Bulova 1973 Debut

Member for

1 year 2 months
Submitted by Douglas Crossen on July 21, 2022 - 4:28am
O
Manufacture Year
1973
Movement Jewels
23
Case Serial No.
W52732
Case shape
Oval
Case color
White
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Gender
Ladies
Watch Description

Referencing 1972 Vintage Bulova Ad - Courtesy of Fifth Avenue Restorations 

Debut P - matches the case seen/described, and the description overall seems to match the best
Debut H - matches the description of the face a bit better because it specifically mentions the blue and red lines (although it's more burgundy/teal)
Debut E/F - matches the band
All of these say 17 jewels, and since I do not know how to open to case (yet), I am going off the front which indicates 23. 

Also looks a bit like a Concerto or Laurel in various other ads I looked through in the forums. I have no real investment (other than more time than I'd like to admit) in whether this watch is any of the above models, or something I did not find. I did have fun though! Please excuse any amateur mistakes in my findings. Happy to learn, and open to critique :) **The 5th image is suppose to be a close up of the watch band, which is 5mm wide and stretches. On the back says "Speidel U.S.A. Pat 3.307.349"

Front of watch showing an oval concave watch face with blue lines in place of 12, 3, 6, 9, and red lines in between. Centered in top half it says Bulova, centered in bottom it says 23
Right side of watch showing the crown with an engraved B
Left side of watch to give better view of the edges, which are slightly sloped on the left and right side of the the case.
Back of watch reads 10Kt Rolled Gold Plate Bulova N3 at the top, and W52732 at the bottom

Member for

1 year 2 months
Douglas Crossen
Posted July 21, 2022 - 4:54am

Supporting Ad

Member for

14 years
mybulova_admin
Posted July 21, 2022 - 7:35am

Your watch is a good match for a 1973 Bulova Debut "O" if the case is white gold.

1973 Bulova Debut "O" & "P"

Member for

1 year 2 months
Douglas Crossen
Posted July 21, 2022 - 2:03pm

Wow, that looks exactly like it! Thank you! Did I miss this in the resources available on here? I thought I looked at everything in my scavenger hunt lol.

To answer your question though, it does appear to be white gold to me, but I'm happy to take more pictures if that helps.

Member for

5 years 6 months
Kathy L.
Posted July 21, 2022 - 9:53am

Pretty little watch and nice ad match.  I am going to go with the linebook as they would have been the most accurate.

1973 Bulova Debut "O"

Member for

14 years
mybulova_admin
Posted July 21, 2022 - 5:56pm

I just realized that the top catalog listing shows the "P" as 17J and the one I added as "23". Strange.

Doug, the panel has access to a number of official Linebooks which we use to help with the identification process.

Member for

1 year 2 months
Douglas Crossen
Posted July 22, 2022 - 6:39pm

That is odd. I wonder how many ads conflict with the Linebooks like that. I appreciate the clarification. I wanted to use all the resources I had before making a post, so for a minute I thought I had overlooked something. Thank you for identifying the watch :)

 

Member for

8 years 4 months
neetstuf-4-u
Posted July 21, 2022 - 6:39pm

 1973 Bulova Debut "O" per the linebook

To elaborate a little on Stephen's linebook statement; the linebooks were Bulova in-house catalogs not available to the general public. Bulova has graciously provided us access to aid us in identifying watches for the collector community.

Member for

1 year 2 months
Douglas Crossen
Posted July 22, 2022 - 6:41pm

I see, that is really cool for them to provide those! I understand now why I did not find them in my search lol. Thank you!

Member for

1 year 2 months
Douglas Crossen
Posted July 22, 2022 - 6:59pm

Thank you all for the information, and identifying the watch!

I think now I need to give this Bulova Debut "O" the proper attention. Should I take this to a local jeweler, or could I do this myself as a beginner? I like to learn things on my own so I can do them myself, but until I gain more watch knowledge/experience, I am not sure if it's advisable for me to learn on this one.