Retracing Bulova History.
The Bulova Corporation was founded in 1875 by Czech immigrant Joseph Bulova in a small premises on Maiden Lane, New York City.
By 1911, Joseph Bulova had set up manufacturing to build high quality boudoir clocks, table clocks and pocket watches and by the following year (1912) Joseph Bulova was able to establish his first dedicated Watch manufacturing and assembly plant in Bienne, Switzerland, building only quality fully jeweled movements.
'At about the time of the First World War, there were many European watch manufacturers that said that the wearing of a watch on the wrist would never be a popular alternative to the pocket watch. Joseph Bulova, creating a pioneering spirit that was to become the 'culture' of Bulova, started to experiment with compact spring and balance wheel timepieces that could withstand the impacts and shocks of being worn on the wrist. Out of only a handful of manufacturers of the day, Bulova introduced its first line of fully jeweled men's wristwatches in 1919'
So, where are these 'Bulova Watches' Dating from 1911 to 1921 You may ask?
The clues are right before Us.
The first clue was recently discoverd in an ad which appeared in a 1922 Cosmopolitan Magazine.
* Note: the ad reads:
J. Bulova Co. Fifth Avenue at 36th Street. New York
Makers of the famous HUDSON MAXIM and RUBAIYAT Watches.
The image appears to be Copyrighted 1920 or 1921 and there is no mention of Bulova Watch Co in fact to the contary, the ad reads J. Bulova Co.
Clue 2.
In 1917 a Patent was issued to the J. Bulova Co.
*Note: there is no notation of when this Patent was applied for or when the Name 'Rubaiyat' was first used by the J. Bulova Co
Clue 3.
Enter into the picture this piece:
The Watch shown above is a First World War era (WWI 1914 - 1918) Gent's wrist Watch, correctly Jeweled (7) for Military issue at the time, manufactured in Switzerland, signed on both Case and Movement Rubaiyat W. Co. in the very same fashion, identically even, to early movements signed Bulova W. Co., which appear around 1921. Also please note the Rubaiyat signature on the Movement rolls the same way depicted in the Patent issued to J. Bulova Co.
What does this mean?
It is My contention that this Rubaiyat W Co. signed piece is the early work of Joseph Bulova manufactured while operating as the J. Bulova Co. pre Bulova Watch Company and the reason We do not see any 'Bulova Watches' pre Dating the early 1920's is that they do not exist. They do, only during the Decade of 1911-1921 Mr Joseph Bulova of the J. Bulova Co was manufacturing His famous Watches from the facility in Bienne, Switzerland under the Names of 'Rubaiyat' and 'Maxim' as indicated by the early 1920's ad.
This contention would also help explain early 1920's Watches which are American Standard Cased Bulova signed Movements with Maxim, Rubaiyat or nothing at all printed on their Dials, as J. Bulova Co grew and morphed into Bulova Watch Company, casing and timing Watches downstairs from the newly constructed Bulova observatory on Fifth Avenue, New York.
Many thanks to Mr Stephen Oilman, owner/admin of MyBulova.com for allowing the presentation of this information on site and to fellow MyBulova members who take time to read, evaluate, enjoy or critique.
Mark.
Fifth Avenue Restorations.
Rob, I came across a very interesting bit of information recently whilst searching for info on Maiden Lane, and it makes very interesting reading. I have here a link to the document in question and if you read from the last paragraph on page three on to the first paragraph on page four, it concerns the Jewelry and Watch businesses of the 19th-20th C.
Bob.
Here's some previously posted trademark info below - the "Everett Watch Company"
If we could find something like info above, linking J Bulova to " Rubaiyat W. Co, Swiss"
Perhpas before incorporation- before "Bulova Watch Company, INC" there was simply "J. Bulova & Cie". A date for inception of Bulova Watch Company, INC. would be great. And perhpas, like Everette Watch Co, the pre-incorprated Bulova had a subsidary named "Rubaiyat W Co".
Or am I just repeating things we already suspect....
EDIT: The full watch from which I got the Rubaiytat graphic above is in the root record, along with its particulars.
The inception of 'Bulova Watch Company Inc.' ( abbrevition for Incorporated)' occurred in 1924.
Websters defines Incorporate this way:
b : to blend or combine thoroughly.
In 1924 Joseph Bulova, then doing buisness as J. Bulova Co. united, blended or combined thoroughly several aspects of buisness to form Bulova Watch Company Incorporated.
I was thinking it could have been late 1923 and it just took a while (1924) for them to get various "changes" put in place. The date of the Everett Watch Co trademark/pattent info from is inferred by the Bulova Watch Co INC being included in the middle field. I betcha this date could have been 1923..... The reason's I'm wondering....possibel pre incorporation use of Rubaiyat as a Bulova subsidary could have been rolled into the incorporated company and we just don't have that info...yet....
Joseph Bulova was incorporated at the start, in 1875. That is the registration of the corporation. The Company itself may have changed names slightly, from J. Bulova Co., to Bulova Watch Company (1923), but at all times these are corporations. It is not a requirement by law to include 'Inc" in the advertised name, which is the same today. Despite the Rubaiyat Watch Co, and other markings on casebacks, I am unconvinced that these are full fledged companies in their own right, and merely an experiment on the part of Bulova at the time.
Is it possible that Bulova took over a little known watch brand that had failed or was faltering? Yes. This is a fuzzy area in Bulova history.
Watchco states that Bulova began branding pocket watches in 1911, but I can't say I've ever seen such a one.
In reply to Joseph Bulova was by Reverend Rob
In reply to Here are *8* pics of the M.H. by DarHin
Good stuff Darren,
A pendant style Watch such as this could be as early as 1912, as seen mid page of this Timezone article:
http://people.timezone.com/mfriedberg/articles/Wristlets.html
Thanks Darren, more food for thought.
Did J. Bulova Co manufacture Watches for other Companies? Certainly the MH Bell hallmark on the Dial isn't a Model Name, is it? The Case belongs to Bulova and the Movement is at leat part Bulova.
Could the Lady Maxim and Hudson Maxim have been manufactured by J. Bulova Co for Maxim? The Dial signatures are identical.
thinking out loud...
...and, where does Everett Watch Co. of New York fit?
In reply to Below is a Rubaiyat by FifthAvenueRes…
1919 RUBAIYAT pocket watch advert.
"Octagon or Round shape".
http://www.pnyxe.com/FileServlet?action=postPicture&pictureUuid=74b74f4…
In reply to Hey Mark, I notice that by DarHin
Cattin appears to be a relatively obscure movt manufacturer, showing only two calibres, one 10.5 and the other 11.5'''. I have several Aubry watches, but Aubry didn't make their own movements, as far as I can tell. They look like the above Cattin calibre, which closely resembles other ebauches of the time, (AS, FHF) so this may be a triple ID: An ebauche supplied to Cattin/Aubry, re-signed by Bulova.
In reply to Cattin appears to be a by Reverend Rob
In reply to So the pellet with the by William Smith
In reply to The very first advert we have by mybulova_admin
In reply to mybulova_admin wrote: The by bobbee
In reply to admin,picked this one up by FifthAvenueRes…
If it is pre-1920, it goes against your contention at the head of the thread that there are no "Bulova watches" pre dating the early 1920's.
Here is an ad from December 1922, saying "The most beautiful watch in the World the Hudson Maxim, made by Bulova & Company."
Could the watch pictured (badly) be the HM? Looks to be Roman Numerals on the dial.
In reply to This snippet from the Omaha by bobbee
In reply to Note the lack of a comma by mybulova_admin
In reply to Well spotted Stephen. by bobbee
Earliest known Hudson Maxim and Ladies Maxim ad, May 1921.
Many known watches seen in 1922-on Bulova ads in the Saturday Evening Post and in newspaper ads across the US, these models are known by numbers, not model names.
These 1922 ads call them Lady Maxims, so maybe all those numbered watches are LM's?
Ads are from different jewelers in different states.
Food for thought indeed.
Notice the "globe" sign inside the lid of this watch box?
1921 ad.
Wow what a great variety of ads and models. Some I never even suspected as Lady or Hudson...The Windsor Jewelry Co ad is spicific in wording "...this Lady Maxim wristwatch..." Also interesting to note that the word Bulova doesn't appear in any of the ads, nor on dials of those I thought were early Bulova numbered models.
The "Win a Prize" ad says a representative from the factory will be on hand...and I was hoping to see Bulova mentioned there. This ad also mentions a "Lady's Hudson Maxim" as one of the prizes. First time I've seen it called anything other than a Lady Maxim.
Great stuff!!!
Here are a few early adverts placed by Joseph Bulova, seeking jewellers to work for his company.
This one is dated 1895 from the new York World.
The advert is dated 1897 from the New York World.
And another dated1919 showing their office address at 2 John St. Note the J. Bulova Company Co. name.
This one I find interesting as it shows us that Joseph was still trading as J. Bulova Co. in 1923. Does this mean that the original company of J.Bulova may have been trading in fine jewelery whilst the Bulova Watch Co. purely did the watch side?
Again advert is dated May 14 1923 from the New York Times.
January 21, 1923 for a salesman.
The way I read it, the first two wanted ads are pre-1911, so the name of the company is "J. Bulova".
The third is 1919, post 1911 incorporation date and the name is "J. Bulova Co.
Edit- the above is wrong, there are other ads pre-1911 that say "J. Bulova Co."
The early 1923 ads may have been for J. Bulova Co. because the business name had only just been changed the previous month in April 1923 to the Bulova Watch Co.
One ad for a salesman in January, pre-April.
And notice the "fine line of watches" in this ad, no cigar this time Stephen! :-)
In reply to The way I read it, the first by bobbee
Bobbee, are you saying that the two companies didn't co-exist (one for jewelry and one for watched) or that J.Bulova Co wrapped up business and morphed into Bulova Watch Company.
I'm not making any statements as such, but just highlighting that J. Bulova Co as an entity was still being used after the start of the Bulova Watch Company. It may be correct that he stopped trading under J. Bulova Co around this time, but that would also suggest that he stopped dealing in jewelry in general. Something we've probably never mentioned before. His focus purely became that of watches.
We see ads for Bulova watches in some newspaper ads with jewelry alongside it, up until at least the 1930's.
I am saying that the J. Bulova Company and the Bulova Watch Company are one company, the name just changed.
My comment on the salesman advert should have been a little clearer maybe in explaining that, as this job was for the "J. Bulova Co" and entailed the selling of watches, thus showing the earlier J. Bulova company was dealing in watches.
The early Jeweler's Circulars from 1920 also show J. Bulova Co's stand as having wrist/pocket watches.
"In addition to the large line of bracelet watches, MEN's watches watches were shown...."
The acceptance (or lack of it) of the wristwatch is fascinating.
So basically, if I'm reading this all right, Joseph incorporated originally in 1875, but mainly as a jeweller. He then began watch production in 1911 and incorporated the watch company. In 1917, he trademarked 'Rubaiyat', and this seems to have been short lived, relatively speaking. Hudson Maxim and Lady Maxim models followed or were produced concurrently, and the company was again re-incorporated in 1923 with the slight name change.
Does this sound right?
I disagree with Mark's mention of a 7 jewel watch being 'correctly jewelled for military issue', many watches that were issued (by various companies) were fully jewelled, and these examples are still quite common to find today. They were more expensive, and often have interesting attempts at dust and water proofing. These are the creme de la creme of trench watch collecting, and I've seen quite a few lately, and they are quite valuable.
Maybe 7 jewels was the minimum for Military issue, but 7 jewels is the minimum for a properly constructed balance and escapement. Beyond this, the watch would be very poor in quality indeed.
I tried zooming in a little more, and the two watches under the sign on the left appear to be on straps, and the left of the two looks to have a black dial, a common feature of military watches.
The smaller models below those all look like wrist watches for ladies, on silk grosgrain bands possibly. Seem to be many designs, wish I could get clearer close ups!
Rubaiyat was claimed as 'first use' in 1916, and went on until 1920/21 possibly, with ads showing into 1922 for them.
First sight (as seen in above ads) of the LM/HM is 1921.
Possibly Bulova were importing whole watches ready cased for sale before this, but if so either none with a Bulova name remain or are yet to be found, or another name was used. If we knew that name we might find ads!
I strongly suspect Bulova was either not producing or selling his own branded watches until ca. 1911. I also suspect he was not branding the dials with 'Bulova' at the time, so the earliest branded Bulova watches would be possibly post WWI. Do we know if Bulova had any Military contracts for watches at this time? If so, they may be the first actual Bulova branded watches.
The ads put forth 'Rubaiyat' as the brand or line, made by J. Bulova, who has already made a name in the jewellery business. There still may be an unknown line before this, it is possible Bulova was making pocket watches and utilizing engraved dials with no name on them. I have seen some pocket watch movts that appear very very old with 'J. Bulova' on the plates. No way to accurately date them, but they are hand engraved and may well have been encased with gold.
Just my 2 cents.
Saying Bulova made or imported watches in 1911 is kind of buying into what the company timeline says, a suspect and not very accurate way of looking for any info about any watch company, let alone Bulova!
"1911
Bulova begins manufacturing and selling boudoir and table clocks as well as fine pocket watches. These pieces are sold in unprecedented numbers."
This statement makes no sense, Bulova was importing (possibly) goods, and selling them on. They were manufacturing and patenting small jewelry items like rings, bracelets and earrings etc.
I don't think in all honesty that Bulova was importing pocket watches before 1918-19, and a couple of years prior to that for wrist watches.
No manufacturer was contracted to provide watches in WW1. Depollier cases, Waltham, Illinois and Elgin movements were being bought by the US military from around 1917-18. Some other manufacturers movements may have been bought by the military, but no proof found. Any Bulova watches that are "trench style", will have probably been bought privately. I have found many, many adverts from 1916-on that say things like: "give your soldier boy a strap watch to take to Europe", and similar exhortations.
Here are a few recent acquisitions that show the location change of J Bulova from 2 John Street to 5th Ave at 36th Street.
Both J. Bulova factory guarantee certificates dated 20 and 21 December 1922 respectively. Both indicated the change in address.
Click to enlarge.
lost images of the Rubaiyat from the OP can be found here: https://mybulova.com/watches/1916-rubaiyat-14749?page=0
Not sure if we have really tackled this before.
This is one of my sticking points when we see the "BULOVA W Co" stamping on a movement which we want to date prior to 1923.
I'd like to know what year Bulova first stamped their movements 'BULOVA W Co'?
The answer might help solve a bunch of questions.
In reply to Not sure if we have really… by mybulova_admin
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