Early Years Of Bulova Watches
Bulova watches began in 1875 when 23-year-old Joseph Bulova, an immigrant from Czechoslovakia, opened a small shop to make jewelry in New York City. He began manufacturing and selling table and bedroom clocks and pocket watches in 1911. They were highly successful. In 1912, as a result, the Bulova firm set up its first mass production plant the following year. It was dedicated to producing jeweled movement watches and was located in Bienne Switzerland.
During the First World War wristwatches became prominent, primarily as a convenience for soldiers. In 1919 Bulova watches began to focus on men's wristwatches. The firm became the Bulova Watch Company Inc. in 1923, and the firm perfected its Bulova watches with total parts standardization. What this meant than any of the many parts in the Bulova watches was interchangeable with the identical part in other Bulova watches. This was a highly touted revolutionary concept for the care and servicing of wristwatches.
Women's watches by Bulova were unveiled in 1924. This group included lovely timepieces accented in diamonds.
Lone Eagle Bulova watches were introduced in 1927 to honor Charles Lindbergh and his solo New York to Paris flight. The first production of 5000 Bulova watches featuring pictures of Lindbergh were sold in three days. The next few years the firm manufactured and sold another 50,000 of these collector timepieces.
That same year the Bulova Watch Company went public, selling shared on the American Stock Exchange.
The first Bulova clock radio debuted in 1928, and in 1929 clocks for cars and other vehicles were patented. 1931 saw the first manufacture and sale of electric clocks by Bulova. These include mantel clocks, wall clocks and commercial clocks that could be used in retail stores, windows, train and bus terminals and office buildings.
In 1931 Bulova Watches were marketed by way of the first advertising campaign with a million dollar price tag that the watch industry had ever seen or taken part in. During the Great Depression, Bulova watches were offered to the public on payment plans.
Joseph Bulova, the company founder, and the originator of the Bulova watches concept, died in 1940.
The following year Bulova Watches were advertised for the first time on national television. The message was that "America runs on Bulova time." Throughout the Second World War Bulova watches were provided to the military at cost. Joseph Bulova's son worked hand in glove with the military to produce Bulova watches they could use, specially designed to assist pilots and soldiers who worked with torpedoes and fuses. After the war, the firm hired disabled veterans, teaching them the skills to make Bulova watches.