Any serious, and not so serious, watch collector can tell you that Bulova has a history of making high quality watches. Rather than simply be a watch company known for status through price-point, they established themselves as the standard of well-made watches. Moreover, Bulova is also notable for being the first watch company to do many things: they made the first ever television commercial and they were the first on the moon. Further, they created the Accutron in the 1960s (the most accurate watch in the world) and now they are announcing another company milestone: the first fully-curved chronograph watch.
The concept behind the CURV Chronographs is that your watch should feel more integrated into your body. The designers made it fully curved to match the anatomy of the wrist – making it very comfortably to wear. Unlike other watches that feature only a curved casing, Bulova made all the interior movements curved. Some of the watches even feature the movements exposed for all to see. More about the movement: the watch has a 262 kilohertz frequency, as opposed to about 32 kilohertz for a conventional quartz oscillator. But what exactly does this mean? Way better accuracy.
As watch aficionados we thought it would be great to sit down with Bulova to find out more about their latest innovations and the brand. So we reached out to Susan Chandler, Vice President of Merchandising at Bulova, to find out more.
AmongMen: So why go fully-curved (inside and out)?
Susan Chandler: We introduced the world’s first chronograph movement and CURV watch, adding yet another milestone to our history of firsts. This project was over two years in the making. Technological improvements in our proprietary high performance quartz movements and advance design made it possible.
AM: What was the inspiration behind the concept?
SC: Form follows function. Nothing on your body is flat so why should your watch be? We built this product from the inside out.
AM: What kind of man are you trying to appeal to with the CURV?
SC: We are looking for an aspirational urbanite. Someone who appreciates design, function, and something new and different.
AM: Bulova was recently recognized as having one of the best new watches at Basel?
SC: It is always great to receive recognition especially amongst the ranks of all the high end Swiss products. It is even more special when you create a watch retailing for a little over $1,000 and receive praise alongside some Swiss watches that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
AM: What is your favourite model in the CURV line up?
SC: Model 98A162– the titanium makes this extremely light and wonderful to wear.
AM: What can we expect next from Bulova?
SC: Some secrets must be kept…
