Bulova A-17 'Civilian'

Overall Condition: Very good condition overall. Case shows light wear. Dial and handset show patination.

The story of Bulova is deeply entwined with American manufacturing.

Its founder, a Czech immigrant named Joseph Bulova, was inspired by the advances that Ford made in his factory in Highland Park, Michigan. Starting in 1912, Bulova built a factory in Biel, Switzerland, using Ford’s principles of mass production.

The brand was among the first to offer a wide range of wristwatches for men, with a distinctive visual style that—thanks to its innovative adoption of advertising and a relocation to Astoria, Queens—became fixed in the American imagination. Bulova took over offices in the Empire State Building and installed an observatory on the roof, in order to measure universal time.

In the workshop down below, watchmakers timed the watches they were working on to readings taken in the observatory. The watches that Bulova produced were varied, from handsome three-handers to divers and even chronographs.

This particular piece, a Reference A-17 dates to the 1950s. The A-17 was produced for the US military initially, this piece a 'civilian' example. Measuring in at 32mm and sporting a 10BNCH manually wound movement, this piece has a classic military aesthetic with a beautiful charcoal dial with incredibly legible indexes in excellent condition.

Whether you're a seasoned collector or just getting started, it's hard to go wrong with a timelessly designed manually-wound watch with a military history.

And lets face it, wearing a nearly 100 year-old watch is just cool.