Lights, Camera, ACTION: Bulova Premiers Its Documentary to Celebrate the Brand’s Upcoming 150th Birthday

Last year, the Bulova team mentioned to me that they were working on creating a documentary to celebrate the brand’s 150th anniversary in 2025 and asked if I would like to be a part of it. Of course, knowing Bulova has an incredibly rich history, I accepted their offer and jumped on a Zoom call with the film’s director, Michael Culyba.

A few months later, I flew to New York to meet with film producer Ippolito Leotta, where he and his team would film my segment. However, what I didn’t realize during my interview (but learned from watching the documentary that premiered on September 19th at the Paley Center for Media in Manhattan) was that Bulova’s history is far grander than anything I thought I knew about the brand.

Bulova, of course, is known for its significant role during the space race, but far fewer people know that the brand threw its hat in the ring for women’s equality through its “Equal Pay. Equal Time.” Bulova Accutron ad campaign from 1974 that launched as the debate over the Equal Rights Amendment was raging through state legislatures.

That is just one example! In fact, there are so many other notable accomplishments that, frankly, haven’t been publicized by the brand.
 

The documentary – titled, “America Telling Time: 150 Years of Bulova” – does a wonderful job of educating the viewer about Bulova’s various accomplishments through stories told by collectors, journalists, watchmakers, and, of course, the brand’s historian and former COO, Carl Rosen.

Bulova’s New York office is on the 29th floor of the Empire State Building, where I met with the President of Citizen Watch America, Jeffrey Cohen, on the morning of the premiere event.

As I had not seen any of the film, I asked Cohen – and Citizen Watch America VP of Marketing Patty Schmoyer, who sat in on our meeting – about that old “Equal Pay. Equal Time.” ad and whether they feel Bulova is still showing up for women in the way it did in the 1970s.
 

“Most of the management team here are women, first of all,” Cohen told me. “And that’s important because, let’s face it, 50% of the watches purchased are for women.”

“Many companies are putting out statements, but they don’t live their truth,” stated Schmoyer. “We live our truth inside of our building.” And they certainly do. For instance, Citizen Watch America’s Susan Chandler is not only the brand’s Chief Merchandising Officer, she is also the current President of the Women’s Jewelry Association.
 

Cohen, Schmoyer, and I continued our meeting and discussed everything from how Bulova is reaching a younger audience (TikTok and Instagram are key elements in them doing so) and whether or not Bulova has plans to partner with any of the companies that are currently sending civilians into space (Cohen says that this is something they haven’t really talked about).

However, both of my hosts shared with me how wonderful they felt the documentary was. “I can’t wait for you to see it tonight,” said Cohen. “You’re going to love it.”

The Paley Center for Media was an ideal space to introduce the film as well as host cocktail hours both before and after the premiere.

Attendees had their pictures taken in front of a step-and-repeat banner and given a “150 Bulova” lapel pin as well as a movie poster. Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams seemed to know that the movie ticket was the hottest in town.
 

The film was divided into chapters, each covering a part of Bulova’s long history. Interestingly, perhaps the biggest audience reaction of the night came from the chapter highlighting the brand’s advertisements. You could practically hear the audience think “wow” at the same time.

It seems everyone who was anyone appeared in a Bulova ad or commercial, from Burgess Meredith to Kathy Ireland to even Muhammad Ali. After all, as we were all reminded, Bulova had been a household name for ages, starting, likely from when it sponsored the Frank Sinatra television show.
 

Overall, the roughly one-hour-long documentary “America Telling Time: 150 Years of Bulova” accomplished something it set out to do: share the brand’s story. Even better, it did so thoroughly without coming across as an infomercial (helped, no doubt, by Bulova’s most prominent brand ambassadors, Nile Rodgers and Marc Anthony, both of whom were glowing in their segments).
 

On a personal note, it was a genuine honor to have been asked to be a part of it, and I honestly think that those who see this film will walk away from it having learned a lot.

To learn more about the brand or its offerings, visit the Bulova website.