pocket watch handed down from my great-grandfather; face and hands look like Tuxedo model, but bow and case look more like a Buckingham; movement looks like double date coded 1941 or 1942 (both T and asterisk); hand etched number inside case back 89649; stamped number inside case back 1036628 would lean to 1941?
Thank you for posting this watch. We always struggle with the variations on the pocket watches as the ads are few and the variations are many. We see lots of combinations of dials, bows, cases, engraving etc. With a 1 serial number this is a 1941 and I would classify this as a generic 1941 Bulova Pocket Watch. By chance can you confirm what the number is in the small trapezoid on the movement to the left of the balance. Looks to be a 1 but would like confirmation.
In reply to Thank you for posting this… by JimDon5822
Thank you for the reply, all of the apparent combinations are interesting. I haven't seen any 1941's, so I thought it was something different, possibly the double date code on the movement would help ID some odd combination. The number in the trapezoid is a 10.
In reply to Thank you for the reply, all… by sudsmith
Thank you for the Trapezoid number 10 confirmation.
In reply to Thank you for the Trapezoid… by JimDon5822
No problem, thanks to you all for all of the information. Any idea what the 10 signifies? The only references I found mentioned a single digit indicating the last year of the decade of the movement's manufacture.
1941 Bulova Pocket Watch
Proper name as of yet unknown
Seems reasonable to tag it as a 1941 Bulova Pocket Watch. I think that the watch should be dated to the case year (1941).
Thinking we could date to 1942, based on the double stamp indicating this watch was probably sold in 1942 (T).
We could also date to 1941 for both the case and movement assembly dates.
I agree with the Tuxedo and Buckingham elements, so we either have a marriage of 2 models or an unknown model.
Is there a serial number of the back outside case?
In reply to Thinking we could date to… by mybulova_admin
The outside of the case back is clean, no numbers or any markings; I do also wonder about the hand etched number on the inside of the back, I originally thought it was something added by a family member for some type of identification, but I have seen pictures of a number of pocket watches with similar numbers in addition to the stamped serial number. Is this possibly the movement serial number, or some other identification added at assembly?
In reply to The outside of the case back… by sudsmith
The hand etched marking on the inside case back was done by a jeweller when servicing the watch. It's a code of numbers that means something to them for their record keeping. The more etching the more it's been serviced and maintained.
Beautiful example, thanks for sharing it!
1941 Bulova Pocket Watch