Bulova Super Seville - repairs and upgrades

[drewq]

Hi RWI,

I have just picked up a Bulova Super Seville dating from 1979. Although not exactly a Rolex Day Date replica, it is a pretty obvious homage.

I purchased the watch for pretty cheap with a few known flaws that I am hoping to address. A great post by Gamba66 suggest that the Bulova shares a lot of parts with the Rolex Datejust, but I am getting conflicting information online.

1. Crystal
I am hoping to replace the crystal with a sapphire upgrade that still has a cyclopse. The only measurements for the stock crystal I can find are on this link which measures the crystal at 29.2mm/30.2mm. Googling seems to suggest that a Rolex Datejust crystal is around 30.4mm/29.5mm. Would a standard Rolex Datejust crystal fit? Complicating things further, Raffles sells two sapphire crystals - one for Datejust replicas with ETA 2824/2834 and one for 3135 Rolex movement, I believe due to different date window placement. The Bulova has a 2834, so I presume the former is required.

2. Bezel
Similar story to above. This link suggests that the inner diameter of the Bulova is 30.2mm, yet Rolex bezels seem to be 30.4mm. Are these measuring tolerances that will not cause issues in fitment, or do I need to find a bezel with exactly the same dimensions

3. Bracelet
Hopefully, this is the easiest one. It looks that the Bulova can use a Rolex Day Date President bracelet without any issues. Raffles sells one that looks to have the same flattened end links, however, I have seen a few posts that Raffles items arent the greatest quality. Does anyone have any suggestions for bracelets (either President or Jubilee)?

Thanks in advance. I hope to document my journey with replacing these items on the watch in order to have a bit more information available online. Any help would be appreciated.

Drew

 

[drewq]

 

[JDM180]

Subbed , I own a gold one which took me almost 2 years of searching to get at a decent price , brilliant watches. I wondered too about the compatibility of some Rolex parts. It would be nice to swap a solid gold bezel and maybe a better date mag crystal. Though the gold is apparently genuinely wrapped on these and mine looks every bit like real gold.

 

[mslucas]

All these years, and I am interested in learning the same for a recent purchase, the same watch, only is from the t3 line so does not say super-seville.

Any information on what Dials, crystals, crowns, etc. that would be great. Hoping to build on it for a friend.

 

[drewq]

Any information on what Dials, crystals, crowns, etc. that would be great.

Hopefully, I can be of some assistance

I went to my local watchmaker who was about to buff out more scratches on the crystal than I was about to achieve with Polywatch alone. I found a couple of other reports of 30.2mm crystal size but nothing concrete. CousinsUK has a number of generic acrylic crystals. After doing some measuring of the cyclops installed, I guessed that the CH302/100 (30.2mm diameter, the centre of cyclops 10.0mm from the center of the crystal would be most likely the best fit, however, the 2.7mm height would seem to be different to the standard 2mm. I am unsure if the T3 model would be different.

As for the dial, I occasionally have seen stock Bulova Super Seville dials for sale on eBay - here is one. I have seen that seller post a few over the weeks. If you were going for more of a replica build, you could purchase a Raffles Rolex/Tudor Day-Date dial that s designed to fit on the 2834 movement and will hopefully fit the Bulova case.

Crown - also available on eBay. You could also likely replace it with a Raffles Rolex/Tudor replica.

Hands - Raffles once again sells hands that fit the 2834 movement. I purchased a set of the silver ones, as I didn't like the older style fat Bulova hands and the lume was completely faded. Very happy with the result.

As for the bezel....well no luck so far. My watchmaker suggested removing the bezel and having it re-plated with Rhodium. I will give that a go and see how it goes.

 

[mslucas]

Hopefully, I can be of some assistance

That's a huge help, thank you for taking the time to provide more details on your research and findings. It's extremely difficult to find the data on these 80s era Swiss Made, Homage watches (including a Sandoz ETA-2872 21J movement I picked up (oversee's ebay seller). I've been trying focus on vintage watches that don't have the glass back. These are typically less desirable and of a lower quality.

 

[mslucas]

As for the bezel....well no luck so far. My watchmaker suggested removing the bezel and having it re-plated with Rhodium. I will give that a go and see how it goes.

I am on the hunt for a Bezel replacement either preferably 18k, and will post an update if the mission succeeds. Also read somewhere that there is 1mm variance in some of the gen bezels anyways.

 

[JDM180]

I am on the hunt for a Bezel replacement either preferably 18k, and will post an update if the mission succeeds. Also read somewhere that there is 1mm variance in some of the gen bezels anyways.

Just curious , why ? I was really impressed with the gold on the bulova

 

[mslucas]

Mine has not arrived yet, but from the pictures looks to be some significant wear, and also, targeting a nicer bracelet, so will likely want to either remove and plate, or dip, or find a good deal on NOS

 

[drewq]

and also, targeting a nicer bracelet

Raffles sells a president bracelet with "flat end pieces" that looks like it would fit the Bulova. I am contemplating pulling the pin and getting one to see. Comes in all stainless, two tone, and all gold.

 

[JDM180]

Stock bracelet is nicer than the raffles

 

[drewq]

Stock bracelet is nicer than the raffles

I have never worn a raffles bracelet so I wouldn't know.

My stock bracelet is about 1 link too short for me (currently I have a jubilee link wedged in there to lengthen it), and a few of the links are rusted together and do not articulate. I have looked at getting a stock replacement but there aren't many around. I am considering the Raffles as a cheap replacement that I don't care if it gets a scratch or two.

 

[jeffmagic]

Greetings! I too have a nice Super Seville. I have already ordered a replacement stock bracelet, which I really only need for a link or two. In hope, will end up with two bracelets big enough for normally sized wrists.
The trouble is the bezel - the rhodium plating is wearing off, and what looks to be brass is showing from underneath. I have my eye on a nice white gold bezel for the datejust/daydate, but will it fit? Or is there a way to find a quality bezel that will?

 

[drewq]

I have already ordered a replacement stock bracelet, which I really only need for a link or two.

If you don't mind me asking - where did you get the replacement bracelet and how much was it? I have only seen a couple for sale on ebay and they have sold for a fairly high price.

The trouble is the bezel - the rhodium plating is wearing off, and what looks to be brass is showing from underneath. I have my eye on a nice white gold bezel for the datejust/daydate, but will it fit? Or is there a way to find a quality bezel that will?

From speaking to a couple of others on this forum, most notably Gamba66, it doesn't seem like the Datejust bezel's are interchangeable. Although Gamba66 may have a case with bezel for sale.

I spoke to my watchmaker - he suggested removing the bezel and re-plating it. I haven't been able to find a jeweller prepared to plate it, but coronavirus has closed most places near me which has stalled me. My current plan is to follow up on this.

 

[Mcblow]

Greetings! I too have a nice Super Seville. I have already ordered a replacement stock bracelet, which I really only need for a link or two. In hope, will end up with two bracelets big enough for normally sized wrists.
The trouble is the bezel - the rhodium plating is wearing off, and what looks to be brass is showing from underneath. I have my eye on a nice white gold bezel for the datejust/daydate, but will it fit? Or is there a way to find a quality bezel that will?

Also interested to know where you purchased the bracelet as i have been unable to find? contemplating the rolex one from raffles as cant find anything

 

[drewq]

contemplating the rolex one from raffles as cant find anything

I ended up purchasing the Rolex President bracelet from Raffles and it didn't fit nearly as well as I had hoped. Also, the hollow end link is not removable, and the individual adjustable links are not compatible with the bulova stock bracelet, so I couldn't even interchange parts to make a reasonable bracelet.

The big issues I see with the raffles bracelet on the bulova are:
- the bracelet sits really low on the case, with the top of the bracelet about a millimeter above the top of the bracelet
- there is a lot of movement with the end link, and when tension is put on the bracelet (eg wearing it) the end link rotates up and back and leaves a big gap to the case.
- The included spring bars are significantly thinner than the space for them in the endlink, contributing to the excess play above
- The clasp is not particularly well designed, with the locking mechanism welded on. I suspect it will break soonish.

Personally I wouldn't recommend the bracelet, although I do not have a good alternative to recommend. I have taken a bunch of photos. Let me know if you want any more - https://imgur.com/a/3wuPla0