Paval Bure from russia with love

[Jacke Chilson]

Hi all just pick up a Paval Bure watch from befor it became ussr I was given the est. date about 1910 and it works well and was wondering how hard these are to come by. Its 18s pin set in nickle case with a hinged outer and dust cover and a snap on front cover the only serial number is on the case 309537. there is a lot of russian written on the dust cover. Thanks

[Jacke Chilson]

Hi all just pick up a Paval Bure watch from befor it became ussr I was given the est. date about 1910 and it works well and was wondering how hard these are to come by. Its 18s pin set in nickle case with a hinged outer and dust cover and a snap on front cover the only serial number is on the case 309537. there is a lot of russian written on the dust cover. Thanks

[4thdimension]

A few months ago, a guy who runs a local camera shop asked me if I knew anything about
Paval "Buhr" (he was going by memory). I don't recall if it was his watch or someone elses but I had no luck finding info on him.
He related an interesting story/lore that
came with the watch; something to the effect
that Paval was a watchmaker to the Czars.
I'll drop by his shop and get the story again and tell him someone else is looking for info on this maker. I'll let you know if I find out anything.
I almost forgot! His watch was 18K and
supposed to be mighty fine. I haven't seen it
-Cort

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[Jacke Chilson]

Hi Cort this one is 11 to 15j and keeps great time the gold gilded movement is the nicest and brightest I have seen in my short time as a collector thanks for any info on this maker.

[Oliver Mundy]

There is a Pavel Bure watch on offer on eBay just now; it can be viewed at http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1681549213 . In previous eBay listings I have seen the text on the cuvette translated as ?Watchmaker to the Imperial Family? or words to that effect.

Curious point: ? The vendor of this watch states that the firm of Pavel Bure was founded in 1815. Baillie (third edition, 1951)does not list this name, but he does mention a Paul Buhré of Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, whose firm originated in the same year 1815 and was ?still in business? in 1951. Could they be one and the same?

[Jerry Treiman]

Paul Buhre is mentioned in "Technique and History of the Swiss Watch" by Jacquet & Chapuis. They state that the firm of Paul Buhre (Le Locle) had shops in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but it appears that the watches sold were imported from Switzerland. The first shop of theirs, in St.Petersburg, was opened by his father in 1815. I used to have a gold wristwatch marked with the Buhre name (in Russian). The movement (of middle quality) was definitely Swiss, and as I recall the case had Swiss hallmarks, as well.

[hc3]

That one on ebay sure looks Swiss, too.

[Greg Crockett]

This firm made watches in their Swiss factory for the Russian trade. Pavel is Russian for Paul. The quality was good/average to excellent.

Pavel Bure watches can be found with crossed rifles engraved upon them which were given as marksmanship awards by the Imperial Russian military. This brand was used for other types of Imperial awards as well. I have an 11 jewel Bure marked as property of the Imperial Russian Railroad.

Pavel Bure appears to have had the largest share of the pre-1917 Russian market, but I'm not sure if they ever made any watches in Russia. Another Swiss firm with a big share of the pre-1917 market was Hy Moser. Like Bure, pre 1917 Moser watches have Cyrillic writing inside cases.