History/Bulova Watch Corporation
Bulova Watch Corporation
Bulova Watch Corporation was founded in New York City, New York in 1875 by Joseph Bulova. Originally a jewelery store, it began making and selling pocket watches and clocks in 1911 and later began producing wristwatches in 1919. The majority of Bulova's production through the years utilized movements imported from Switzerland and cased in the United States.
The company developed the highly accurate Accutron wristwatch, which kept time using the frequency of a small tuning fork. Although highly successful, its prowess was quickly superseded by the quartz revolution of the late 20th century.
Bulova had a brief partnership with Japanese owned Citizen Watch Company in the 1970s to introduce its timepieces in Asia. Nearly 40 years later, during booming production years in Asia and a falling U.S. economy, Citizen announced on October 5th, 2007 that it would acquire Bulova in January 2008 for US$250 million from Loews Corporation, which has owned the company since 1979.
Prior to Loews Corporation, in 1973, Gulf & Western Industries, Incorperated bought a large share in the company. In 1976 it sold its holdings (28.6%) to Stelux Manufacturing Co., a Hong Kong watch components maker. Loews acquired Stulux's share of Bulova in 1979 and proceeded to acquire the remainder, owning 95% of the company's shares by 1984 and purchasing the remaining 5% in 2005.