Bulova

Joseph Bulova, a Bohemian immigrant, opened a jewellery shop on Maiden Lane in New York in 1875 and moved into watch manufacturing in the early twentieth century, building a plant in Sag Harbor and later a substantial operation in Queens.

Bulova's instinct for firsts was commercial as much as technical. It ran the first national advertisement for a watch brand in 1926, broadcast the first radio commercial in American history — a time announcement — in 1926, and aired the first television commercial ever broadcast in 1941, paying nine dollars for the slot.

The engineering came too. The Accutron of 1960 replaced the balance wheel with a tuning fork vibrating at 360 Hz, driven electronically. It was accurate to within a minute a month, far beyond mechanical watches, and it hummed rather than ticked. NASA used Accutron timing mechanisms in spacecraft, and one was left on the Moon in the equipment package of Apollo 11.

Bulova also made an enormous contribution to American war production, supplying military timing devices, and founded a school of watchmaking for disabled veterans.

The company was acquired by Citizen in 2008. Modern collections include the Precisionist, with a high-frequency quartz movement producing a smooth sweeping seconds hand, and reissues of the Accutron and the 1970s Computron.

Bulova holds 109 models, from £125 to £1,250. Half cost less than £349, and a quarter less than £239. 42 of 109 are automatic. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1875

Joseph Bulova opens his New York shop.

1941

Airs the first television commercial in history.

1960

The Accutron tuning fork movement is released.

1969

An Accutron timer is left on the Moon by Apollo 11.

2008

Acquired by Citizen.