Caseback
Caseback with Bulova date code
ProbableA Bulova caseback carries a date code alongside the serial: a letter for the decade with a digit for the year within it. Recorded as a component because it is where the brand's dating lives, and because — like every caseback in this catalog — it can be swapped.
Part reference
- Brand
- Bulova
- Material
- Steel, gold-filled or solid gold by execution
- Identifying marks
- Letter-and-digit date code — L for the 1950s, M for the 1960s, N for the 1970s — with a serial number. Pre-1950 production used a symbol system instead.
Documented variations
Classification
FactoryDocumented as shipped from the factory for this reference and period.PeriodNot original to this watch, but correct for its production period.ServiceFitted by the manufacturer's own service network. Not a defect.AftermarketThird-party part. Affects originality, not authenticity.ModifiedGenuine parts in a configuration the factory did not sell. Affects originality and value, not authenticity.CounterfeitDeceptive reproduction intended to pass as genuine.UnknownEvidence on file does not settle the question.Date code consistent with the model's production period
FactoryProbableWhole production
The code agrees with the period the model was catalogued in and with the case style. This is the ordinary case and it is genuinely informative, because few brands here can be dated from outside the watch.
Date code inconsistent with the movement or model
UnknownProbableWhole production
A caseback whose code sits years away from the model's production run indicates a replaced caseback or a watch assembled from parts. Not in itself a counterfeit finding — service replacement of a corroded caseback is common — but it removes the dating evidence and should be recorded rather than read past.
Documented on these references
- Bulova Accutron 214Factory
Whole production
The 214's setting crown is on this caseback, so a replaced back is also a functional change, not merely a cosmetic one.
- Bulova Accutron 218Factory
Whole production
Provenance of this record
Sources & Evidence
Bulova collector databases of period catalogues, date codes and model listings
Bulova collector communities
- Accessed
- 2026-08-19
Cited for
Last verified: Not yet reviewed