This was my Mom's watch and after reading up on how to figure out the year it was made etc. I also found some interesting writing on the inside of the back cover curious to know what it is? Can't seem to find the name of the watch. On the movement N4, 5BD On the inside of the back cover which is 3642 and with the most magnified setting on my loop I found this on one side that had been engraved G361641488RS and the other side G683011879RS the R and S look to be more personalized with a slight cursive loop in R
Nice watch, and a nice heirloom, thanks for sharing! I started out looking for a 1974, and found no matches. Looking at the movement a second time, it has a second stamp that is "N7". Presto! I found a match in the 1977-1979 Linebook under "1978 Bulova Ladies Assortment - J.C. Penny"
Watch is shown with "23" on the dial; which yours lacks, but your watch houses a 23 Jewel movement. It appears the watch didn't have a name at this point and was identified only by the number "1939". I don't know if this number is Bulova or JC Penny.
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At this point (still looking) I'm at
1977 Bulova Unknown ...to me
In reply to Nice watch, and a nice… by neetstuf-4-u
In reply to Thank you so much just… by supaxtreme1
The movement was produced / assembled one year and not used, so it was stamped again when it was installed in a watch, It's entirely possible Bulova produced more high quality 23 J ladies movements than demand for more expensive mechanical watches in 1974, and it took a few years to use them up. Quartz and Accutron watches were increasing in popularity, and the majority of mechanical Ladies Bulovas at the time were 17 jewels.
The curious engraved writings you see in the case back are jeweler's marks. In days past, when a watchmaker serviced or repaired a watch, he often signed it with his own code to keep track of what was done, who did it and when. Movement is 5BD, the ink stamped number on case back interior is the case style.
