
Posted October 11, 2017 - 7:55am

The watch is a His Excellency model, but I'm not sure of the variant. I've found a few ads that reference the white gold variant, but no mention of a dial color. Variant 'BB' for 1949 and 1950, and 'ZZ' for 1950; none of the ads states the dial color. I don't know how common it was to have yellow color hands/markers with a white case. So, was there a dial color difference between the BB and ZZ? Not sure we have enough information to know, and I am going to go with His Excellency no variant for now.

neetstuf-4-u
Posted October 11, 2017 - 8:36am

In reply to by Andersok

Good ad finds Ken. This is a tough one with the info available on the site. As far as I can see, this is the first white gold Excellency in this case to be posted to the data base. The 1949 ad I referenced calls out both white and yellow as "XX", but gives different stock numbers. Your ads call white by a different variant letter name. So is this a "BB", "ZZ", or "XX - V54R-1005"? It's kind of hard to say as we don't have any of these in the data base as a point of reference.  My guess would be white gold started out as a "XX" sub-variant in 1949 and then perhaps was given it's own letter designation, evolved during 1949 and 1950. Maybe 1 of the 3 choices was a black dial. There had to be a reason that there are 3 choices in the same case in white gold in the same year (49/50). All 3 ads reference only a leather band so band choice isn't a determining factor. I lean towards the possibility it's a "ZZ" but there is currently no data to verify that opinion. For now, HE no variant works for me. I love a good mystery.

Andersok
Posted October 11, 2017 - 12:49pm

In reply to by neetstuf-4-u

Yes, the white gold versions of this era do not get seen as often as the yellow, or even the rose in some years. Often the ads call out one variant, but speak of other available colors (case/dial) without stating the other variant. I believe the 'XX' is designated to the yellow gold only; and the mention the V54R... is specific to a number used only by the vendor (Spiegel in the case of your linked ad) and not assigned by Bulova. Having only one variant in an ad, but more than one color option, makes it a challenge to determine which color the variant goes with. Sometimes we have other sources to help clarify it, and sometimes not; sometimes the ad description states yellow (like in your linked ad). Also, I haven't gone through the HE ads to see if either BB or ZZ was used with another style/design; perhaps the ads stating white as one of those is a mistake. I did see that there were other black dial HE styles, so it is possible this style had that black dial option. I would think so, as white gold looks best with a dark color dial.

neetstuf-4-u
Posted November 7, 2017 - 8:30am

In reply to by Andersok

Do you have access to a 1949 pricelist? I wonder if that would help clarify. Any other panel thoughts?