1930 Miss America

Submitted by simpletreasures on January 9, 2011 - 10:10pm

I just joined this site after days (actually seemed like weeks) of searching the internet trying to gather info on a watch that I inherited. After landing here and searching through every page of watches posted by members, I found a exact "TWIN"  of my watch that a member in Paris, France posted. They identified their watch as "Miss America" circ 1930. What I'm curious about is is my watch shows a date of "June 10, 1924" but when looking through th old ads they did show the watch in the 30's but not in the early 20's?? Did Bulova use older movements in these watches? Aloso, does anyone know of relative value for ins. purposes etc. ? Any help would be appreciated, thanks...

Bob Bruno
Posted January 10, 2011 - 12:10am

June 10, 1924 is the patent date not the date of mfg. I have a feeling your watch might be a little older than 1930. It would help if you could post a picture of the watch and the movement.

Bob

simpletreasures
Posted January 10, 2011 - 9:14am

In reply to by Bob Bruno

Thanks Bob, I'm working on getting my camera back so I can post pics.

OldTicker
Posted January 10, 2011 - 12:18am

Hi,

The date of June 10 1924 that you are seeing is stamped on the back cover? If so that is a patent date for the watch case.

Look for a symbol on the movement, it will be small and you my need a magnifying glass to see it through the dust cover. .On the home page there is a link on how to date you Bulova, it  will list the symbols for dating the movement.

As far as the value, condition, operation, appearence and if the case is Solid 14K or just gold filled will determine that. Do a search on eBay for Bulova Miss America to see if any like it have been sold, and compare those with yours to get a ballpark value.

Post a picture of it in the "My Watches" area and list it as  1930 Unknown for now, others will be along to help you with a positive ID

Greg

simpletreasures
Posted January 10, 2011 - 9:03am

In reply to by OldTicker

Thanks Greg, I identified the mark on the movement as "6AF"... According to the data base it says 1923 to 1931, and since the only reference I could find in the advertising archives was in the 1930 pages, I'm assuming I'm in the right period? Unfortunately I don't have my camera avail to post pics (daughter borrowed, and don't know when it will return) but the watch looks identical to the one posted in the archives, original band and all. I guess whats confusing me is 1: If the patent date on the case is 1924 does that mean they designed the watch in 1924, but didn't release it for sale until 1930?? 2: Where do they stamp or identify the gold content because I've looked all over this watch with a 10x loop and can't find it anywhere?? Thanks

GVP
Posted January 10, 2011 - 1:24pm

 Most are 1930-1931. I have had many of them before now.

Stephen Ollman
Posted January 10, 2011 - 7:24pm

The June 10 1924 date on the inside back case relates to a Patent Bulova took out 1924 and has nothing to do with the year of manufacture for that watch.

Read 'The Greatest Watch Improvement in a Century (1927)'

What is strange is that if the watch is 1930/31 then why is it using the 1924 patent stamp and not the 1927 one.

Is it possible that the 1927 patent only related to the mens line of watches??

The back case should indicate the gold standard or quality. Does it say 'American Standard' if so then that is stating the gold content of the case. From what I have read American companies did not have to identify the exact gold content of their products until sometime in the mid 20s. This is why on 1923/24/25 Bulova watches we see the 'American Standard' stamp and not the '14k Rolled Gold' which started I think about 1926. I could be wrong and someone more knowledgable may offer more accurate advise.