This is a watch from my uncle that now passed away, so I do not have much information. It is a hand winding mechanical movement, I brought to a vintage watch repair shop and they said the movement is broken, it will probably need 300 Euro to repair + 100 Euro to reprint the dial, that would be more than the value of the watch. It would be nice if you can give me some info about the watch and if possible how to hand this situation: looks like the repair process is more expensive than the watch value. Thanks in advance!
Hello and welcome to myBulova. Did you get a photo of the movement when the repair shop opened it up? Is there a L0 on the back of the case and/or the movement that you are using to date it at 1950? Also can you confirm that the dial says Bulova please? I can not make it out, thanks.
In reply to Hello and welcome to by Kathy L.
Hi Kathy, thank you for your kind answer! Sorry for the quality of picture, now the watch is at the shop and I cannot make a better one... :( I didn't take a picture of the movement neither because I did not know how to open the case when the case back has no indents. I thought the marks to identify the production were those ones on the outside case back.
The shop said they need 3 weeks to prepare an estimate, so I will get it back in december...
Anyway I can confirm the print on the dial says Bulova and the logo is the same published by Andersok.
Our abilities to identify many European models is limited, but I do have an ad from Italy that I think is dated to the 1960s that shows the Bulova name on the dial and that same symbol under it. The watch in the ad is not the same as the your watch, but I think the dial with this symbol may be correct. If you are able to locate some datecodes on the watch and a movement model number, that will help greatly to narrow down a year. It is possible that the inside of the caseback has the case datecode. And in the early 60s we start to see case numbers stamped or engraved inside the casebacks. That number, if your watch has one, may be useful as well.
Here is the ad:
In reply to Our abilities to identify by Andersok
Hi Andersok, thanks for this very interesting picture! The logo on dial is the same, but this ad says that watch is automatic while my watch is hand winding, not sure if at that time automatic and hand winding were considered the same.
I will get back the watch in 3 weeks which is the time they need to create a quotation for the repair.... I tried to contact Bulova repair service in UK but they gave me the name of a repair shop who never answered my email. Do you now maybe some reliable repair shop in Italy?
If they confirm the repair will be above 400 Euro I don't know what to do...
Hello and Welcome to my Bulova.
So if I understand correctly, the shop that has it now is only going to do an estimate but not the actual repairs?
That would mean they are acting as a middleman and the cost will be significantly higher.
I'm assuming you are in the UK, and Bulova Service Centres will not repair vintage Bulovas, you want an independent repair shop/watchmaker. Ideally, you want a place that does the repairs on site, and they are most likely to be in the cities.
I would avoid the places that are jeweller's unless they have a watchmaker on site, otherwise they will send it out. Again, ideally you want to contact the watchmaker directly without any middleman. The average price for a CTR on an automatic watch should be around $250-$325, and may not include parts. (£145-£180)
Very often the service will equal or outstrip the value of the watch, but what you are doing is the required maintenance to keep the watch valuable. Even a Rolls Royce is much more valuable if it runs.
Some watchmakers are listed under the British Watch and Clockmaker's Guild (BWCMG) or The British Horological Institute. (BHI)
https://bhi.co.uk/find-a/repairer/
http://www.bwcmg.org/members-websites
In reply to Hello and Welcome to my by Reverend Rob
Hi Rob, thanks for your answer. Yes you are right: they are holding the watch for 21 days only to do a precise estimate, which is weird and it is possible they are sending it to somebody far away to have a techincal evalutation.
I am based in Italy, this shop is in Rome (orologeria Salucci) and I found it on the Bulova website as official repairer.
I have contacted another official repairer in Milan (Orotecnica) and they said they would have sent it to somebody else for an evaluation.
I have then contacted the official repairer in UK but they did not answer (Croydon).
Now my questions is: I can contact directly a watch repairer in UK or in Italy, but so far the price they have pre-estimated is not far from the price you are assuming... Is it worth at this point to contact directly a Bulova shop, if it exists in Italy?
They are correct, Sapphire crystals don't come in this shape. You should be able to get an acrylic crystal for this watch.
Bulova official repair centres won't repair the vintage ones as I say, unless they have a dealer who is also an independent watchmaker specializing in this. If you can get the watch serviced for around €200 that would be what I would expect, but not all markets are the same, it's possible Italy's prices are generally higher.
If you can find an independent watchmaker in Italy that will not send the watch away, that is the ideal situation.
