Help identifying grandfather’s watch

Submitted by multifacetedsearch on

Hi everyone! My grandfather passed away a few years ago and I inherited his bulova watch. I lost my home in a fire this year and only have limited information and a few pictures to go off as I search for a replacement. The watch was gold, rectangular, and had a faceted crystal.  I believe the crystal had a subtle peak in the middle formed by perpendicular bevels from 12 to 6 and 9 to 3. There were also (I think) small diamonds at 12, 3, and 9 o’clock.  I believe the watch was on an aftermarket bracelet (very nice solid gold braid).  The dial was close in color to the gold case.   Hands were gold. I’ve looked at all the tank style watches on this site and didn’t see anything exactly matching. Shape wise it seems to resemble a 1954 ardsley.  Please see my profile picture for reference.  Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. 

Geoff Baker
Posted December 4, 2025 - 1:06pm

Welcome - please click HERE to add your watch to our database and we will be glad to explore it's identification. Cheers!

JimDon5822
Posted December 4, 2025 - 8:56pm

So sorry to hear of the loss of your home and watch.  From the blurry photo of the lost watch I believe I found a close match.   While the picture shows the white case with Black dial, it shows it came in a yellow gold case most likely with a silver dial.   There is no name for this watch but the model is showing 30173Y. The crystal could have been replaced with a faceted one so that is not an issue.  

30173Y

multifacetedsearch
Posted December 4, 2025 - 11:40pm

In reply to by JimDon5822

Thank you for your compassion and for taking the time to respond! This does look very similar shape wise! Now to see if I can find a gold one…