Any Idea what model and year for this watch. The year I selected was a guess from what else I've researched.
This is a 1927 (note the American Standard signature) Unknown, a different engraving style of the Debutante.
Very unusual engraving. Unknown for me.
Good to know that this case style was used for both 1927 and 1928 case stampings.
To be honest the more I think about this the more I think we sometimes overthink these things when it comes to case engraving (the irony).
I'm of the opinion that this watch is a 1927 Bulova Debutant, despite the engraving being different from what is commonly used in the adverts.
I just can't see Bulova releasing 2 exactly the same looking watches with a slight variation in engraving design and then calling them something different.
So for me 1927 Bulova Debutante gets my vote.
Can anyone show 2 watches that are the same shape and style, that differ in case engraving only, that had 2 different model names in the same year?
Bulova had 8 engraving variants of this model. Together, I call them the debutante family. One of those got a different name: Rosalind. Five of the engraving styles used in the Debutante family were also used for square men’s watches. They all got different names: Senator, Ambassador, Brewster (having the engraving style of the subject watch), Athlete (the men’s version of the Rosalind) and Revere. Hence I would NOT call the subject watch Debutante.
In reply to Bulova had 8 engraving… by Alex
Alex, how many ladies' watches use this case design in 1927 and 1928?
Just the 1928 Rosalind and Debutante? What others from these years also share the case design?
In reply to Alex, how many ladies'… by mybulova_admin
I have 68 watches of the full Debutante family in my database. 15 are Rosalind. 18 are the original Debutante. 17 have the engraving like the subject watch. They came with a regular dial or radium dial.
In reply to I have 68 watches of the… by Alex
Sorry maybe my question wasn't clear enough. How many ladies' models from 1927 and 1928 share this case shape?
We have seen time and time again watches in the flesh that don't match the advert, yet we are still happy to ID them accordingly. We know that both newspaper adverts and official Bulova advertisements don't always match the case engraving variants we see in the wild. There are numerous examples I can give.
Without any indication to the contrary, I think we can be a bit more forgiving when a watch engraving doesn't perfect match the adverts, which as we know often used the same print block across the years.
For now, my belief is that this watch is the Debutante and until we find an advert to the contrary I suggest we ID as such. Although I suspect we'll never find a matching advert showing this exact engraving.
From your 68 examples it sounds like you have 4 (or more) possible engraving variations, yet we have only ever seen 2 model names. Could that not suggest one of the known models had engraving variants? Is that not possible?
In reply to Sorry maybe my question wasn… by mybulova_admin
Stephen - I default, as you know, to sticking with adverts to the extent it's possible. Short of and ad showing this as anything I have to stay with Unknown.
In reply to Alex, how many ladies'… by mybulova_admin
The non-engraved 'UNKNOWNS', same 6AF movement. Bulova 1927 -Unknown | myBulova.com