I rediscovered this watch in my jewelry box a few months ago and had the vague memory that it was my grandmother’s watch but not the one she usually wore. I showed it to my mother and it looked familiar to her, but she was quite sure she hadn’t seen her mother wearing it. Usually we both remember things like this, so it is unfortunate that we don’t in this case.
From lots of enjoyable and educational looking around this website, I think it is likely that the watch is a Pater. I see a circle-shaped symbol on the movement by two screws near the crown, which I believe indicates it was made in 1925. I’m very interested to know if you concur with that style and date. 16 jewels seems to be unusual, and I wonder if there’s any information to be gleaned from that.
My grandmother graduated from high school in 1925 and then, in 1926, finished an extra year in another high school to learn secretarial skills. Her parents were farmers and their financial situation was such that it is very unlikely they would have bought her a gift like this watch. But she worked, boarded, and sometimes traveled with a wealthy family as a nanny so she could stay in Portland, Oregon to attend high school. Our leading theory is that they bought her the watch as a graduation gift. If so, my guess is that she wore it regularly for a while—it shows signs of wear on the back and has a chip on the sapphire—and then got another watch around the time of her marriage or when my mother was very young, which would be the mid-to-late 1930s. This is a lot of speculation, but if you notice anything about the watch that supports or confirms this theory or notice anything that might suggest anything else about its story, I’d love to know.
Another theory is that she found the watch at a yard sale. She always looked for finds and had some good ones.
The bracelet strap fits me well and I wonder if someone had it fitted for me. The bracelet seems to be newer and a different material from the watch and clasp, which both seem to be white gold, filled gold in the case of the watch. The clasp says, “Kreisler quality USA gold cont. .025-pat.2.064760.” That patent is from 1936 (https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/filingyr.htm), so the clasp is not the original.
We took the watch to a jeweler. The spring was broken, and we had it replaced. We had it cleaned, though asked for just a light dusting of the face. The watch is working now.
I’m enjoying wearing it and am not interested in selling it.
Dear KarinEg, thank you for sharing your wonderful story about your grandmother and this watch. The first name this watch received was “Patria” in a newspaper campaign launched in December 1924 and got confirmed in a full page ad in the Saturday Evening Post of September 1925. In December 1925 the name changed to Pater. Given your watch with case serial number 5009226 is from early 1925, I classify this watch as the Patria. A wonderful heirloom! The 16 jewel movement was introduced to avoid the high import tariffs on 17-jewel movements.
I'm with Alex -1925 Bulova Patria
In 1924 the watch also started out as a 'Bulova 6513', although with a 16 jewelled movement, it may have actually been a '6613', as the second number related to the jewel count (67xx = 17J, 65xx = 15J)
I would tend to agree that the case serial number suggests an early 1925 release.
Model name is tricky.
- June 6, 1925: Bulova 6513 (Quality filled version)
- Date unknown, 1925: Bulova 6513 (Quality filled version)
- September 26, 1925: Bulova Patria
- Date unknown, 1925: Bulova Pater
- Date unknown, 1925: Bulova Pater
- December 12, 1925: Bulova Pater
- December 13, 1925: Bulova Pater
From this we can determine that as at June 1925 it was still advertised as a '6513' and then in September 1925 it was a 'Patria', and then sometime post a 'Pater'.
Based on this and the suggestion that the case serial is early 1925, I would nominate a Bulova '6513', although the 16 jewelled versions may have been designated with the number '6613'.
1925 Bulova '6613' or '6513'
In reply to In 1924 the watch also… by mybulova_admin
Oh and what a wonderful family story.
In reply to In 1924 the watch also… by mybulova_admin
The first Unknown is from the November 1925 American Magazine. The second Unknown is a standard template provided to the jewellers by Bulova as support for their December 1925 newspaper ad campaign.
Thank you for all these comments and perspectives. I notice that all the gold filled versions of this watch in the ads are 15 jewels. And all the solid gold ones are also 15 jewels, except one that is 17 jewels. I wonder why the 16 jewel version is not in any of the advertisements.
Also, it's very interesting to know that the watch was made in early 1925. It's too bad I just missed getting to celebrate its 100th anniversary! Do any of you have a sense of when a watch made in early 1925 would have become available to purchase?
In reply to Thank you for all these… by KarinEg
This is a good question. It's very possible that Bulova had both case and movement stock in 1924 but stamped, assembled and sold them in 1925.
I think they were typically released in the Fall and Spring timeframes.
In reply to Thank you for all these… by KarinEg
For some reason, the 16 jewel movements were not advertised. In any case, they were in the portfolio for only a few years. For what I found, the watches were made to order so left Bulova immediately after being timed and assembled in their New York office. Stock was with the jewelers. How long the watches were there before they sold? Who knows!
In reply to For some reason, the 16… by Alex
It would be great to finally see the evidence that supports the notion that watches were made to order.
Can you share what you've found.