This one is a very odd duck. Starting with the rotor which says it is an 11AOACB, it clearly is an ETA rotor and not the in-house Bulova 11AOACB rotor (in the photo I replaced it with a Bulova 1133.10 rotor the original is shown in the last 2 photos, which should be correct for Bulova's ETA 2879 used in watches of this time period). When you zoom in on the rotor you can see that it has been somewhat sloppily engraved; the letters don't all line up, some of the parts of the letters are incomplete (the 'W'), some parts are too long, etc. Very odd. I figured someone just modded the rotor to make it the correct movement for what the case number (8015) says it should be. A one off. But then I came across this video on youtube showing someone servicing a Bulova, and it has the same style modded rotor! Like that one, mine is also an ETA 2789-1, not what would be correct for Bulova, the 2879-1. Very bizarre.
Then there is the case number which calls for a gold colored case with a crystal that is not close to the shape of this crystal. So the caseback is not a match for the watch. The gold hands and markers with a stainless steel case are also suspect, but not unheard of. The lumed hands with no lume on the dial is also off.
However, the Bulova dial looks to fit this case perfectly, the minute track exactly follows the shape of the case and crystal. Now I'm thinking it may be the correct Bulova case and dial with a movement swap along with a, for some reason, caseback swap. But then I came across this watch for sale in Korea:
It looks like the same watch but with a green (?) dial, same case and bracelet. That watch has "Swiss Made" (did Bulova ever put "Swiss Made" and not just "Swiss" on the dial?) at the bottom of the dial whereas mine has "-T Swiss T-". But, it looks like it also has the same caseback. Both say, "Base Metal Bezel", and they both are stainless steel and the serial numbers are not all that far off from one another. So that watch is not totally kosher either. Interestingly, that one has lume on the dial to go with the hands.
I messaged the seller I bought my watch from and he said that he acquired the watch from a woman at an estate sale about 10 years ago who bought it and two other Bulova's for her husband.
I'm wondering if anyone recognizes the dial or case or might have any more information on the watch.
So many questions Dave! Let's start with a 1977 Bulova Line Book showing this watch on this bracelet but with a white dial. Does this look right? The book doesn't give any more details than what is pictured below.
Wow, it actually exists! Yes, that does look like my watch. I do notice that the minute track in the Linebook photo is at the top of the hour markers (like in the green dial version I showed above), while on mine the minute track is at the top of some of the hour markers and runs through the middle of some of the others. The bracelet looks slightly different in that the end links on the Linebook photo are flush with the lug cutout while on mine they get a little wider on the bottom of the endlink and extend past the lug cutout.
Still, it looks like my watch is at least based in reality and not a complete Frankenwatch :)
Looks to be a match to the case. I am not so worried about the minute track as the black dial could have had differences. Definitely a variant of this watch but no confirmation of model number.
Wondering if the dial was refinished. Seeing the green and now the black wonders me if Dave's watch and the green dial started life in white? I'm inclined to ID using the "Model 12656-5Y" designation as it clearly matches the case.
In reply to Wondering if the dial was… by Geoff Baker
A redial is definitely possible . The translation I got from the Korean page with the green dial comes out as (emphasis mine), "[Rare] Vintage Bulova N7 Turtle Hexagon Khaki National Color Bubbusi Bulsul ver. This is a vintage Bulova N7 Turtle model with a rare angular hexagonal case. It has a unique design and a jumbo size, so it has a definite presence on your wrist. The turtle shell shape is very attractive. Before transfer, I spent a lot of money on the entire top-quality polishing, matte khaki (national color) restoration, glass replacement, and date wheel replacement."
Not a great translation but it sounds like it could have been a redial. It's possible mine is a redial, nothing jumped out at me when I serviced it other than the text at the bottom (T Swiss T) is somewhat cut off by the crystal/case.
