I found this while browsing eBay for the "cheap watches" thread and took a plunge on it after negotiating a discount, mostly because the rehaut scratches my itch for an Enicar Jet. I'm sending this one back (the date is broken), but I'm mystified as to how it's supposed to work.

It has a normal 12-hour movement in it (hour hand rotates once for every 12 rotations of the minute hand), but the the world-time bezel and the 24-hour chapter ring are set up for a 24-hour hand movement (you can see that New York, Chicago, Denver, and S. Francisco are each 15° apart, and the globe cities just go around once).

Does this have the wrong movement in it and it's supposed to have a 24-hour movement? I can't find a lot of references on the model online. I'm not going to crack the back since I'm returning the watch.

Thanks.

 

Heck if it's cheap enough maybe just hold onto it and find another el-cheapo caravelle day date for a movement donor? This watch is cool as hell.

 

I'm also not sure it matters about the bezel layout. Many vintage 12 hour watches have similar world time zone bezels. Of course using it for deciphering how to calculate the time in another city is beyond my intellectual abilities

 

That is odd but I agree with Fred it does look cool as hec. Still with that set up shouldn’t it have a gmt hand? Hopefully someone will answer as I’m curious

 

24 = 12 +12. No problem with the bezel unless you want to use military time.

 

Jeez I really hate to see the OP return it if it's cheap. How about list it for sale here so one of us can grab it?

 

Hundreds of these "world time" watches were made in the 1960s, the bezels are more of a gimmick than anything.

 

Either that or a handy way to see and figure out different time zones.

 

I've seen watches with world time bezels suited to 12-hour movements, they just spread the cities out and go around the world twice (so London and Auckland would be at the same spot on the bezel, being 12 time zones apart). But I've never seen a 24-hour bezel with a standard 12-hour movement before. It's possible that the manufacturer didn't care and just slapped the bezel and chapter ring on, but this is a decent quality watch, from a respectable brand and with a stainless steel case.

No idea.

Anyway, if someone wants it, I am happy to connect you with the seller. It's not super rare, three of them have sold on eBay in the last couple of months, although they're mostly in mediocre condition.

 

I own one of these watches, in good cosmetic condition, on it's original bracelet. The Caravelle Pilot World-Time GMT was one of the more interesting offerings from Caravelle, and worth collecting if in good condition. I was doing some current price research on these watches and found this thread. I joined the forum to answer some of your questions.

Back in the day the Caravelle, watch brand was conceived by Bulova to appeal to the market for 'budget' watches without cheapening the Bulova brand. Same business model as is behind Rolex's Tudor brand. The Caravelle by Bulova watches were originally targeted to the kind of consumer that shopped at retailers like J.C. Penney and Montgomery Ward. Most Caravelle watch models were inoffensive things that contained run of the mill Swiss...and later Japanese movements. They were not 'high end' by any stretch, but neither were they junk.

The Caravelle Pilot World-Time GMT contains Bulov'a cal.11 OKACB movement, aka AS 1906. The AS 1900 series movement was one of the workhorse Swiss movements produced in the squillions and used in all kinds of 'budget' watches and even a few high end offerings. Jaeger-LeCoultre used an AS 1906 in their 'budget' Club Automatic model back in the 1970s. AS was one of the many Swiss victims of the Japanese quartz movement slaughter. Eventually AS was folded into ETA/Swatch Group.

The AS 1906 is an unsophisticated but solid movement capable of decent reliability and can keep good time. It's a 12 hour movement, 17 jewels, 21,600 BPH, Day/Date, with automatic module. It does not have a hacking function, neither does it have a quick change date function. The movement was produced in 1969. This movement has an offset friction pinion and that's its biggest problem. The friction pinion is mounted on the train's great wheel and has a tendency to wear out. If you have a watch that seems to be running perfectly on the time-o-graph but the min/hr hands are not moving, that's likely your problem. That's what's wrong with my watch. Fortunately, since these movements were made in such large quantities, NOS parts are still easy to find at reasonable prices. I purchased a NOS great wheel/pinion assembly for the bank account busting sum of $15.

Watches with world time bezels were very popular with 'jet-setters' and jet-set wannabes in the 60s-70s. Back in the day, before everyone had a phone/TV studio/super computer in their pocket, such a watch could be useful. This is how the bezel/chapter ring is used to find the time in the cities printed on the bezel: Let's say you're in NYC at 10pm and want to know the time in London. Step 1: 12+10=22 Step 2: Rotate the bezel until the hash mark under New York lines up with 22 on the chapter ring. Step 3: Locate 'GMT' on the bezel (London is in the GMT time zone). Observe that the hash mark under 'GMT' is pointing to 3 on the chapter ring. It's 3am in London. Nifty, huh?

Another interesting thing about this particular watch is which cities are included on the bezel. Cities like Tehran are included. At the time, before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Tehran was a popular destination with the jet-set. Also notice that cities like Moscow and Beijing are not included, since the Iron Curtain was still a thing. For me this watch is a fascinating horological relic from the pre-mass computer, jet-set/Cold War era.

I intend to get my watch back into working condition and plan on wearing it. My only complaint is it's on the small-ish side...36mm. I typically wear watches around 40mm.

Currently these watches sell for $300-$400 in good cosmetic condition with recent service and in good running condition. Good cosmetic examples that are not running go for about $100. Not bad for a watch that sold for around $50 when new (about $250 inflation adjusted). I like this watch. In collecting, whether it's cars, coins, stamps or watches, that's the important thing, and money is secondary.

I hope some of you have found this helpful.

 

This is what I was missing: that the bezel and the chapter ring are both 24h, but but neither is intended to be used with the hour hand on the watch.

Thanks for your insight and information! I returned this one because the date wasn't advancing, but if I see another, I may be in the market.

 

These are really nice looking and pretty good quality with a full stainless case. I picked one up a couple of months ago in small lot of mainly Caravelle watches.

 

I'm glad I could be of some help. If you're looking for another Pilot World-Time GMT what you want is a watch that's in good cosmetic condition. Don't worry too much about the movement. It's a common movement, parts are available for low cost, and any competent watch maker can service it. Good luck.

 

Those are both in good condition. Like I said, my GMT is still on its original bracelet. The original bracelet was not marked with either the Bulova or Caravelle logo. This is the only marking on the bracelet. Prospect made bands for both OEM and aftermarket. Production was originally in Japan but moved to Hong Kong because even in the 70s production costs were high in Japan. I've seen 70s vintage NOS Prospect bracelets on eBay for 30 bucks or so. If I were you, I'd get one of those 70s style bracelets, have the movement serviced and wear the watch. You'll be amazed at how many compliments you'll get.

 

Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong wore a Bulova Caravelle in the 1970s ...