Hi, guys.
For the life of me I can't tell these watches apart.
Midshipman:
https://www.mybulova.com/watches/1940-midshipman-5903
Minute Man:
https://www.mybulova.com/watches/1940-minute-man-2827
At first I thought it was just the watch face but then I came across this Minute Man example:
https://www.mybulova.com/watches/1941-midshipman-6528
I must be missing something. These cases look identical to me.
Thanks,
Tom S.
Hi Tom - One of the challenges we have is backwards updating already ID'd watches when a new advert is presented. The third watch you referenced should have been name updated a year or so back when the ad was presented showing it to be Midshipman. The difference, per the ads, is IS the dial. The first Midshipman you reference WAS name updated several years after it was originally ID'd as Minuteman. Good catch, thanks!
You guys are really going to hate me but:
https://www.mybulova.com/sites/default/files/vintage_ads/Bulova_AD_1940…
This ad has a watch with what appears to me to be the "midshipman" face. its labeled "Minuteman".
Tom S.
Looking at these again, we have an official Bulova advert showing the watch as a 1940 Minute Man, and then we see a 1943 advert showing it as a Midshipman.
I'm inclinded to go back and review these watches, making the 1940 versions a Minute Man and any later 1943 versions a Midshipman (I suspect a named changed due to WWII).
Thoughts?
There's an interesting picture in this one that might, or might not, help:
https://www.mybulova.com/watches/1942-midshipman-8393
The last photo has four watches side-by-side. I'm unsure of the details or the years but to my eye #2 and #4 look longer and maybe thinner than #1 and #3.
Tom S.