The Pocket Watches of Bulova

As many of you will have noticed, pocket watches have not been a focus of my watch collection.  As a woman, pocket watches have always been off-limits, like smoking a pipe--it’s just not done.  Although women did carry beautiful little pocket watches at one time, in my lifetime such watches have strictly been a man’s accessory.  Women can wear wristwatches, pendant watches, ring watches, bracelet watches, and lapel watches, but Heaven forbid they pull a watch out of their pocket!

However, while I was visiting my folks for the holidays last year, my father presented me with a pocket watch that belonged to his grandfather--my great-grandfather--who died while my father was still a child.  Though not a Bulova product, my dad thought I might like to have it given my general love of watches.  He was quite right.

This pocket watch has been in my family for a very long time—as long as I can remember.  It was one of those untouchable objects that sat on the upper shelf of the ornate roll-top desk in the corner of the formal living room of our family home, off limits to the likes of me.  My favorite memories of that room are sitting on the French Provincial sofa with my mother, admiring the neighborhood Avon Lady’s irresistible trinkets and promises of instant beauty.  Our living room was one of those perfect rooms, with elegant drapes, gilt framed Impressionist paintings, and myriad collections of delicate babbles, all kept pristine for visitors and formal occasions.  It was not a room where unruly kids were encouraged to play.  That’s where the watch lived then, in its little glass case, and here it is now many years later under my care:

Waltham pocket watch originally owned by my great-grandfather John Jacobs

After the holidays, I carefully transported the watch thousands of miles by car to my house, and it now lives on a shelf in my bedroom, where I look at it every night and am reminded of family, growing up, and crossing boundaries.  Despite my many years of collecting watches, this one is still untouchable to me, but I do like looking at it and knowing that it is now in my hands for safekeeping.  Having it has turned my attention to the many great pocket watches that Bulova produced over the years.  I know this is a rather personal introduction to a catalog of pocket watches, but I think it is quite often the personal aspects of an object that draw us to them—impressions of people, places, and experiences of days now passed--connections that we want to hold on to a bit longer.

Below you will find a catalog of the vintage advertisements showing Bulova pocket watches.  I have omitted some very early ads where the resolution is too poor to communicate anything meaningful about the watch.  I have also omitted duplicates where the same watch is shown during the same calendar year.  I will continue to add advertisments that I find and those that are sent to me, so check back often.

I hope this information helps you identify your watch and maybe even gets you excited about adding beautiful Bulova pocket watches to your collection, if you’re not already doing so.

If you would like to share an image of your Bulova pocket watch or relevant vintage advertisement not shown below, please email the image(s) to Watchophilia@verizon.net, along with how you would like to be credited for the contribution.

Vintage Bulova Pocket Watch Advertisements

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