Why We Love It

When we think of sport watches from the 1970's one thing comes to mind: 

Funky case shapes and motorsport racing.

With its bold yet wearable Tonneau case design and highly legible inner tachymeter scale, the Bulova Chronograph "D" has everything that one could want from a 1970's sport watch. Twin subsidiary registers, with orange fluorescent accents in the 30 minute counter, punctuate the soft slate gray dial.

Bulova produced its first chronographs in the 1940s—single-button affairs with screw-on bezels. Throughout the 50's, 60's and 70's, Bulova honed its mastery of chronographs. Powered by the workhorse Valjoux 7734, the Chronograph D was one in a long line of rock solid sport watches that Bulova was creating at the time. 

Unlike other much larger racing watches of the 1970's, the 39mm size makes the Chronograph "D" instantly comfortable and easy to wear - whether its sliding under the cuff of your favorite shirt or timing the lap on your favorite racetrack. 

The Story

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. Bulova produced its first chronographs in the 1940s—single-button affairs with screw-on bezels. Throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70's, Bulova honed its mastery of chronographs.