Bulova is remarkable in many ways. Horologically, it has been the flagbearer of American-born watchmaking for over a century (143 years, to be exact). Culturally, the brand’s silhouette reaches even further, having been a touchstone for how corporate America presents itself in countless ways. It’s this history that the latest timepiece-centric book from publisher Assouline, Bulova: A History of Firsts, is focused on.

The 176-page volume doesn’t follow the traditional guideline of brand-centric biblio-pursuits; instead, it reads more like a classic literary journal, focused on the events themselves rather than the decade they occurred in.  It tells the story of Bohemian-immigrant Joseph Bulova as an “iconoclastic industrialist” who built up his eponymous company from scratch into a watchmaking powerhouse that has had a dominating presence on the wrist, and in the minds, of Americans throughout the 20th and 21st century. This was achieved in a myriad of ways which, in a sense, provides the new book with its title. In 1926, Bulova produced the world’s first radio advertisement. This marketing prowess continued in 1941 when the world’s first television ad ran before a Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies game featuring Bulova timepieces.
Other stories from Bulova’s past and historical details found in the book include a look at the brand’s role in the space race, its partnership with Charles Lindbergh, the introducti...