Dating a bulova watch

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Similarly, the date of the case often can be partially determined by the case serial number. Many watch styles from the 1980s and beyond were quite varied, making it difficult to pinpoint a specific style to a specific decade.

The reason: There have been a dating a bulova watch of watch manufacturing companies that have come and gone over the custodes. In about 1958 at the behest of NASA, Bulova applied the Accutron technology to devices which could be used for precision timing on satellites. For a list of those codes, visit. As a result, the burden has fallen to collectors. The presence of a met crown will add another piece to the puzzle. Note that the full date chart includes variations of two-character codes sometimes seen on watches as early as 1946. On the top floor of the Observatory an expert mathematician took readings that were simultaneously recorded on a chronograph located in the north floors of the building. An integral component of U. The serial numbers on these watches do not appear to have any date correlation, leaving the movement as the only method for dating the watch. Bulova wrist watches were made popular by two different aspects. Too are images showing the two patent dates that often cause confusion. Locate the date code.

These later watches are invariably made outside the United States, as many Bulova watches were at that time, and so they do not follow the usual marking conventions. If this is the case for your watch, you will need to unlock the crown by turning it toward you. Engineers and scientists were unsure if a mechanical timekeeping device would work properly in zero-gravity, so it was desired to have both the reliability and accuracy of the electronic Accutron movement. It is the most spectacular breakthrough in timekeeping since the invention of the wrist watch.

About this item - Rounded faces were still common, especially early in the era, but rectangular faces were more prevalent in the later part of the decade. This will give a good idea of the manufacture date.

I recently got myself the Bulova Moon Watch, a reproduction released by the brand earlier this year. For those of you unaware, the watch is based on an unofficial prototype worn by Astronaut David Scott during the Apollo 15 mission. Bulova naturally seized on the hype, and released their homage to that now iconic watch later that year. The Bulova Moonwatch re-edition. Now, as fascinating as this all is, I prefer to dig a little deeper on the watches I buy, so I started doing some research. Specifically, I wanted to know the differences between the original and the current reproduction, so I started with the movement. In my research, there was confusion whether the original had a Valjoux 72 or 7736. That was totally unexpected, but being as curious as I am, I found find myself falling down a rabbit hole, one that I learned was filled with many dubious leads. Two decades ago, I helped Chuck Maddox on his moon watch research. Chuck gracefully credited my contributions. Back then, I spent days looking through various books, micro-film, and perused all the publicly available NASA image libraries. To put a fine point as to how good Internet-age collectors have it, today this type of research would take an afternoon. The story goes like this. Bulova, among others, failed the initial moon watch testing in 1965. In 1972, brands that previously failed got a second chance when NASA embarked on the Second Qualification Program, something that was heavily promoted by General Bradley, President of Bulova. Out of the 16 participating firms, only two eagerly complied—Omega and Bulova. Bulova, at the time an American company, assumed the law would automatically provide them a shield. Omega devised a workaround and turned to two companies to help them comply with this Act. The stainless steel case was manufactured in Luddington, Michigan by Starr Watch Case Company. The complete case and crystals were then sent to Hamilton Watch Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for inspection and testing. Finally, the watches were sent to Switzerland for final assembly and installation of the movements by Omega. Bulova at the time did not have any chronograph movements. Instead, it is believed that Bulova procured 16 complete Swiss chronographs from their subsidiary, Universal Genève, having acquired ownership of UG in 1967. The letters specifically cite the 16 watches procured through Universal Genève, and in them is a cost breakdown of all components. Note the similar model numbering. It would be logical to assume that in 1972, Bulova performed extensive cosmetic changes to the dial, hands, case and pushers to make their watch a clone of the Speedmaster, a watch already familiar to Apollo Astronauts. Then I stumbled across this vague catalog image that I had seen shared on forums before. Take a close look. The search, I must admit, was rather haphazard as it mostly resulted in broken links. This yielded multiple hits to an Antiquorum auction result at the Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues on April 9th, 1994. Another moon watch had been found. Considering the newly discovered Bulova, the owner of that watch now has something incredibly rare at an absolute bargain. The overall picture is a bit clearer now. One can conclude that Universal Genève did in fact produce multiple copies of that particular watch, and that the Bulova prototypes are indeed Swiss in origin. And that initial question about the movement? The entire narrative of the Bulova watch that went to the moon proves that for watch lovers, there remain many discoveries still left to be made. And with every new inquiry, more questions arise. For fans of the reissued Bulova Moon Watch, owning a timepiece connected to an awesome bit of history need not cost an arm and a leg. As a collector who splurged during the glorious dotcom 1. Now married with two kids and a mortgage, his watch tastes and pursuits are more down-to-earth. His other interests involve design history, technology, and collecting Star Wars Action figures. Hung grew up and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.