1962 Bulova Train Timer 'A'
Stainless steel case and back by Star, dated M0, waterproof case with gaskets for back, inside crown tube, and crystal opening; wonderful white dial, typical of railroad models, steel blue hands with red seconds, 'Transportation Special' writing; USA-made 10BNCHR 23-jewel hacking movement dated M2, has the correct micro-regulator and balance cover, as well as the dust cover, serviced by me and running accurately; proper oversized crown, smooth winding; I added the 19mm lug width vintage expansion band that has an 'X X' pattern, sort of railroad-ish.
Previous models in database labelled as 'Transportation Special', a model name not found in the linebooks or pricelists. Linebook 128, from 1965 has the match for these as Train Timer 'A' (stainless) and 'B' (gold filled).
Wow, the more I look at this the more I notice. It has all the hallmarks of a railway watch that were designed to stop anyone from tampering with the movement. It also has a fine adjustment regulator for precision timekeeping.
This is an amazing watch and an absolute first for myBulova.com
Bulova Train Timer "A"
I'm torn by the date. Yes we could say that Bulova used a previous stock of watch cases to house the 10BNCHR movement, but the case back that is stamped M0 (1960) looks like is was made for this watch as the railroad specs in mind.
So is it 1962 or 1960?
A two year span is not unusual, but I would consider this a 1962, as it would not be an option to sell a watch in 1960 with a '62 movement. Of course, we don't know when it was sold or if these used M0 stock cases. Perhaps we need more of these to compare. I only find M0 stainless cases on a few available web searches for this watch. Odd that the model is not seen until: pricelists(1964), linebooks(1965), or ads(none)
There are two other examples in the database, called Transportation Special (could be changed to Train Timer).
1st - 1960 M0 case, movement date ?
2nd - 1960 M0 case, M2 movement, same concerns about M0 and M2
FYI: Train Timer model name was also used for a 17-Jewel pocket watch 1961+
In reply to A two year span is not… by Andersok
I would strongly suspect that the movt is a replacement. If this was a service watch, similar to the RR watches decades before, it would have been kept in top condition. This would sometimes mean a complete movt swap. I see this often in RR pocket watches, as absolutely no regard is given for original completeness, and every regard is given for accuracy and reliability.
My vote would be that this is indeed a 1960 Train Timer.
In reply to Anyone know where I can get… by jared.riffe