Bulova date codes
From 1950 Bulova stamped a letter for the decade and a digit for the year: N5 is 1975. Before that, a symbol on the movement.
A letter and a digit, usually near the serial number: N5, M7, A8.
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Often stamped near the set screw. We compare it with the case code.
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Sources checked · How we source numbers
How it works
Letter and digit
The letter is the decade, the digit the year inside it[1]. The code is on the case back, usually near the serial, and often on the movement near the set screw too[4]. Bulova skipped O, Q, R and S[3], which is why the 1980s are P and the 1990s T.
Where the sources disagree
A is the one ambiguous letter: A8 and A9 mean 2008 and 2009, but were also stamped in 1948 and 1949[1][2][3]. Another table writes those two years as 48 and J9[4]. The decoder gives both years for A8 and A9 and reads 48 and J9 as well, flagged. B (2010s) and C (2020s) come from collector sites only; the older lists stop at the A codes.
Case and movement
Case and movement were often made at different times, so their codes can be a year apart; a collector reports never seeing more than that, and a bigger gap suggests a re-cased watch[5]. Enter both codes and the decoder compares them; it never averages them.
What we couldn’t verify
- The pre-1950 symbol chart: it is a picture on collector and Bulova pages, and only the circle (1925, 1934, 1944) is given in words.
- Bulova’s own chart and its B and C letters: the page refused our requests.
- The claim that a 1926–1949 case serial’s first digit gives the year: one source only.
Decade letters and worked examples
The letters as our sources give them, then every example in those sources run through the decoder.
- L 1950–1959
- M 1960–1969
- N 1970–1979
- P 1980–1989
- T 1990–1999
- A 2000–2009A8, A9: also 1948, 1949
- B 2010–2019collector sites only
- C 2020–2029collector sites only
Letters as given by Watchscanning[2]; the skipped letters by The Watch Guy[3].
N5
from the source
The source says
1975[5]
Our decoder says
1975 open it
M7
from the source
The source says
1967[5]
Our decoder says
1967 open it
B4
from the source
The source says
2014[1]
Our decoder says
2014 open it
P2
from the source
The source says
1982[4]
Our decoder says
1982 open it
A0
from the source
The source says
2000[5]
Our decoder says
2000 open it
T9
from the source
The source says
1999[3]
Our decoder says
1999 open it
A8
from the source
The source says
1948 or 2008 (ambiguous; case style decides)[1]
Our decoder says
1948 or 2008 open it
circle
from the source
The source says
1925, 1934 or 1944 (decade from case style)[1]
Our decoder says
1925, 1934 or 1944 open it
Questions
How do Bulova date codes work?
From 1950 Bulova stamped two characters on the case back, usually near the serial: a letter for the decade and a digit for the year. The letters are L for the 1950s, M for the 1960s, N for the 1970s, P for the 1980s, T for the 1990s, A for the 2000s, B for the 2010s, C for the 2020s; O, Q, R and S were skipped. So M4 is 1964.
What year is a Bulova marked N5?
1975: N is the 1970s and 5 the fifth year of the decade. If the movement carries a different code, a year apart is common; more suggests a swapped movement.
What does A8 mean on a Bulova?
It can be 1948 or 2008. A is the one ambiguous letter: A0–A9 are the 2000s, but A8 and A9 were also stamped in 1948 and 1949, before the letter system. One collector table writes those years 48 and J9 instead, so sources disagree; the style of the case decides.
How old is my Bulova if it has a symbol instead of a code?
Then it was made between 1924 and 1949, when Bulova stamped a small symbol on the movement. Each symbol came back about every nine or ten years — a circle can be 1925, 1934 or 1944 — so the case and dial style pick the decade.
Can the serial number date a Bulova?
Not from 1950: use the date code. For 1926–1949 one collector site says the first digit of the case serial is the last digit of the year; other sources don’t confirm it, so we don’t decode serials.
More tools
- Seiko serial number lookupYear digit and month from the serial; the decade from the calibre.
- Timex date code lookupDial codes of mechanical Timex, and the case-back codes from 1985.
- Casio serial number lookupNo date in the serial: the module and model number instead.
- Watch serial number lookupWhat the serial of each brand can and can’t tell you.
Sources
Documents checked · Report a wrong number
- 1OttUhr — How Old Is My Bulova Watch? The Complete Bulova Date Code Guide · html · read
- 2WatchScanning — Bulova Date Code Decoder: Serial Number Lookup · html · read
- 3The Watch Guy — The Watch Guy: Bulova Serial Number Table & Manufacture Dates · html · read
- 4PocketWatchRepair.com (Renaissance Watch Repair) — Bulova Watch Company: History, Date-Codes and Date-Symbols · html · read
- 5Brittons Watches — Bulova watch list of serial numbers to date your watch · html · read