Did you know that the very first (legal) televised advertisement, aired on July 1, 1941, was for Bulova watches? It’s true. In fact, the historic brand dates back even further, to 1875, and now has its headquarters in the iconic Empire State Building in NYC.
The point is, the brand is an intrinsic part of both watchmaking and American history.
One of its latest watch releases, the Bulova Military Chronograph Veterans Watchmaker Initiative (VWI) Edition, only furthers that connection with its military heritage and charitable aim.
Field watch, chronograph complication
Although not unheard of, this watch is a somewhat unusual take on a chronograph — at least as far as current trends are concerned. While it retains a classic three-subdial face, you might notice a pretty significant omission: it has no tachymeter bezel.
Present on motorsport-inspired chronographs, these bezels are designed to help measure speed. But this watch isn’t motorsport-inspired. Rather, it’s a classic military timepiece: a field watch (or a field chrono). In practice, this watch is made to track distance, rather than speed, as its use would traditionally be for on-foot fieldwork.
In place of a rotating tachymeter scale, this watch features a unique, coin-edge (or fluted) bezel. Ultimately, this appears to be a stylistic addition, as it has no explicit functionality, but it does add some texture, character and depth to the watch.
Below that, the watch has a cushion case, another historical classic whose initial popularity dates back to the 1920s and ’30s. And that stainless steel case is mated to a classic stitched leather band, done in brown to complement the olive green dial in a timeless, militaristic color scheme.
Proprietary movement and a good cause
Inside the case, this watch features a special, proprietary Bulova movement, a caliber NP20. The difference between this one and normal quartz movements is that it boasts a 3-pronged quartz crystal with a frequency of 262 kHz (eight times greater than standard quartz).
That translates to much higher accuracy, down to only seconds per year (as opposed to seconds per month). Interestingly, that special movement also has an interesting connection to the charity associated with this timepiece.
You see, 10 percent of the proceeds of every watch sold goes to the Veteran’s Watchmaker Initiative (VWI), a specialty school dedicated to teaching U.S. military veterans the skills of watchmaking and helping them find gainful employment in the industry post-service. In fact, that’s precisely what the caseback design is meant to represent.
Not only does a purchase score you one of these exceptional, affordable watches steeped in American and military history, but it also does some good, which, let’s be honest, may benefit you in the future if you’re into watch collecting.
Available now
The Bulova Military Chronograph Veterans Watchmaker Initiative VWI Edition is now available on the brand’s site for $695. Reminder: 10 percent of every sale goes toward providing employment opportunities in watchmaking for U.S. military veterans via the Veteran Watchmaker’s Initiative.
