America Runs on Bulova Time: A Trip Through The Brand's Archives

There are two reasons why the Archive series resonates with buyers. One is because these watches summon up strong, cultural moments and movements. And two is because Bulova itself has a great archive of sales, advertising, and marketing materials to draw from.

Historian and former Bulova COO Carl E. Rosen took us on a tour of this archive, which has found a new home at Bulova’s New York City headquarters on the 29th floor of the Empire State Building. How new is it? When we visited in early April, we asked how long the museum had been open, and Rosen replied, “What day is it?” In fact, many of the watches had just returned from Switzerland where they appeared in a mini-exhibit at Baselworld.

It was a treat to have Rosen as our tour guide as few have a deeper knowledge of the product and the industry. He knows how to connect the dots of not just the watches, but the impact they have had on American life.
 

The Art Deco lines of this era live on in the new Joseph Bulova collection of watches inspired by the Golden Age of American watchmaking. These watches all take their design cues from watches of the 1920s, '30, and '40s, drawing inspiration from the numeral fonts and other details from specific watches in the archive, including the Commodore, Bankers, and Breton models.

Bulova can claim many firsts, including the 1930 Watertite, one of the earliest waterproof watches (for context, the Rolex Oyster debuted in 1926). “Of the 4,500 assets in the archive, this is one of the rarest,” says Rosen. The Watertite shared many Art Deco design elements with other watches of the era — an engraved case with a matching metal bracelet‚ but its greatest asset was its ability to resist water penetration.
 

Rosen is proud to point out that Bulova’s innovation in the watch world was not limited to watchmaking: the Watertite also marked one of the first brand ambassadorships, with Olympic gold medallist Johnny Weissmuller (and future Tarzan) serving as the timepiece’s pitch person.

In 1926 they created America’s first radio commercial: “At the tone, it’s 8PM B-U-L-O-V-A Bulova watch time.”

A Bulova was also the first ever legal commercial broadcast on TV. Broadcast on July 1, 1941, this 10-second spot was aired during a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The early ad featured a Bulova watch superimposed over a map of the United States with a voiceover declaring: “America runs on Bulova time”. This was just before the USA entered the Second World War. Before the nation became a global superpower.

During the war, Bulova’s Hack Watch — first worn by members of the U.S. Army Air Force —was worn by servicemen and women in the most extreme conditions.
 

After the war, Joseph Bulova's son Arde founded The Bulova Watchmaking School to help train returning GIs. To illustrate the enduring effect the school had, we met a friend who coincidentally works in the Empire State Building before our tour. It turns out that his grandfather was one of the WWII veterans who studied at the School (and who went on to start his own credit jeweler in Brooklyn). And the tour Rosen led before us was for the Veterans Watchmaker Initiative, which continues to carry Bulova’s tradition of tuition-free training.

Bulova has long been on the frontlines when it comes to seeking gender parity. The company 1924 unveiled its first full line of ladies' watches, including diamond-accented pieces. But instead of just making tiny cocktail watches with for women, Bulova has often produced collections that contained timepieces for both men and women.
 

For example, In 1949/50, Bulova entered into a four-year partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to produce a collection of 21 jewel Academy Award watches — the only brand to date, says Rosen, that has been allowed to use the iconic Oscar statuette on its packaging.
 

The Accutron line also embraced equality and the idea of His and Hers watches. Especially in the 1970s, when fashion, in general, was more unisex. In an ad from 1972, In yet another first, in 1972, Bulova even ran an ad campaign called “Equal pay, Equal time.”
 

With a promise to keep time to within two seconds a day, the Accutron became highly prized by those who relied on accuracy. It’s tuning fork technology combined with a transistorized movement, was quickly adopted by railroads, becoming the first railway certified non-pocket watch.
 

It was also a hit with non-terrestrial travelers. The Accutron was a big advancement from earlier electric, watches because it had fewer parts (for example the movement has 12 moving parts as opposed to 26 in a battery watch). Fewer parts meant less maintenance, which attracted NASA’s attention.

While Omega was the official supplier of space watches, NASA asked Bulova to put tuning fork technology into some of their space equipment. (During the Apollo 15 mission, astronaut David Scott took his personal Moon Pilot Chronograph to the moon and back). The Bulova Archive Series limited edition Moon Watch was a tribute to this timepiece but this technology led to the development of the futuristic Spaceview watch.
 

The Spaceview was revolutionary in its design because it has no dial so that the inner movement can be seen. Rosen showed us a pristine Accutron salesman’s case. This briefcase contains a flipbook of technical points (“the first PowerPoint presentation,” he joked) as well as an oversized, 3D cross-section of the movement. According to Rosen, this selling tool inspired the Spaceview’s see-through face when a client suggested that rather than explain the technology, why not just show it?
 

Rosen also points out that the bold display also let to some pretty ground-breaking case shapes. In particular, he notes the fancy lugs of a 1961 Accutron Alpha — a transitional style from the more streamline moderne shapes of the 1950s — and the solid chunk of 1970s funk that is the Bulova 100th Anniversary Spaceview.
 

We also can’t wait to see which historic timepiece will be next in the Archive Series. We have already expressed our excitement about the Computron reissue, but if we could put a bug in Bulova’s ear, it would be to bring back this 1960s-era Sea King. The brand has already had success with the updated Devil Diver, but there’s something about this waterproof watch — and it’s super-swinging mesh rally bracelet — that really stands out.
 

Also, the price tag of just $71.50 (federal tax included), makes us want to build a time machine to buy all of the watches. But until that happens, a trip to the museum will make do.

(Photography by Liam O'Donnell)