The history and success of Bulova womens watches is closely intertwined with the history of the United States in the 20th century. Just as America was founded by immigrants from foreign shores, the Bulova Watch company was started by Joseph Bulova, a young Bohemian immigrant in 1875 in New York City. Making beautiful pocket watches and lovely clocks, young Joseph brought with him old-world craftsmanship and shaped it with new-world innovation.
First created in 1875 by a young immigrant from Bohemia in a small New York City jewelry store, the Bulova brand has developed into a broad range of styles and prices. In those days, men carried pocket watches and women wore watches as pins. Wristwatches were for the rich and considered luxury items. Until 1911 Joseph Bulova designed and sold fine pocket watches and fancy clocks. It was not until World War I that wristwatches were seen as practical timekeeping instruments.
Between the years of 1875 and 1920, Joseph Bulova devoted himself to designing new styles of clocks and watches. He developed new mechanisms that would provide more accurate timekeeping, down to one-thousandth of a second. He was not satisfied with the beauty of the watch exteriors, but worked to create the most accurate timekeeping mechanisms known to man.
Bulova has many “firsts” in their history. The first national radio advertisement was for Bulova watches in 1926. Toning the time on the hour, and spelling out its name, B-U-L-O-V-A. Then in 1941, at a Philadelphia Phillies vs. Brooklyn Dodgers baseball game, Bulova was the first paid television advertisement at the whopping cost of $9! The theme of the advertising was “America runs on Bulova time”.
In 1928 Bulova introduced the first clock radio. In 1929, it re-engineered and patented a new method of building clocks for automobiles. And the first electric clocks were manufactured in 1931. These included small clocks for homes, as well as large clocks for train stations, office buildings, airports and public buildings. During the depression, the company spent over $1 million to support their dealers by offering buyers of their watches time-payment plans.
In 1926, Arde Bulova, the son of the founder and now President of the company, offered a prize to the first pilot to fly a transatlantic flight solo. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh was presented with a special commemorative watch. Five thousand copies of the watch named the “Lone Eagle” were sold in three days after Lindbergh’s’ famous flight.
Other firsts include the first national radio advertisement in 1926. Called the Bulova Watch Time ad, it became a national symbol of pride. In 1931 they began building the first electric clocks. These included mantel and wall clocks for the home, as well as large models for airports, bus terminals and train stations. During the depression the Bulova Watch Company spent over 1 million dollars to support their retailers by offering credit and time-payment plans. Another novel idea for the time. In 1941, they had the first national TV advertisement which costs $9.00 for the 20 second spot.
To help our wounded veterans, the Watch Company opened the Joseph Bulova School of Watch Making. This school was designed for disabled veterans with forward thinking accessibility: automatic doors, wider than usual door openings and aisles, lower worktables, and other accommodations. Upon graduation, the vets would find employment across the country. Most likely one of those jobs was from the 1,500 jobs pledged by the American jewelers. Once again, the company put our country first.
How many watch brands have visited the moon? Bulova’s first electronic timekeeping mechanism based on tuning forks, was an integral part of the U. S. Space program in the later years of the 1950′s until the first moon walk of 1969. NASA was unsure of how traditional mechanical watch movements would work in low to zero gravity environments, so they found an alternate in the Bulova Accutron. All instrument panel clocks and time-keeping mechanisms in NASA spacecraft, including the Moon Rover, were provided by Bulova.
The history of Bulova womens watches cannot be separated from the history of the United States. Rising to meet the demands of the military and space, while meeting the cultural needs of the population, the Bulova mens luxury watch is an outstanding representative of American craftsmanship and technology.
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