Bulova
Fun fact: On 1 July 1941 Bulova broadcast the world's first television commercial, a test pattern in the shape of a clock that was shown for one minute just before a baseball game in New York.
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What is Bulova known about?
Bulova began in New York in 1875, when Joseph Bulova, a Bohemian immigrant, opened a small jewellery shop on Maiden Lane. There he repaired clocks and the occasional pocket watch. Around 1911 the company began making its own pocket watches and table clocks, and in 1912 Joseph Bulova opened his first factory dedicated entirely to watches in Biel, Switzerland. In 1923 the company took the name Bulova Watch Company.
Art Deco and the Accutron
In the twenties and thirties Bulova was known for rectangular and square Art Deco watches, such as the Breton, the Banker and the Commodore. Its best-known innovation came in October 1960 with the Accutron: a watch that keeps time with a 360 Hz tuning fork instead of a balance wheel, and therefore makes a soft humming sound instead of ticking.
Advertising and space travel
- In 1926 Bulova broadcast the first nationwide radio commercial.
- On 1 July 1941 came the world's first television commercial, before a baseball game in New York.
- In 1971 commander David Scott took a Bulova chronograph aboard Apollo 15 and wore it during his third moonwalk.
Since the end of 2007 Bulova has been part of the Japanese company Citizen. Today the brand is known above all for its American history and technical innovations in watchmaking.