Bulova 1948 Walton

Submitted by JimDon5822 on October 30, 2018 - 10:06pm
Manufacture Year
1948
Movement Model
10BC
Movement Date Code
48 (A8)
Movement Jewels
7
Movement Serial No.
-
Case Serial No.
9173563
Case shape
Tonneau
Case color
Yellow
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Crystal details
Domed plastic crystal
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

This is from that box of junk watches I bought last weekend.  I believe it to be a 1948 Walton.  It has a date code of 48 on the movement.  The case is yellow gold plated or filled and has a 10BC 7 jewel movement.   It has applied yellow gold hour markers.  It also has an interesting gold filled bracelet.  Not sure if it is original or not.  I got it running but it is running fast.  Probably need to get a new balance.  

1948 Bulova Walton watch
1948 Bulova watch
1948 Bulova watch
1948 Bulova watch
neetstuf-4-u
Posted October 31, 2018 - 6:12pm

Love that band! I believe you are correct.

1948 Walton

Geoff Baker
Posted November 1, 2018 - 6:39am

I doubt the bracelet is original but I sure would keep it on, it's very nice. Interesting that Walton adverts don't list the jewel count even though watches in the same ad list 15, 17 & 21. This seems to have been an 'entry level' model, priced considerably lower than the models it was advertised with.

1948 Bulova Walton

Andersok
Posted November 1, 2018 - 7:56am

What is the difference between the Walton and the Hancock? Both share the same pricelist model number 31901, and the same crystal, and use a 7-jewel? They appear identical in ads.

neetstuf-4-u
Posted November 1, 2018 - 8:57am

In reply to by Andersok

This is indeed a confusing one we had discussed before. There are ads stating 7 jewel, 9 jewel, 15 jewel and no jewel count for  Walton and Hancock. 

It's possible there was an overlap of model for a year and both were given same number, perhaps to experiment and test which name sold more?  A game played by the ad dept. using a low priced model?

I find Walton ads from 1947 to 1951.

Hancock first seems to appear in a 1948 ad, and ads dated 1951 to 1953.

It appears from available ads that Walton in this case was first, Hancock wasn't even similar in design per the mid 30's examples in the Db. I'm thinking the design was Walton until 1950 or 51 and Hancock thereafter. Possibility the matching model number is an inadvertent overlap changing from one name to the other, or the Hancock in this case was released later and we are seeing clerical and advertising errors in the "budget watch line"?

There are no Hancocks in this case and 3 Waltons in the Db. Two are 1950 and one is 1952. It is possible that based on ad dates and number duplication that the 1952 should be a Hancock, when case name changed?

Just thinking out loud on this one. I may have missed ads on either end of the timeline.

Geoff Baker
Posted November 10, 2018 - 10:21am

Consistency say I. Based on the year I still say:

1948 Bulova Walton

Kathy L.
Posted November 10, 2018 - 11:34am

1948 Bulova Walton