1968 blue face with whale Russian/Greek style 12,3,6,9. automatic and runs great but??????

Submitted by DDOLAN on April 28, 2011 - 5:00pm

 I CAN'T FIND OUT ANYTHING ABOUT IT. NOR CAN I EVEN FIND ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE IT. SERIAL # 680792

DDOLAN
Posted April 28, 2011 - 5:02pm

 i don't think it's fake because it's not that stylish!

 

mybulova_admin
Posted April 28, 2011 - 7:37pm

In reply to by DDOLAN

Your photos were deleted due to not following the guidelines for filesize, filenames and dimensions.

Please feel fee to re-add your photos but please resize then to be no more then 700 pixels wide and rename the filenames accordingly to includ the date you added the watch.

Thanks!

NOVA
Posted April 28, 2011 - 5:09pm

Please post pics of the front and back of the watch.  If you're comfortable opening it up, pics of the inside of the case back and the movement would be helpful as well.  Any writing on the watch or the movement that's not visible in the pics needs to be stated.  Thanks.

NOVA
Posted April 28, 2011 - 5:35pm

M8 = 1968

DDOLAN
Posted April 28, 2011 - 6:08pm

 I wish I could hug you! LOL! Thank you so much. I have looked everywhere and you got it in minutes. So the second hand is not on this model. I was afraid mine was missing it. The watch runs like a champion. The Accutron seems to have overshadowed it in 1968. Thanks again. I have a bunch of REALLY old  Womens and a couple pocket watches in various states that I may ask about if I can't find out through regular channels.

mybulova_admin
Posted April 28, 2011 - 7:38pm

Nice pickup Lisa.

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted April 28, 2011 - 8:09pm

flag on the play.

Where did the initial ID for a 'SEA KING' come from ????

 I've never seen a 'SEA KING' with these numerals or this color Dial.

AND

'SEA KING' should have an 11ALAC movement

NOVA
Posted April 28, 2011 - 8:17pm

In reply to by FifthAvenueRes…

See the post above, which provides the thread.  Apparently, there was a consensus, but you missed it.  Wayne should weigh in here.  The ID was made based on his watches (three of them, as I recall).

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted April 28, 2011 - 8:24pm

not even close.

A Whale on the Dial does not make the Watch a 'SEA KING' - this discussion has been had.

I'd like to see the ID for the 'SEA KING'

NOVA
Posted April 28, 2011 - 8:29pm

How can you evaluate whether the poster's watch was a Sea King when we no longer have the pics or any other information other than that there was a whale on the dial?  The picture above is Wayne's watch, not the poster's.  Admin deleted the poster's pics due to size.

If it matters, the poster's watch was waterproof.  I don't recall if it was automatic.  I think maybe it was self-winding.

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted April 28, 2011 - 9:17pm

I saw it before the pics were deleted - the Watch looked identical although the Watch in the database is not showing a Caseback.

mybulova_admin
Posted April 28, 2011 - 10:01pm

The 'Whale' from what I understand does not depict any certain model of watch, but the fact that it is waterproof.

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted April 29, 2011 - 6:01am

Waterproof and Automatic is suggested.

Not proven at this point but would make sense based on current information.

Wayne Hanley
Posted April 30, 2011 - 2:16am

Fifth

Where are you getting all of this Sea King knowledge? I think we have about 3 ads from the early 1960s. Do we have any ads with whales on the dial?

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted April 30, 2011 - 2:48am

The 'Whale' began to appear on Bulova Dials in the late 1960's Wayne.

Do any of the ads show Your Blue Watch as being a 'SEA KIING'?

Wayne Hanley
Posted April 30, 2011 - 5:21am

 I agree, the whale began to appear on Bulova dials in the late 1960s. But were there any ads ??

No ads on my blue watch.

How did you authenticate your Sky King watches in the database? 

 

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted April 30, 2011 - 8:16am

Wayne,

I used the Case design and movement method which will always be the same within a specific model in a given Year.

2 examples below, one of which is Yours - Your Blue Dial watch and Your Gold watch cannot both be 'SEA KING's Wayne. The Case design and movements do not match.

The Bulova 'SEA KING' was a 17 Jewel Waterproof Automatic in the late 1960's - early 1970's and all used the 11 ALAC movement in one form or other (w or without Day Day/Date display)

'71

 

 

NOVA
Posted April 30, 2011 - 9:29am

Fifth, I just don't see how you can make such broad, definitive statements with no ad to support them. 

Think about the 1965 Commanders, for example--those cases do not all look alike.  In that example, we have an ad that proves it.  In this case we don't, but the absence of an ad isn't positive proof of anything.

As for having the same movement, the database has other examples of the same model with different movements. 

I think your theory is a sound one, but with no evidence to support it, I don't think it has to be accepted by anyone as fact. 

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted April 30, 2011 - 12:23pm

The case design will be the same within the model line Lisa, not the style.

ie: Waterproof - Stainless Steel back with retaining ring.

 

Movements will always be the same within the model.

ie: Commander - 30 J auto.

 

Case diameters will be the same as they fit the same mvmt.

Of coarse lug styles will differ.

 

This is something We need to look at in depth. The 1950 - 1970 auto's are very confusing and the confusion all revolves around the Case design - not the lug style.

IMO.

If anyone were to see the 2 Watches above in a printed ad they would assume they were the same, in reality they are not, as is shown.

NOVA
Posted April 30, 2011 - 12:20pm

I'm having trouble with this statement, "The case design will be the same within the model line Lisa, not the style."  What about the 1965 Commanders?  Isn't that a model line, and we have an ad showing very different case designs within that line (look for example, at the watch on the guy's wrist in the ad--it is totally different from the other cases in that ad)?

And couldn't such a drastic difference in case size/shape also result in a different movement, all still within the same model line?

And what about the fact that we have examples in the database now of the same model/case with different movements?

Couldn't Bulova have decided to make the Sea King without the date function, since not everyone likes that look?  And, therefore, that variation would have carried a different movement?  We don't have any evidence to the contrary.

FifthAvenueRes…
Posted April 30, 2011 - 12:30pm

You are mis-understanding - when I say design I mean its physical design - the way the caseback attatches to the case, not the lug type or color of the case.

any appearance that a watch is larger or smaller than its counterparts in the ad is an optical illusion.

NOVA
Posted April 30, 2011 - 12:46pm

Okay, so it sounds like you're saying that it doesn't matter what the outer shell looks like, but rather the size, shape, and construction of the inner cavity that houses the movement, along with the movement type.  Is that a fair statement?  (Perhaps with some additional distinctive qualifications, such as waterproof, 30 jewels, etc.?)

And you would limit those criteria to the later 60s/70s models--where we started getting more into lines with distinctive features, rather than simple case design changes--or do you think this holds true for all models regardless of date?

This strikes me as a pretty different way of identifying a model; I'm just trying to get a handle on it.

Wayne Hanley
Posted April 30, 2011 - 2:41pm

Sea Kings thru the +plus 12 year run of the watch had several case models. Your black dialed Sea King is one of those case models. Below is another case model.