A Czech immigrant, Joseph Bulova, founded a small jewelry store in New York City in 1875. After many years of success, the Bulova Watch Company was established in 1923.
In 1911, Bulova started producing and selling boudoir and table clocks. Bulova also started selling luxury pocket watches, which demonstrated the company's popularity through success in sales. The following year, in 1912, Bulova established its first factory in Bienne, Switzerland that was specifically designed to produce watch parts.
Due to the increasing popularity for wristwatches during World War I, Bulova launched its first line of wristwatches in 1919. In 1924, Bulova released its first line of watches exclusively made for ladies. This line of watches included stunning diamond pieces.
In 1927, Bulova released the Lone Eagle watch to celebrate Charles Lindbergh’s flight from New York to Paris. There were 5,000 Lone Eagle watches released for sale, and they sold out just 3 days after they were launched. Over the next few years, there were an estimated 50,000 Lone Eagle watches sold. The watch manufacturer also went public on the American Stock Exchange in 1927.
During the Depression, Bulova offered its products to be purchased under payment plans, which was to help retailers increase sales during this economic disaster.
In the 1940s during World War II, the watch company worked in collaboration with the United States government to manufacture military watches, aircraft instruments, and torpedo mechanisms. Bulova produced and sold these products for the United States government at actual cost.
In the 1950s, Bulova designed a dating system for their timepieces. The system was desgined with a letter that followed the year of manufacture. For example, L4=1954, M8=1968, and N9=1979. A major innovative breakthrough started development in 1952. The famous Accutron was the most advanced timepeice in over 300 years of watch development. The Accutron was the world’s first fully electronic watch and was made to keep time within 2 seconds.
In 1954, Bulova launched the “Bulova 23.” This timepiece was self-winding, waterproof, and featured 23 jewels with an indestructible mainspring. The Bulova 23 was manufactured completely in the United States.
NASA presented a proposal to Bulova in 1960 to combine the famous Accutron with its computers. This was to enhance NASA’s space program. Bulova stepped up to the challenge, and the watch company’s timing mechanisms were used during forty-six United States Space Program missions. Accutron also made history in 1962, when it became the first wristwatch that was certified for railroad workers. In 1967, Accutron becomes the only clock that is used on Air Force One.
In 1969, Accutron watch movement was integrated into the equipment that was left behind on the lunar surface by the first astronauts to successfully reach the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
In 1987, Bulova was honored to be the official supplier to the United States Olympic team for both the summer and winter games in Calgary and Seoul.
In January of 2008, Bulova was acquired by Citizen for $250 million. Combined, the 2 companies are the world’s largest watch manufacturer. In 2010, a new quartz timepiece was released by Bulova, which was called the Precisionist. There are currently several prestigious watch models offered by the company including the Bulova, Caravelle New York, and the Wittnauer Swiss timepieces. The Marine Star is another popular model the watch company currently manufacturers. A new line of watches called the Bulova Accutron II was released early in 2014 that replaced the former Accutron line.