Bulova 1944 Victoria

Submitted by Kathy L. on August 18, 2019 - 2:21am
Manufacture Year
1944
Movement Model
5AB
Movement Date Code
Circle
Movement Jewels
17
Movement Serial No.
-
Case Serial No.
D334784
Case shape
Tonneau
Case color
Rose
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Crystal details
Tonneau
Gender
Ladies
Watch Description

After doing some digging on this one I thought I would get it added.  This one has two model names Victoria and Claire.  Victoria came with a cord band and Claire came with an expansion bracelet.  In doing my research for this watch I found Victoria ads starting in 1944 and going through 1947.  I did not find any Victoria ads after 1947.  Claire ads start in December of 1946 and goes to at least 1949.  My thought is that 1947 was the transition year.  Seems like there were several different dials.  The 1944 ads have a roman numeral dial.  The first ad showing this dial that I could find was 1945 so I will post that ad.

The case is 14K pink gold filled with a 1943 serial #.  The working 5AB 17 jewel movement is date stamped 1944.  I have installed a NOS cord band.  This watch was graciously gifted to me by another member as part of a trade.  It was a nice little surprise that I am really thrilled to have.

 

1944 Bulova watch
1944 Bulova watch
1944 Bulova watch
1944 Bulova watch
1944 Bulova watch
Bulova Watch advert
Kathy L.
Posted August 18, 2019 - 3:49pm

A couple more Victoria ads.  These are from 1944 showing an "A" variant and 1946.

And a couple of Claire ads from Dec 1946, 1947 and 1948 in pink with copper dial and black numbers.

neetstuf-4-u
Posted August 18, 2019 - 7:14am

That certainly cleaned up nice, well done!

1944 Victoria.

Based on the language in ads you present, I would say this model had gold numbers on dial in yellow gold and black numbers in Pink Gold.

Kathy L.
Posted August 18, 2019 - 4:29pm

In reply to by neetstuf-4-u

Thank you Bob and thanks again for including it, I love it!  Yes it would make sense for the yellow version to have the yellow numbers and the pink to have the black.  Wouldn't it be nice if all the ads gave us all the information : ) but alas they usually keep us guessing on some details.

TexasLady
Posted August 18, 2019 - 1:27pm

Great news about the changes in dials regarding the Victoria model, perhaps the copper dial was on the 1947 Victoria model as my 1947 Victoria.

This could show that Bulova could have used different dials for different years on the Victoria.

 

neetstuf-4-u
Posted August 18, 2019 - 4:21pm

Copper dial  wih black numbers - pink gold case

White dial  with gold numbers - yellow gold case

Standard practice across many bulova models.

Geoff Baker
Posted August 18, 2019 - 9:33pm

Based on the evidence I'm voting for Victoria, well done Kathy. I agree that the cut over from Victoria to Claire should be 1946 to 1947.

1944 Bulova Victoria

Andersok
Posted August 21, 2019 - 7:56am

Agree with Victoria