Bulova Swiss Automatic Men's Watch 11AAC Movement dated 1950. Case back, movement, and dial are marked “Swiss.”
Manufacture Year: 1948, according to the inside of the case back
Movement Model: 11AAC
Movement Date Code: L0
Movement Jewels: 17
Case Serial No: 1416
I've got a couple of Water Tights and they don't have auto-wind movements. The movements come out from the front and the case backs are not removable and they have the two piece winding stems. I haven't looked at them lately but I don't think they have "Swiss" stamped on the inside of the cases either.
The 11AAC movement only shows up in the database in 1950 dated Duo-Winds. Case markings seem to indicate assembly in Switzerland. Below is an ad from 1952. Dates are off, but text for #18 Duo-Wind "G" makes mention of WaterTite "E" as "SIMILAR TO ABOVE, but " all stainless. If the ad said "same as above, but" like most Bulova ads, it would be in the same casing as the above watch except stainless. I wonder if the "similar" is the duo-wind movement and allow leeway to use whatever stainless case would accept an 11AAC? Why else would a WaterTite be listed as a sub-listing on a DuoWind?
Case is similar to Watertites in ads, but slightly different. No mention anywhere I can find of a DuoWind WaterTite except this ad.
Watch case and movement are too early for a dial marked "Automatic" but is otherwise a match, as are hands. I propose this is a Swiss assembled watch perhaps using available stock (1948 case) and 1950 movement to assemble a 1950, 1951 or 1952 Watertite "E". Face text can be explained by a dial refinish much later using the current wording for "Duo-wind" (automatic)
Based on the fact that the movement is a 1950 and true assembly can't reasonably be determined by the case, and earliest ad dated 1952.
1950 WaterTite "E"
It might just be the photo, but the case on the watch in question looks larger than the Water Tight cases to me. If you look at the ads, the Water Tight case was about the size of the Director. I searched for a few minutes for mine and was going to measure the case diameter, but my watches aren't organized at all and it could take days to find it.
In reply to It might just be the photo,… by 1955mercury