My partners uncle bought this watch from a charity shop in Manchester, where he lived. No idea how much he paid for it but he was a canny Scot and old school so it would have been no more than £20. I know he did a bit of research so he would have had some idea of what it was or he wouldn't have bought it. He passed away before I had a chance to talk to him about it so I don't know weather he intended to keep it or sell it. The watch has been passed to me. Im going to restore the watch and I'm looking for as much info as is available. I would love to find an image of the watch in its original state. I have searched the site and this exact model is not listed. As I understand it - from watching a similar watch being repaired - this watch should have two brackets/case clamps held with screws. Are they missing or am I wrong? Left hand side of image 2. Other side is hidden by rotor. Any information regarding this watch would be gratefully received.
Kind regards - Paul Murdoch
All watches added to myBullova are manually reviewed by the panel to ensure the model ID is as close as possible to beng correct. It also allows the panel to identify any variants for the model.
However with that all said, I've not been able to find and linebook or advert match to nominate a variant.
1973 Bulova Ambassador
Clearly an Ambassador but if we can' find it in our catalogs we have no way to know if it was mounted on a strap or a bracelet. my guess would be a bracelet because of the slight curve of the case but it's really just a guess. Sorry, I cannot answer the 'missing screws' question.
1973 Bulova Ambassador
In reply to The screw and clamp were not… by WildThng
In reply to Paul is asking about the… by WildThng
Hi all, many thanks for the replies. I should say right away that I know nothing about watches. I have decided to repair and restore this watch but I will be teaching myself using YouTube and any cheap watches I can find that are similar in design to my Ambassador. Once I feel ready I will tackle the Ambassador. My partners uncle never used the watch as it was broken and he had no emotional attachment to it other than the thrill of finding a hidden gem, so I have decided to restore it to its original state.
The watch winds and works but the hour and second hands cannot be set. They engage on the first few turns of the crown but then the friction is lost and the crown turns without moving the hands. You can feel something trying to turn the hands and then it becomes totally frictionless. Cannon pinion perhaps?
I will try to post some images showing exactly what I’m referring to when I talk about clamps and screws. If anyone wants to see the video I was referring to, the link is below and shows exactly the clamps and screws in question.
YouTube channel: My Retro Watches
YouTube video: Bulova Watch Restoration
Link to the video: https://youtu.be/IYBXWzZk5HU
The segment of interest starts at 6.08
Unable to find a variant; Ambassador
As for the clamp and screw, as mentioned these are not required with the existing movement ring. Once the back is on, it will press into the ring, which will hold the movement and dial in place. Ensure that a gasket it used. Here is a photo of the clamp and screw.
Your movement uses a frictionless cannon pinion on the center pipe. There is a separate driving wheel as part of the train of wheels that has the friction cannon pinion. These wheels are very tricky to get right, not too tight and not too loose where the hands are either difficult to set or do not move when running.
In my experience, this movement is more complicated than your basic manual wind or even automatic to work on. I would get plenty of practice working on simpler movements if you are just learning. Assuming this is very similar to the 11AOAC#, there are good service manuals available.