1942 Bulova with a Lizard
About Bulova
Joseph Bulova started a small jewelry shop in New York City around 1875. In 1912, he launched his first plant dedicated entirely to the production of watches. At his factory in Biel, Switzerland, he began a mass production new to watchmaking. Think of Joseph Bulova as the “Henry Ford” of watches.
Through standardized parts and visually distinctive advertising, Bulova made the wristwatch both popular and widely available to the American public. From 1922 through 1930, Bulova marketed 350 different ladies’ Art Deco watches, with at least an equal number of models for men. Distinguishing between different years and models is best left to—well, people who have the time and passion for that kind of thing.
Bulova produced the first radio advertising broadcast in 1926, announcing the first beep in history: At the tone, it’s eight o’clock, Bulova Watch Time, an announcement heard by millions of Americans. The annoucements were handly because, let's face it: meachanical watches were not all that accurate and could be off by a couple minutes each date. By 1940, Bulova sponsored each of the top 20 radio shows in the US. Part showman and part innovator, Bulova built an observatory atop a NYC skyscraper to determine precise time, and the Accuton movement which used a tuningfork to regulate watch function. Perhaps, again, imating the automakers, Bulova experimented with different “lines” for different price points: Westfield in the 1930s and Caravelle in the 1960s were the more “modest” Bulova lines.
The Citizen Watch Company (Japan) bought Bulova in 2008. Both companies are now part of the Swatch Group.
About this Watch
People far more knowlegable than I have identified this as a 1942... and then they start to mumble. The 7AP movement is right for 1942. The case design rhymes but I cannot find anything like it until a few years later (like a 1945 Director, but they have 8AP movements). The war years were confusing in the Bulova factory. That may be the way it was ordered or assembled. It may have been recased at some point. What I do know is: this is a wartime Bulova with a 7AP that runs like a champ. The crystal is clear, the dial is clean, and it has a new lizard band. It is a knockout of a watch!
About me
I buy and sell a few old watches from the mid-1930s through the mid-1960s. I like Hamilton and the occasional Bulova. Sometimes I will venture into British watches (e.g., Ingersoll). I deal in mechanical and automatics. Like a tracker pipe organ (also an interest of mine) they are a combination of history, architecture, and machine: little art works. I confess to owning a Citizen for work use, but I generally eschew battery powered appliances.
If the items in my collection seem similar, it is because I like aparticular style and function. I prefer real numbers on a watch face and need to tell time at a glance while speaking. I typically wear these watches for weeks,months, or years before selling them—ahh— to make sure everything works as it should. I am not just an eBay flipper. If I tell you a watch runs and keeps time: it runs and keeps time. When I make a buying mistake (oh, it happens) the watch goes to off to a professional watchmaker to be rebuilt and restored and, after my recovering some cost by wearing it, offered as such at a premium.
All the watches I sell are intended to be ready to wear and giftable.