Hi all,

haven't posted much here, but thought I'd do a little photo essay on the Waltham A-17, Bulova A-17A and Elgin A-17A - including a short comparison.

Waltham A-17










Bulova A-17A







Elgin A-17A






Bulova A-17A vs. Elgin A-17A





Waltham A-17 vs. Bulova A-17A vs. Elgin A-17A







Hope this was of interest - kind regards,

Billy

Speaking for myself, VERY much so.

One question I have is, were the Bulova cases made of stainless steel or base metal?

This has been of GREAT interest to me. Thank you for posting these comparison photos.

HIGH regards! Mark

Billy,

Thanks for taking the time and effort for your post. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures.

Regards,

Bob

Nice collection of A-17's. I realy like the bracelet with pilot wings.

Thank you. Fine images and a great collection of A-17's.

Do you have any information as to the dates these three companies recieved their contracts and produced the A17?

Best regards,
Greg

Thanks for all the kind replies.

Unfortunately I don't have the original Specifications for the A-17, nor the ammendments for the A-17A. From all the examples I've come across in the past 8 yrs (and info from fellow collectors) it seems that the following info is correct in regard to contract dates:

Waltham A-17: 1950, 1952, 1956

Bulova A-17A: 1956, 1959

Elgin A-17A: 1956, 1959

Perhaps other members would like to comment ?

Kind regards,

Billy

I also really like the pilot wings bracelet. After looking closely and thinking it was a shame that two pairs of pilot's wings had been sacrificed to make the bracelet (I have a fair sized personal collection of WW II era wings and so have a special appreciation of them) I noticed that this was not the case. They are not real pilot's wings - they are a retailer's or a jeweler's interpretation of pilot's wings to make this wonderful bracelet. Anyway, I really like it. Regular bracelets made up from a single pair of wings and some links soldered on each end are quite common, but I have never seen a watch bracelet like this.

Too bad the pictures got messed up. This was the best photo comparison on the web.

Agree. I am trying to work on one of my friends Waltham A-17. It has a busted dial, and the hands are broken off (story as I understand it is that his father-in-law was knocked over while walking down the hallway of a VA hospital therefore crushing the dial and somehow he hands were also ripped off). I am trying to determine what the originals looked like and also if the seconds hand stem is broken off inside. Would be nice to see someone pull these from the old archive!

There's little value to this topic without the pictures. That's why for the long term, it's best to upload your pictures here rather than using a 3rd party hosting service like photobucket.

I would really like to see & copy those pictures. The my Bulova website could really use the pictures to settle some on going disputes. Along with the Military Specification and the Technical Repair Manual.