The Berkshire Locomotive - 1950

Just to tie up a loose thread from earlier, I made contact with the current owner/manager/renovator of the Bulova building in Queens.  According to Mr. Ed Blumenfeld of Blumenfeld Development Group, the building was designed by Alexander Crosett.

Mr. Blumenfeld stated that the most recent renovations to the building by his company, "held the integrity of his [Mr. Crosett's] design and improved upon the interior design." 

I know that the wild goose chase has since moved on to the Berkshires, but I promised Mr. Blumenfeld to properly credit him for the information he so kindly gathered for us.

I think the Berkshire connection has been show in another post to reflect connections to Omar Bradley and possibly others from Bulova that spent time at the Berkshire facilities during and after the war.

www.mybulova.com/node/2252

Nothing is concrete, however as this thread shows, it is a tangeable connection to a very important airfield that was decommisioned in the early part of the '50's, a fitting reason for a strong military company to name a watch after it ( even before it actually was closed down ) , especially when their military ( Omar Bradley ) connection spent a great deal of time there. Many shot up american bombers landed here and it was home to several US fighter squadrons strongly involved in D-day and other major operations of the war in Germany, untill the bitter end. This is just theory, as is all of the other ideas, but it seems to have the most tangeable connections so far.

I'm going to toss out a crazy idea, for which I concede there is not one lick of evidence:

The Berkshire is not really a 'Dress Watch'.  It's far too informal and even slightly gaudy - compared to some of Bulova's more staid designs.  So perhaps it was meant as a casual watch.  The Berkshires of Western Massachusetts being a vacation destination, perhaps Bulova wanted customers to think of a nice, casual watch to wear on vacation, with their short-sleeved golf shirts and Bermuda shorts.

Alternatively, maybe somebody in the Marketing Department threw a dart at a list....

(Submitted with tongue firmly in cheek)

Seriously, as far as direct evidence, your theory is as sound as any.  The only "evidence" we have for how the watches were marketed is this service reminder post card.  While, by today's standards, the woman depicted would be dressed for the opera, by 1950 standards, she was pretty casual.

Wow there sure are some interesting theory's coming out of you guys! FLW, a locomotive , air field in England, a vacation spot In Massachusetts. The the funny thing is they are plausible. This might be the most mysterious and interesting watch we have ever discussed on this site. :)

Since the only ad we have ever seen is a Canadian ad could this watch have only been sold to the Canadian market?  Could there be a link to Canada and the name Berkshire?

You know, there's also a breed of hog named 'Berkshire'.....

You guys are wearing me out.

I'd noticed a Ladies Watch box recently with an interesting slogan inside the lid. It read:

"Timed and Cased at Sterling Tower, Toronto"

A quick check of Sterling Tower revealed it had been demolished years ago, but.

There was the 'Shell Oil Tower'

(Bulova Clock)

Which later became the 'Bulova Tower'

This Tower was located on the grounds of the Canadian National Exibit. Which features the usual festivities including an Air Show.

I'm wondering why the Watch has to look like anything?

Does the Lone Eagle look like Lindenburg?

Sterling Tower is still standing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Tower

I would use caution as there are 2 unresolved issues.

1. We don't know with 100% certainty what this Watch was named in 1950.

2. Where is the Ladies Model?

To Me, these Watches look like a set of some sort, an unnamed / unknown 1950 commemorative perhaps?

happy hunting.

shooter,

The Ladies Model has never been named.

The Gent's is named from a 1955 piece.

Lisa,

'AIR KING' could relate to broadcasting....think outside of the box.

NBC.

Not quite ready for prime time , but here they are:

In 1950 they most likely did relate, as a set.

IMO

It Seems tha Bulova Corp. of Canada was located in the Sterling Tower Toronto much like the USA 5th Ave Nwe York location.

Since the only ad we have is from a jewler in Edmonton AB, this may be an exclusive watch to Canadians.

It could be their answer to the His/Her Excellency series or Academy series for an similar event nationwide event located up north.

I have been doing the Google thing for Canada but seems I am not hitting the right keywords yet...

I still haven't worked directly with International yet, so I could be totally wrong about this.  But won't they have records regarding what these watches were called?  Isn't that how they know which plate(s) to use for the re-dial?  Won't they also be able to tell us whether the watches had different names for different years?

Greg,

I'm there but any link to Bulova and Sterling Tower has long been erased - time to dig deeper I guess.

eh?

That is a very nice set Fifth !!!!

Respectfully, I would have to disagree admin.

There is no mention of a 'LADY BERKSHIRE' in any of the Crystal Catalouges, no ads depicting a 'LADY BERKSHIRE'.

There is no evidence whatsover that the model Name ever existed.

we could Name 100 or more unknowns using this 'I think We should call it' method of identification.

For all We know at this point the Ladies model may have only been available in a set.

We don't know what it is Plainsmen, that's for sure.

I'll see that $1,000 and raise You another $1,000 that it's not the Lady Rite-Angle.

To clarify: My theory never included a name for the Watch merely a designer for its unique to the time design..

.....and what about that Clock that was found in Philly?