Here's a cool one that is really out of the ordinary for the time period. All stainless steel with a flush recessed hidden crown. I'm thinking this one wasn't a big seller, as it's really difficult to set and impossible to hand wind. Nevertheless, I like it and it keeps perfect time. Ad is dated 1958. Serial number appears to be an early one.
Dial appears to have been refinished, as the text style doesn't match ads or other 23's of the time period..
1956 Bulova 23 "R"
That would be a match to the 'R' variant. I've had a couple of these over time and they are definitely hard to wind and set. I agree that the dial is not original, as is that crown.
Gotta love thank wonky 7 indicator :-)
I see what you mean about being hard to set and wind.....could they buried that crown any deeper into the case. At first glance I would have put money on that the crown was missing.
Otherwise though, seems to be a good match for a 1956 Bulova 23 "R"
In reply to Gotta love thank wonky 7… by mybulova_admin
"Drunken 7". Don't know what's up with that; haven't broken it down yet to see if it moves or is fixed in that position. I suspect it's a victim of the dial re-finish. When the crown is pulled out, less than 1/2 of it is outside the bezel..........
In reply to "Drunken 7". Don't know what… by neetstuf-4-u
The crown placement probably seemed like a good idea at the time :-)
In reply to The crown placement probably… by mybulova_admin
It is like that on vintage Seiko. I have a few with recessed crowns. They usually are on non-manual wind watches and are for only setting the date. Makes me wonder if this was not a manual wind movement or just wasn't considered that important on a self wind.
1956 Bulova 23 R is a good match
Hi again NS4U
I was chuckling as I ran across this "23" : https://mybulova.com/watches/1956-bulova-23-11411 , as I recalled that you had a similarly printed dial on your this "23R", and thought it was a bad re-dial. My guess is that both of these are genuine Bulova dials, maybe to evoke the military watch vibe. Hard to say, but the printing on both are dead ringers for each other.
My trivial contribution.
Jimmy