Bulova 1921 Lady Maxim

Member for

1 year 6 months
Submitted by fatmercer on March 9, 2022 - 8:24am
Manufacture Year
1921
Movement Model
AAI
Movement Jewels
15
Movement Serial No.
33213
Case Serial No.
1091400
Case shape
Cushion
Case color
Yellow
Case Manufacturer
American Standard
Crystal details
17mm
Gender
Ladies
Watch Description

Info on movement:

AF RS
15 Jewels
BULOVA W. Co.
3 ADJ
A.A.I.
33213
Swiss, and possibly the number 51

Info on inside case:

American Standard
25 years
14k Gold Filled
1091400
Monogram Quality

-
-
-
-
-

Member for

14 years
mybulova_admin
Posted March 10, 2022 - 5:17am

Note the case engraving ||||   /\   /\   meaning 4 0 0 (last three digits of the case serial number)

I'd date this at around 1922/23 as a Bulova Lady Maxim.

Member for

1 year 6 months
fatmercer
Posted March 10, 2022 - 6:19am

Thank you! Can you please explain the case engraving and serial number to me? Or point me in the direction of an explanation (such as a link)? Thank you very much! 

Member for

5 years 6 months
Kathy L.
Posted March 10, 2022 - 2:59pm

Agree with Bulova Lady Maxim

Member for

14 years
mybulova_admin
Posted March 10, 2022 - 6:24pm

In the 1920s Bulova had a practice of hand marking the case back with the last 3 digits of the case serial number. To make this task easier they used roman numeral, using an upside down V to indicate '0', as it was tricky to hand etch a circle. So in your case the last three digits of the case serial number are 400 or as you can see the hand engraved  IIII  /\  /\

When Bulova produced a case they needed to separate the back part from the middle or bezel block and in order to make sure the pieces fitted together properly later on and not get mixed up with other cases, they would quickly mark the back and/or bezel piece so they they could all be married together at final assemble to avoid the different case parts getting swapped and as such not fitting correctly.

This process made sure all the case parts belonged to one-another when assembled.

Member for

1 year 6 months
fatmercer
Posted March 11, 2022 - 7:16am

Wow! Thank you! This is super information and until you pointed it out, I had not noticed those scratchings. 

Member for

12 years 11 months
plainsmen
Posted March 11, 2022 - 1:43am

I'm good with the Lady Maxim.  Almost 100 years old now.

Member for

1 year 6 months
fatmercer
Posted March 11, 2022 - 7:18am

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. This is fascinating. This was in my uncle's watch collection and I'm really enjoying learning about it. The insight provided so far allowed me to do some further online research. According to the theoretical timeline on this site (http://m.watchophilia.com/general-information/determining-the-date-of-a…), this watch would be a 1921 model. What makes you think 1922 or 1923 instead? Thanks!

Member for

14 years
mybulova_admin
Posted March 13, 2022 - 1:15am

Thanks for the comment. I've done another search of case/move,ent serial numbers and would now tend to agree that the watch might be 1921.

31279 - 1087567 - 1921 - Lady Maxim - AAI

33213 - 1091400 - 1923 - Subject Watch - AAI

33372 - 1069107 - 1921 - Lady Maxim - AAI

Updating accordingly to 1921.