I believe this to be a 1937 MInute Man model C based on the advert here: http://www.mybulova.com/sites/default/files/vintage_ads/bulova-ad-1937-… was purchased on ebay and is in beautiful shape I think. The side of the case had one little dent which I was able to massge mostly out with a pointed piece of wood. Only a slight interruption in reflection betrays it now. The face is a slightly yellower patina than my pics show me on my monitors. Kind of a slghtly gold-toned off-white. It's just beautiful. The bracelet is what came on it and looks to be old but I'm not completely enthralled with it and it's a bit small for my wrist. I see in some of the 1938 adverts that the Minute Man was provided with a leather strap. I'd rather go that route and if someone could show me a good pic of an example strap, style and color that would be period appropriate I'd really appreciate it. I'll look through the adverts and member watches too. So do I have it right? 1937 Minute Man? And am I really going to wear an 81 year old watch to work occasionally?
Thanks!
Certainly looks like a Bulova Minute Man to me. Variant seems to depend on the strap and I would say that the band you have on yours is from a later time period.
I couldn't agree more about the band.
Would just a simple leather strap been something the factory would have installed? I looked through the adverts and it seems to be just all over the place.
Any advice as to a "proper" band?
Leather would be a safe bet, as the originals look to be the open metal bracelet type.
The original ladder bands from this era are actually quite fragile. There are a lot of high quality leather bands being made right now, big names as well as small.
I agree that this is a Minute Man model. Short of the original link type bracelets, which are out there if you look long and hard enough, I would go with a nice brown pigskin strap on this beauty.
MM it is
Bulova Minute Man it is. Movement date stamp is indeed 1937, but serial number starting with an 8 indicates it was cased in 1938, so technically it's a 1938. I agree with Geoff on band choice - brown pigskin leather would be really nice. The original style link bracelets are still out there. Unfortunately, by today's standards, most that survived as new old stock are a little short to wear if your wrist is 7" or bigger. I would personally go the route 5th Ave. did, like this one.
