Frankenbully of the year

Apparently they are real diamonds ! , its in the post so I will update the info when I receive it. I am blaming this purchase on my wife , I intended to bid on a listing next to this one on ebay and my wife came into my study and distracted me and I pressed an offer on the wrong listing.  :-)

terry

Speaks volumes for the Mrs!

Terry,

You may have competition http://www.mybulova.com/node/3974

Many of these "Frankenbully/Non-Conforming" watches will have flashy dials like yours, and they are not exclusive to just Bulova, I have a couple that are Benrus, and Gruen brands.

When you get it, you may want to test the "Diamonds", on the examples I have or have had, they are not real.

Well at least you got a nice pair of hour, minute and second hands and a crown.

We tested a bunch of similar dials while in school, most were real diamonds. Diamond melee are not expensive, and I had one that was less than a grain, probably 20 pts, (If I remember correctly) and the cut and colour and clarity were non-remarkable. This was at the 12 O'clock position on a dial, and our Gem professeur estimated it to be worth less than $70. Keep in mind there is a considerable price difference even between a .99 carat diamond and a 1.00 carat diamond, and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference by just looking at it, regardless of experience in the industry. Authentic diamonds of low quality were often used. 

I think it is FABULOUS.  Yes, you could fix it--but why?  Don't under estimate the value of a good laugh. 

Here's one of mine from my very early days of collecting.  I smile every time I look at it.  It's really a great looking watch.

Hmmm. . .good point.  I was so distracted by the HUGE 12, 3 and 9, that I didn't even notice the holes.  Maybe had diamonds in them?  I think some colored crystals would look nice. :)

I think I will fit a nice leather strap and give it to my wife as a present, she likes diamonds. :-)

ps  thanks for the comments.

The good news in this story is that I managed to secure the watch in the listing next to the frankenbully for approx $20, a 1950 duowind. Are these " rare ".

Have now received the watch and it does not look too bad apart from the holes drilled in the case and then filled with solder on the inside to try and hide it !  The case is called ELITE and is 10k rgp , the movement is a Bulova 8AE , 17 jewels dated 1947. There are 13 diamonds on the face. I do not think I will be keeping it , is there a simple way of checking whether the diamonds are real ? thanks

terry

I use my loope.  If they look too "good" to be real, they probably are not real.  I look for small inclusions/ poor clarity.  They ususally don't show up in synthetics.  The man-made look ...well....to good to be real.   It's an eye one developes w/ time.  I do see crystal and even paste in some cases, but small real diamonds of the grade which are used for these applications are pretty cheap to come by.

....and this is why I do not understand the hoopla behind 'Diamond Dials'. The cut and clarity of any genuine stones are low grade and the individual carat weight is virtually nil.

Sounds like you have a valid way to return it, even if the seller has a "no returns" policy.  Assuming it was advertised as a Bulova watch, the non-Bulova case makes that untrue, along with the non-Bulova dial.

Any competent jeweller can test the stones while you wait, but as Fifth and I have mentioned, stones will be low quality, even if genuine. 

Thanks for the feedback , the watch was advertised correctly , it was my error in pressing the wrong button. As I have illustrated above I picked up the correct watch a douwind for approx $20 which will more than cover the cost of my mistake .  :-)

terry

fifth i find the the duowind especially the tank style is rare...they don't come up to often..granted that one may come up and then like a few more. then you don't see them for awhile...everykind of watch come up for sale..just some more than others and some less then others...so yes i would say that it is rare..