Good Time

Back in the mid-1950s, Bulova Watch Co., the nation's biggest watch producer and importer, found itself whipsawed by its competition. On the one hand, more and more Americans were turning to expensive luxury watches, to the detriment of Bulova's essentially medium-priced (average retail cost: $60) line. On the other hand, the U.S. Time Corp., having found a way to anodize the aluminum cases on cheaper watches to make them resemble gold, was carving out a huge, low-price market with its Timex models. As a result, while the total U.S. market increased by 25%, Bulova's sales were skidding by 17%.

Having survived that slowdown, Bulova is now keeping better time than ever. Over the past eight years, the company has doubled annual sales, to $123 million, and increased earnings by 150%, to $3.8 million. Two men are most responsible for Bulova's improved fortunes. The first is General Omar N. Bradley, 74, who was brought into the company in 1953 by Arde Bulova, son of the Czechoslovak immigrant who founded Bulova as a small Manhattan jewelry shop in 1874. When Arde died in 1958, Bradley succeeded him as chairman. The following year, Arde's nephew, Harry Bulova Henshel, now 48, became president. Bradley brought to the manufacturing-oriented company much-needed organizational skills, laid the structural groundwork for expansion. As for Henshel, his immediate task was to streamline marketing, crack down on jewelers selling Bulovas at less than fair-trade prices.

Humming. Most important, Henshel complemented the company's basic Bulova watch by introducing two new lines: the low-priced ($10.95 to $29.95) Caravelle, designed to compete with the Timex, and the top-quality Accutron ($125 and up), a battery-powered electronic watch whose tuning-fork action assures precision, makes the timepiece hum instead of tick. So fast did the new lines catch on that Bulova figures their combined dollar-sales volume during the past fiscal year exceeded overall watch sales of either of Bulova's chief U.S. competitors, Elgin and Hamilton. Not content with that, the company further broadened its product line last February by acquiring Universal Geneve, a Swiss manufacturer of luxury timepieces.

Recognizing that Bulova is necessarily an international-minded company--most of its watch movements are assembled in Switzerland--Henshel is particularly eager to expand its overseas markets. Though 80% of the company's sales are still in the U.S., some progress has been made: Bulova is now selling watches in 89 countries, compared with 19 in 1961. Even so, the U.S. remains its most promising market. During the current June graduation season, Bulova expects to capture as much as 30% of gift watch sales, which could soar to $100 million.

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