Bulova 23-Jewel on ShopGoodwill — six adjustments on the dial, at a $9.99 opening bid

Photo: ShopGoodwill listing (seller: Evergreen Goodwill)

Six adjustments, on the dial — a high-grade promise printed where a model name would go.

Verdict

What it is

Read the dial before the title. "23 Jewels" in script, and underneath, where a model name would usually sit: "Self Winding — Six Adjustments." Adjusted movements were the high-grade end of a maker's line — adjusted to positions and temperature, and Bulova printed the specification on the dial as the selling point. The listing gives the watch a model name the dial never carries: B761069.

The watch is a black sunburst dial on a Speidel expansion bracelet, stainless steel per the listing, sold by Evergreen Goodwill in Seattle. The listing is tested, which is more than most: the tester's note says it runs and may need servicing, and the seller lists heavy crystal scratches and case wear — "lots of scratches on crystal, wear on band case," in the tester's own shorthand. Condition is graded "Good — shows some sign of wear," and functionality "Operational — may require adjustment to provide accurate time keeping." All of it is the seller's word, quoted as such.

Why it matters

A 23-jewel, six-adjustment Bulova is the top of its period line wearing a generic thrift title — "Vintage BULOVA 23J 6 ADJ" — that only a dial-reader decodes. That gap is the Finds lane. The counterweight is equally plain: the crystal is heavily scratched and a service is already flagged by the seller's own tester, so the opening bid is not the cost.

Specs

What to check before bidding

• "Runs" is a tester's note, not a service history. The seller's own wording allows that it may need servicing and adjustment. Price in a full service on any automatic bought this way.
• The crystal scratches are heavy — the seller says so twice. On a black sunburst dial, the crystal is the view. Replacement or polishing belongs in the bid maths.
• Expansion bracelets fit a range, not a wrist. The Speidel stretches rather than sizes. Check it against your wrist before valuing the watch as a wearer.
• Six adjustments is a grade claim from the dial era. It describes how the movement left the factory, not its state after decades. The dial prints the promise; only a watchmaker verifies it now.

Price record

Want one?

1. In the shop: browse current stock — one-off pieces, and they turn over fast.
2. Hunting one? Join the Want List — tell us the maker and the budget; pieces like this surface in our trawl most weeks.
3. This one: bid at the source — See it at ShopGoodwill — item 282043511 (auction ends Tue Nov 3, 8:11 PM PT). Not our listing. See Disclosure.

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Spotted, not sold by us — this piece lives at a ShopGoodwill auction listing. Prices are a snapshot from when we spotted it; auctions move. Disclosure

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