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Watches to wear with your flight jackets...

coolhandluke

Well-Known Member
Lucas
Thanks for that info. As you can see from the photos there’s nothing that tells that it was an A-11 as the wartime owner must have had all the info buffed off . How did you know that this is a Bulova ?

Some Bulova's had railroad track dials. Elgin and Waltham do not. Does the case look nickel plated like your Waltham or is it sterling?

There's an example of a sterling cased Bulova in the link below for reference.

 
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mlong0519

New Member
So as most of you know I picked up a nice original Waltham A-11 at the Show of Shows .
After wearing it for a while I fell into my same habit of trying to preserve the watch, since it was an original in nice shape . After talking to Pete ( PA12) he told me about a repro that looked really good. So I search it out and found a company in the UK that sells them and here it is . The price is reasonable at $60.00 . So it anyone is interested PM me and I’ll give you the website . Better yet I’ll post it here
Wow, looks like a great repro, thanks for mentioning it! I'm ordering one myself. As others have said, cheap enough to not care if something happens to it (as opposed to a Bulova repro).

Shame that the original bands are just a bit too skinny to fit nicely on there. Wonder if there's some workaround, though bushings/spacers would probably look "off". The repro band seems nice enough though.
 

coolhandluke

Well-Known Member
1946 Bubbleback just arrived back from service.

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pdR69Fm.jpeg
 

mlong0519

New Member
The watch looks great as is … however if you check on eBay there are several people selling original WWII watch bands . If you put one of those on this watch it will look even better. The watch on the right is the A-11 repro with an original band . The watch on the left in an original A-11.
For anyone who decides to pickup the Epicmilitaria A-11 repro, I found a workaround for getting a more original-looking band that fits properly (in 18mm width), since the true original bands appear to all be 5/8" width or smaller. I ordered the "M-1944C" and "M-1943C" from Haveston. The only downside is they're one-piece bands, but I think they look pretty good and are still much cheaper than getting a Bulova or Praesidus repro. In the attached photos, far left is Epicmilitaria band, center is the M-1943C, and right is the M-1944C.
-Mike
 

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coolhandluke

Well-Known Member
For anyone who decides to pickup the Epicmilitaria A-11 repro, I found a workaround for getting a more original-looking band that fits properly (in 18mm width), since the true original bands appear to all be 5/8" width or smaller. I ordered the "M-1944C" and "M-1943C" from Haveston. The only downside is they're one-piece bands, but I think they look pretty good and are still much cheaper than getting a Bulova or Praesidus repro. In the attached photos, far left is Epicmilitaria band, center is the M-1943C, and right is the M-1944C.
-Mike

Nato G10 offers canvas straps that resemble originals in an 18mm size (see link below). Buyer beware if purchasing the one piece straps as the advertised lug to lug distance was incorrect on a 16mm strap that I recently purchased. Stick to the two piece straps and you'll be good to go.

 

Pa12

Well-Known Member
Nato G10 offers canvas straps that resemble originals in an 18mm size (see link below). Buyer beware if purchasing the one piece straps as the advertised lug to lug distance was incorrect on a 16mm strap that I recently purchased. Stick to the two piece straps and you'll be good to go.

Cool. Cheap too. Think I’ll order one.
 
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