In reply to I would be most comfortable by Geoff Baker
Thank you everyone and the admin team for everything. Still hoping its a beau but love it either way. I'm hooked on Bulova! I also have a 57' president, 62' senator, 71' sea king and just got a 49'director and constantly on the lookout for new additions. Found a great jeweler who is Bulova certified so I'm all set. Thanks in advance for more great analysis!
Expanding on Ken's comments earlier in thread. While the earliest ad we have for a diamond dial Beau may be from 1958, we see a (White) Beau Brummel entry in the January 1955 Bulova Price list, under the "diamond (dial)" section of "new watches". Noticeably missing from the "diamond" section for same price list are any "new" Bulova 23's.
Several pages past the "new watches" section, we have the "cumulative" section of the list. In that section, we see several Beau's which are "not newly released by January 1955". Check the prices. There could be four "diamond dial" Beaus, based on price. We know there is at least 1 (the newly released white 30136 $250).
Further down the cumulative section, we see Bulova 23's. Check the prices.
Using same "relative price" logic, there could be two diamond dial Bulova 23- the "J" and "I". As Ken noted, solid gold and no diamond dial.
1955 Bulova 23 "J" & "I" Matt Ad snippets below:
So there were diamond dial Beaus in January 1955. Based on price (and several ads I checked) there were no diamond dial Bulova 23's this early.
I'm sticking with tentative Beau for subject watch ID.
In reply to Expanding on Ken's comments by William Smith