Bulova 1936 Apollo

Submitted by Nkb12369 on November 26, 2019 - 10:18am
Manufacture Year
1936
Movement Model
10AE
Movement Date Code
Square
Movement Jewels
15
Movement Serial No.
-
Case Serial No.
6633444
Case shape
Round
Case color
White
Case Manufacturer
Bulova & American Standard
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

Here is what I believe to be a 1936 Bulova Commodore in 10k rolled white gold. I acquired this recently and it is not currently running but am hoping to find a place to make it work again. Case measures 32mm lug to lug x 26mm non inclusive of the Crown.  The crystal is in near perfect condition, which is surprising with how old it is. It almost looks brand new and appears to be original. I thought this was a 1938 Apollo but after closer inspection it has a square movement symbol rather than a moon like the link below. Overall in amazing shape and the case back bears the American Standard Shield symbol.

https://www.mybulova.com/watches/1938-apollo-3056

1936 Bulova watch
1936 Bulova watch
1936 Bulova watch
1936 Bulova watch
Nkb12369
Posted November 27, 2019 - 12:16pm

Spelling should be Bulova Commodore. Please let me know your thoughts on this one.

 

Geoff Baker
Posted November 27, 2019 - 10:24pm

Hello Nkb12369, welcome to myBulova. I've come back to look at your watch a couple times and I'm torn. I don't think it's a Commodore but I wonder if it COULD be the Apollo model. I also wonder if it could really be 1946. I'm still mulling this one over, I haven't forgotten it.

Stay tuned.......

Nkb12369
Posted November 27, 2019 - 10:38pm

Hi Geoff - thank you, I am really glad there's a community out there for these watches. Yes, this one is tough, I spent some time going through the photos of others that have been verified. The white gold does appear to be a rarity (as I don't see many others in the 10k white gold).

Thanks in advance for all your research!

Nick

Geoff Baker
Posted December 2, 2019 - 9:58pm

I might be out on a limb here but I think I'm tentative on tagging this one a 1936 Apollo. The reason I'm tentative is that the one advert (from 1937) I find that seems to match notes yellow gold as opposed to white gold as shown here.

A tentative ID is what we use when we think we know but aren't exactly positive.

1936 Bulova Apollo

jabs
Posted December 3, 2019 - 4:51am

Agree, Apollo will be

neetstuf-4-u
Posted December 3, 2019 - 10:51am

1936 Apollo noting white instead of yellow gold.

Nkb12369
Posted December 3, 2019 - 10:07am

Thanks everyone. The Apollo seems to be the match, it is just the earlier 1936 white gold version rather than 1938 Yellow gold that is already in the archives. It's currently being serviced and should be running smoothly again soon.

neetstuf-4-u
Posted December 3, 2019 - 10:52am

In reply to by Nkb12369

It appears it was produced in both colors, but we have yet to find an ad stating it to be so. We see instances where most ads for a watch most popular in yellow only state yellow, then an ad will surface stating "also avail in white". That would appear to be the case with yours, but at this point there is no ad verification, so it's "tentative". There is also the extremely slight possibility a white Apollo had a different name - no ads showing this at this point either, so it's a 

1936 Apollo - tentative.

Nkb12369
Posted December 3, 2019 - 10:44am

I agree, it is odd since the Apollo ad doesn't specifically state white gold which made me to believe it was a Commodore model at first. I just wanted to clarify as well that the movement symbol is a square and the first digit of the case backing is a "6" which makes me to believe it is a 1936 not a 1938 model.