Bulova is a popular affordable American watch brand. With a long history in watchmaking.
From one of the first field watches worn by NATO soldiers in World War 2. To then sending a Bulova chronograph to the moon!
But is Bulova a good watch brand?
The answer is YES.
Here at Which Watch Next we think Bulova is one of the world’s most underrated brands. In this blog post we’ll give you our reasons why.
Taking you through Bulova’s history, reputation, pros and cons of Bulova. We’ll also tell you which Bulova watch is the best one out now.
Keep scrolling to discover this Bulova watch review…and learn if you should get a Bulova watch or not.
Bulova Watch Review
- Is Bulova a good watch brand?
- History of Bulova
- Reputation of Bulova
- Who owns Bulova watches?
- Where are Bulova watches made?
- What movements do Bulova watches use?
- Are Bulova watches good quality?
- Best Bulova Watch
- Where to buy Bulova watches?
Is Bulova a good watch brand?
Yes. Bulova is a great watch brand. If you’re after an affordable, well made timepiece from a brand with heritage. Then Bulova is a great pick.
Bulova has had a rebrand in the past few years. They’re now going back to their roots. Creating nostalgic timepieces that were a hit in the past.
Watches like the Bulova Computron, which is an LED display digital watch from the quartz crisis era. A very retro looking watch that Bulova fans love.
Or the bright orange Oceanographer Devil Diver released by Bulova in 2021. Recently Bulova has been on a serious roll with great blasts from the past.
Another great thing about Bulova is their love for accuracy and affordability.
Bulova has produced some highly accurate watches that are very affordable. Their Precisionist collections are powered by High Accuracy Quartz (HAQ) movements. Which makes their watches run as accurately as <1 second per month!
These are just some of the reasons why we love the Bulova watch brand.
Now why not jump to a review of our favorite Bulova watches you can own today.
History of Bulova
Bulova was first established in 1875 by Joseph Bulova in New York city.
Joseph Bulova was a jeweler who had emigrated to the US from Europe. He first concentrated on jewelry and it wasn’t until 1911 when Bulova began to manufacture clocks.
Bulova was an innovator, and he helped to bring about the first mass production of clocks in 1912 to the world. His factory was the first of its kind producing timepieces in large identical quantities.
The Bulova watchmaker was also one of the first watchmakers who made soldiers field watches for the First and Second World Wars.
To learn more about the history of Bulova, you should check out the great video from Times Ticking. They manage to condense the history of Bulova into just 10 minutes.
But one of the biggest defining moments in Bulova’s history. Was the release of the Accutron watch in 1960. This was the world’s first fully electronic watch.
Inside the Accutron movement. Bulova used a tuning fork instead of a balance wheel to keep time by vibrations thanks to an electrical circuit.
The tuning fork even became part of the old Bulova logo. They’ve only recently gotten rid of the tuning fork in their logo since 2013.
Check out one of the original commercials for the Accutron watch from 1961 down below.
In 2020, Bulova re-launched the Accutron brand. You can now own your very own Bulova Accutron watch. Discover this historic remake.
Bulova also released a line of Accutron II watches. These are a modern take on the first electronic watch. Check them out.
Another huge moment for Bulova was getting a watch on the moon in 1971! Their chronograph earned the nickname of the Bulova Moonwatch.
This watch is still available to buy today, and is our top pick for the best Bulova watch.
Find out more about this watch and how it made it to the moon!
Reputation of Bulova
Bulova’s reputation has been up and down and up again over the past few decades.
They are not considered a luxury watch brand. Instead they are thought of as a high quality affordable watchmaker. However, they are often underrated.
Bulova isn’t the most well known brand, but this brand does get a lot of respect among watch collectors.
Recently, Bulova has been going through a rebrand in the past decade. They have even removed the tuning fork from their logo in 2013.
Today, Bulova are making waves with their many re-releases of famous Bulova watches. Watches like their LED display Computron, their Accutron II, and their many cool, retro Devil Divers.
This move has done wonders for their reputation. By re-releasing great timepieces, many are being reminded just how great the Bulova brand was, and the long heritage it has in the history of watchmaking.
Who owns Bulova watches?
Bulova is now owned by the Citizen watch group. Citizen bought Bulova in 2008 for $250 million.
Citizen is one of the top Japanese watchmakers, and also one of the world’s largest watch groups. Along with Bulova, Citizen is the parent company to many other watch brands.
Brands in the Citizen group include:
- Bulova
- Citizen
- Frédérique Constant
- Alpina
- And more!
Get the full list of the Citizen Watch Group brands in our guide to the world’s top watch groups.
Where are Bulova watches made?
Bulova watches are not made in the USA. They might be an American watch brand but their watches are not built in America.
However, they still have headquarters located in the US, and consider themselves an American heritage brand.
Instead, Bulova watches are made in either Hong Kong, Japan, or Switzerland.
What movements do Bulova watches use?
Bulova makes some of their movements in-house, such as their high precision quartz movements.
Their Precisionist movement is their High Accuracy Quartz (HAQ) movement. Which is extremely accurate; as accurate as <1 second per month. The Bulova Precisionist Chronograph is a popular watch from them that is powered by this movement.
However, their automatic mechanical movements are made by Miyota. Miyota is a Japanese watch movement producer owned by Citizen. The Bulova Classic 96C141 is one of their automatic watches that uses a Miyota 9110 movement.
Are Bulova watches good quality?
For their price point, Bulova makes excellent quality watches. We think they are one of the best affordable watch brands in terms of quality.
We would have to put Bulova on par with Seiko, and their parent company; Citizen. All three brands offer well made affordable watches, as well as more high end timepieces too.
Bulova Pros vs Cons
Here is a quick overview of the pros and cons of the Bulova watch brand.
| Pros Of Bulova | Cons Of Bulova |
| Affordable Price range – $$$ | Underrated Bulova is not as famous as other modern watchmakers |
| Respected US watchmaker Established since 1875 | Not made in the USA Instead made in Kong Kong, Japan, and Switzerland |
| Nostalgic Re-Releases E.g. Computron | Some Quality Control Issues A few reports of quality control issues in a small number of collections |
| High Accuracy Quartz (HAQ) E.g. Precisionist watch collection | |
| Strong Historical Heritage E.g. Moonwatch, Accutron watch |
Best Bulova Watch
You can get our full review of the best watches from Bulova.
But, if we had to recommend just one Bulova watch that everyone should buy. That would have to be the Bulova Moonwatch.
Bulova Moonwatch
The Bulova Lunar Chronograph, also nicknamed the Bulova Moonwatch or the Other Moonwatch.
Is one of the best affordable chronographs available today. Not only has this watch made it to the surface of the moon.
It’s also a shockingly affordable watch too!
This watch made history when Astronaut David Scott took it on the Apollo 15 mission to the moon. All the way back in August 1971.
Just recently in 2015 the original Bulova was sold at auction for $1.625 million dollars.
Luckily today you can own a new Bulova Moonwatch for a much cheaper price. Bulova have re-released many versions of this cool space watch.
It’s a gorgeous looking chronograph, and comes with a reliable quartz movement. It’s a super cool watch with a huge amount of history behind it.
Check out the entire line of Bulova Moonwatches on their Amazon store.
Where to buy Bulova watches?
Bulova has their very own Amazon store. This is one of the best places to buy Bulova watches.
There you can find discounted prices and deals on popular Bulova timepieces.
Discover the latest Bulova watches now.
