Bulova 1955 Beau Brummell

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.
 

Your logic is impeccable, Will. Cannot be a"23" as it would be in the diamond watch section.

I'm still inclined to go tenative BB even though there's no solid ad for it. It has all the characteristics of the BB line even if it's a 23 J.Will's research has clearly shown the existance of a 55 BB,  so we know they exist.

Opened the case to get additional info that may or may not help but can anyone tell me what the numbers mean? I believe one of them should be the crystal part number. 

Opened the case to get additional info that may or may not help but can anyone tell me what the numbers mean? I believe one of them should be the crystal part number.  One is either a cursive JB or a P 4253 and the other appears to be  377dgie. Thanks again!

Those are watchmaker's service marks. Some used their guild numbers, some used job numbers, some used employee numbers. You will even see dates from time to time. 

Awesome!