Cattrina
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Location: Finland
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The Wrist Watch
Cattrina's Catalogue entry
BULOVA
17 JEWEL
MOVEMENT
Above the second hand dial, it says “WATER PROTECTED” or “WATER PROOFED”.
 
 Approximately 4cms in diameter (1,6 inch)
The Watch appears in The Key and the Clock. Karl Kreutzfeld is shown sitting at his desk using The Watch to boil an egg. It appears again in The Eye and the Prime Object when Joe Miller and Howard (The Weasel) Montague visit the Sood with the picture of Eddie and Mabel. It is one of the objects in the Sood’s computer catalogue.
When an egg is set within the watch band, it is hard boiled. When the watch is brought together with the knife, they grant a kind of telepathy.
The Watch is a vintage 17 jewel Bulova with a sunburst dial and a sub-second feature. The lugs have a rare inverted structure, and the band is black leather. The hour and minute hands are frozen to 1:21, and the sub second hand is frozen to 27 seconds.
Useful eBay search terms:
bulova sunburst
bulova wristwatch
bulova sub second
bulova lugs
bulova 17 jewel
Bulova WWII watch
Bulova ORD watch
Vintage Bulova
Military watch
References
The Concise Guide to Military Timepieces 1880-1990
Military Watches
Spikosaur's Catalogue entry
Last edited by Cattrina, 10/26/2009, 12:30 pm
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10/25/2009, 6:51 am
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Cattrina
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Re: The Wrist Watch
quote:
Paul Delury wrote
This is not actually a Bulova watch...> Oct 27, 2009 - 06:34 AM Go to previous messageGo to next message
...but rather the result of recasing which was reasonably common in the past. This watch will contain a Bulova movement but did not issue from Bulova in this case or with this dial. I would estimate the watch as is dates from the late-1940's/1950's. The movement could well be a little older. It will be a manual-wind movement. (Note that Caravelle was Bulova's economy line of watches - this watch is not a Caravelle).
Below is a post I made concerning a similar watch I have.
There was quite a significant industry in the past in casing-up movements from well-known brands such as Hamilton, Bulova, etc. The one below, as you can see, states "Hamilton 17 Jewel Movement" on the dial, not just "Hamilton" as would be found on a true Hamilton-issued watch. This watch has a 1940's Hamilton Grade 987 movement housed in a French TK brand stainless steel case with a dial that didn't come from Hamilton.
Image
This practice was fairly widespread after WWII when the US domestic wristwatch production took some time to get back up and running. The major US watch companies had turned over much of their production to war materiel, such as bomb timers/fuses and navigation watches and clocks. The dials of these recased watches stated the brand of movement in the watch, and in such a manner that it should not be confused with a genuine issue watch. Thus the "XXXX Movement" (Hamilton, Bulova, Elgin or whatever) or sometimes "Rebuilt" text found on such dials. There were dial and case sets available for various brands that specified the calibre reference for the movement needed. These came with the dial in the case with crystal and springbars, hands, etc. All that was needed was a suitable movement, and strap.
I have seen other such watches carrying "Bulova Movement" on the dial. The recasing (or just "casing-up" where the movement was unused) seems to have lasted into the 1960s, perhaps 1970s on a smaller scale, but it seems the majority were made-up in the more immediate post-WWII years.
[This post was edited on Oct 27, 2009 - 06:54 AM]
Paul.
Last edited by Cattrina, 10/27/2009, 7:18 am
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10/25/2009, 6:51 am
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Cattrina
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Registered: 11-2008
Location: Finland
Posts: 422
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Re: The Wrist Watch
Some takes on Bulova watches history
http://www.bulova.com/about/about.aspx#history.aspx
1941
Continuing its tradition of advertising firsts, Bulova airs the first television commercial: a simple picture of a clock and a map of the United States, with a voice-over proclaiming, "America runs on Bulova time." The 20-second spot costs $9. 1941 also marks the year that the Bulova Board of Directors, chaired by Joseph’s son, Ardé Bulova, adopts a resolution to sell products for national defense at actual cost. Throughout World War II, having perfected the skill of creating precision timepieces, Bulova works with the U.S. government to produce military watches, specialized timepieces, aircraft instruments, critical torpedo mechanisms and fuses.
1952
Bulova begins developing Accutron, the first breakthrough in timekeeping technology in over 300 years. Accutron, the first fully electronic watch, promises to keep time to within 2 seconds a day.
1953
Recognizing new trends in the watch industry, Bulova adds more self-winding and shock-proof watches to its line. Also added this year is the Bulova Wrist-Alarm, an entirely new kind of watch.
1954
Bulova introduces the Bulova 23, a self-winding, waterproof, 23-jewel watch with an unbreakable mainspring, made entirely in the United States. Omar Bradley, World War II general and retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joins Bulova as Chairman of the Board of the Bulova Research and Development Laboratories.
1960
NASA asks Bulova to incorporate Accutron into its computers for the space program. Bulova timing mechanisms eventually become an integral part of 46 missions of the U.S. Space Program. Also in 1960, Bulova reintroduces its redeveloped Phototimer clock for track and field, improved with updated photographic and electronic technologies. It features an infrared sensing element patterned after those used on heat-seeking missiles. Mounted on the starter's pistol, the Phototimer senses the flash of the gun and starts a timer clock at the same instant that the runners leave their marks.
October 25, 1960
Accutron, the first watch to keep time through electronics, is introduced. It is the most spectacular breakthrough in timekeeping since the invention of the wristwatch. This revolutionary timekeeping concept of a watch without springs or escapement is operated by an electronically activated tuning fork. The Accutron watch goes on to become a presidential gift to world leaders and other dignitaries. President Johnson declares it the White House's official Gift of State.
1962
The Accutron Tuning-fork watch becomes the first wristwatch certified for use by railroad personnel. 1962 is also the year that Bulova introduces its Caravelle line of jeweled watches. Designed to retail at $10.95 to $29.95, Caravelle competes with non-jeweled watches in the same price range.
Last edited by Cattrina, 10/25/2009, 10:12 am
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10/25/2009, 10:08 am
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Cattrina
Registered Collector
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Registered: 11-2008
Location: Finland
Posts: 422
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Re: The Wrist Watch
These guys seem to be equally enthustiatics about watches, as we are about TLR:
http://www.watchtalkforums.info/forums/index.php
maybe they know something.
Picked from the Bulova forum:
Here's a handy chart to help date your Bulova or Accutron watch:
From 1949 or so on, the date code is found on the back of the case. For instance, L5 means 1955. M7 equates to 1967. Before that, the symbol is found on the edge of the movement. Some of the symbols repeat themselves but you can tell what year it was made sometimes by the case material. The marking for 1930 & 1940 are the same, but in 1940 yellow gold would probably not have been used. Rose gold was the primary material because the metals used to make jewelry alloys were needed for the war effort. Copper was added giving gold the pink hue.
Determing the age by looks
Last edited by Cattrina, 10/25/2009, 10:41 am
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10/25/2009, 10:32 am
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