A Journey Through American Watchmaking History with Bulova
WORDS BY WORN & WOUND
Brands of all kinds exhibit at the Windup Watch Fair, from young upstart watchmakers to industry legends that have been around for over a century. Bulova falls very much in the latter camp, with 145 years of history of uniquely American watchmaking. We caught up with Bulova’s Neall Brick to talk about some of the watches he brought to the fair that highlight their long history.
One of the great things about Bulova is that their longevity traces so many distinct periods in watchmaking. Poring over old Bulova catalogs could easily provide a lesson in watchmaking trends through the decades. This is reflected in Bulova’s Archive Series, which meticulously recreates watches from their past for a new generation of fans and watch enthusiasts.
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The Parking Meter Chronograph is a great recent example. This watch is a true time capsule, dating from 1973, it features design elements that are purely a product of their time, like the bullhead chronograph pusher layout, and the striking blue bezel. Reaching back even earlier, Bulova also brought their A-11 Hack Watch, a design inspired by the brand’s long military heritage. The small size of the A-11 (it measures just 37mm) is key to understanding what Bulova is trying to do with their reissues. Rather than updating watches for modern sensibilities, watches like the A-11 are reproduced as closely to the original specs as possible, offering modern collectors a real sense of what someone would have experienced wearing a watch like this decades ago.
In addition to Bulova branded watches, Neall also showed us a few watches by Accutron, a brand introduced over 60 years ago by Bulova with the world’s first electronic timepieces. Today’s Accutron ensures the legacy of the brand lives on through the release of both tech forward timepieces and heritage inspired reissues, like the highly legible railroad timepieces seen here.
There are only a handful of brands still in operation today that can claim to even approach Bulova’s status in the watch industry, and we were lucky to have them at Windup representing the long arc of American watchmaking history. For more on Bulova, be sure to check out their website