| That Bulova wrist watch you're wearing isn't just | | | | Drawing its power from a unique tuning fork |
| stylish - it represents over 100 years of quality | | | | system, the Bulova Accutron was the world's |
| watchmaking. Whether you prefer a Bulova | | | | first electronic watch. Inside the casing, a 360 |
| chronograph or a Concord ladies watch, it's | | | | hertz tuning fork sat between two electromagnet |
| important to know your timepiece history! | | | | coils, which formed a single-transistor oscillator |
| The Bulova wrist watch company was established | | | | circuit. This drove the fork, which in turn powered |
| by a Bohemian immigrant named Joseph Bulova in | | | | the watch's hands and allowed the device to keep |
| 1875. Bulova began manufacturing watches in | | | | time. The original Accutron was discontinued in |
| Woodside, New York, where the company | | | | 1977 after over 4 million of the timepieces had |
| headquarters remain to this day, in addition to | | | | been sold. |
| Flushing. | | | | The invention of the Accutron launched Bulova |
| Bulova company began creating innovative | | | | not just into the national spotlight - but into space. |
| watchmaking techniques from day one, but the | | | | Throughout the 1960s, Bulova competed with its |
| business really started making history in 1941, | | | | rival Omega to create the "first watch on the |
| when it purchased the world's first commercial on | | | | moon." Omega won this battle, as Edwin "Buzz" |
| television. The commercial aired on July 1 on New | | | | Aldrin had an Omega Speedmaster Professional |
| York's WNBT station immediately before a | | | | on his wrist when he first set foot on the moon. |
| baseball game featuring the Dodgers and the | | | | But the Bulova wrist watch company also came |
| Phillies. Believe it or not, the commercial cost only | | | | out on top - and in space - as NASA used |
| $4! | | | | tuning-fork-powered Accutrons for all of its |
| Four years later, the Joseph Bulova School of | | | | spacecraft time-keeping devices. This is because |
| Watchmaking opened its doors. The institution | | | | scientists were unsure how other electronic |
| was founded to train disabled WWII veterans, | | | | movements would fare under low gravity. |
| however its operations soon expanded to cater | | | | To commemorate its contribution to the space |
| to a more diverse body of students. | | | | program, the Bulova wrist watch Accutron line of |
| Of course, it's impossible to mention Bulova | | | | timepieces currently features a limited edition |
| without covering the Accutron timepieces, which | | | | Astronaut watch. Only 1,000 of these watches |
| hit stores in the fall of 1960. The Accutron | | | | were made, and each is individually numbered with |
| watches featured a revolutionary technology | | | | a caseback autographed by "Buzz" Aldrin himself. |
| developed by the Swiss inventor Max Hetzel, who | | | | Bulova made headlines once again in 2007, when a |
| had been working for Bulova since the late 1940s. | | | | dredging team discovered an automatic Bulova |
| (Hetzel is just one example of Swiss ingenuity - | | | | wrist watch on the floor of the Gibraltar Harbor. |
| just look at the Swiss-born Concord Mariner | | | | The watch had been lost by a sailor in 1941, and |
| series!) | | | | was returned to him in 2008, still ticking! |