Retracing the history of Bulova Watches

Bulova is one of the pioneers of the world in manufacturing of luxury watches. It was founded by Joseph Bulova, an immigrant from Bohemia (present Czech Republic), in 1875 and was incorporated as J. Bulova Company. Initially it was a jewelry store and he made a name for himself with his artistry and technological innovation. The major breakthrough came in 1912, when he opened his first workshop in Biel (Switzerland), for mass production of watches. This was a fruit of the massive demand for watches throughout America. The plant produced watches in batches and thus the company could now mass produce the watches that enhanced standardization. Bulova watches became the first standard timepieces in America.

In an attempt to promote its sales to the millions of Americans, Bulova took an innovative step of broadcasting through the radio, which signaled the hour with the “At a tone, it is eight o’ clock, Bulova timepiece time”. In the 1920s radio was the most effective mass communication media, which the company used it beautifully to its advantage. Later in the decade, Bulova watches became associated with the aviation industry, by commemorating Col. Lindberg, who was the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean nonstop.

 

The crown jewel of Bulova was the ‘Accutron’. It uses a 360Hz tuning fork to drive the hands of the watch. The tuning fork of the watch was equipped by single transistor oscillating circuit, making it the world’s first electronic watch. The ‘Accutron’ was a breakthrough in the history of watches because timepieces as accurate as Accutron were limited to scientific uses and were too large to be used as personal watches. Due to its technological superiority during that time period, US Railroad certified it to be used in all railroad operations. The company was acquired by Citizen on January 10, 2008, but still precision timing means Bulova Watches.