Bulova
Next year, Bulova will mark a massive milestone in the company’s history as they get ready to celebrate their 150th anniversary. Deemed the “Henry Ford of watchmaking,” founder Joseph Bulova left what is now the Czech Republic for New York City, where he would not only open his first store but set forth on a path that greatly impacted both watchmaking and American culture.
In the years since its founding, the company pushed the technological envelope creating the world’s first clock radio and they were also the first to have a national radio ad. And as televisions entered American homes, Bulova jumpstarted a new era of advertising with the first-ever TV commercial.
As this was happening, Bulova released the first collection of women’s watches and supplied essential timekeeping instruments to the American military and countless space missions from 1950s to the 1970s. Fast forward to today and the company is still busy innovating with watch technologies like a 1/1000 second chronograph and the world’s first-ever curved chronograph movement.
To commemorate its 150th anniversary, Bulova has been touring “America Telling Time: 150 Years of Bulova,” an upcoming film that tells the Bulova story, looking back at the company’s most historic moments.
We also checked in with Citizen North America’s (Bulova’s parent company) President Jeffrey Cohen on the company’s cultural impact and where they’re going next:
Acquire: There’s quite a bit to cover in Bulova’s 150-year history, is there a moment or a milestone that you’re particularly fond of?
Jeffrey Cohen: I think when we introduced the Tuning Fork movement at Accutron, that revolutionized the watch industry. It was the first movement of its kind, it shocked the system, it was revolutionary for such an early time.
Today we do that as well with new movements like the CURV, the first curved movement in the world. The Precisionist Watch, to offer a watch at $700 that is one of the most accurate watches with a continuously sweeping second-hand.
The technology is mind-boggling. We always want to catch the consumer and the watch enthusiast by surprise, giving them something that’s exceptional from our group that we’re able to bring to the marketplace.
With Bulova’s history in watch innovation, how do you feel about what the market is like now with smartwatches growing in popularity?
We consider them gadgets. There was disruption in 2015-2016. What it did was, quite frankly, it brought a lot more attention to the wrist and now you’re starting to see Gen Z, who love watches, love Bulova, love automatics, and love stories.
That was a great platform for us to take the traditional watch business to the next level. And that’s what we’ve been doing and we have so much to play off of.
Speaking of Gen Z, let’s say that customers’ experience in watches has only been smartwatches for the last decade, what do you think that customer would want in a traditional watch?
Some like vintage, others want something more cutting edge with more precision, we offer both.
You obviously can’t go into detail, what’s the next 150 years of innovation look like for Bulova?
You’re not only going to see innovation from a design perspective but also from the materials and movements that we’ll be offering. There will be some very surprising releases for the watch community, continuing what the brand has stood for the last 150 years.
You’re going to see a lot. Some interesting collaborations and also building upon what we’re doing now. There’s a lot that’s going to be coming out not only in product but also in communication so we’re always going to have those cutting-edge ideas, things that have always been the lifeblood of Bulova.
