Bulova Watches

by: Micael O'Brien

Like many old-line companies that started in America, the Bulova Watch Company was founded by the efforts and hard work of an immigrant. The company changed the way people tell time and was on the cutting edge of timekeeping technology almost from the start.

Émigré Joseph Bulova came to United States from his home country of Czechoslovakia. Settling in New York City in eighteen seventy five, he goes into the jewelry business and by nineteen eleven, he is building and selling his own pocket timepieces and various types of clocks. The next year he opens a manufacturing facility in Switzerland and within two years of the end of World War One he is selling the worlds first wristwatches featuring a jeweled movement, capitalized on the popularity and convenience of wristwatches over pocket watches. Through constant innovation, Bulova took a page from the auto industry and introduced the first watches assembled from precisely manufactured parts of a standard design. The process of standardization meant that parts were interchangeable from one timepiece to another.

As the company grows, its reputation is enhanced by a series of brilliant public relations moves that helped rewrite the book on promotion and marketing strategies that included being a pioneering force in the use of radio advertising. Some of the stunning promotional successes include sponsoring the trans-Atlantic flight of Charles Lindbergh and a name-the-watch contest just to name a few. In what could be called a stunning move, the company provides disabled veterans from World War Two the chance to learn a new trade by establishing the Bulova School of Watchmaking and guaranteeing them work upon graduation. As a result of these and other efforts, the Boluva name has become a household word the world only.

Bulova timepieces can be found on the Moon, on board satellites and on the wrists of many a loyal customer, making an indelible mark on the world of precision timekeeping.

About the Author

Micael O'Brien is a writer for many popular websites.