Bulova
bulova us military forces - us army ground forces

Bulova Cal-10, the iconic military watch issued by the U.S. Army during World War II. Alongside Waltham, Hamilton, and Elgin, Bulova was commissioned by the U.S. War Department to manufacture Cal-10 type “Ordnance Dept” watches for the American and Allied forces before and during the global conflict. Some of these models were sent to European armies stationed in England, while others were delivered before U.S. entry into the war via War Relief Funds to the USSR and Chinese forces fighting the Japanese.

This 1943 model, produced during WWII and available in our Aix-en-Provence boutique, corresponds to the U.S. State Department’s procurement specification under the reference “Cal. 10 Ordnance Department.” These renowned watches—also featured on screen in many productions such as *Fury* with Brad Pitt or Spielberg’s *Saving Private Ryan*—were designed for ground forces and generally featured white dials with small seconds subdials at 6 o'clock.

These watches, deployed across all theaters of war, had to withstand the temperate European front as well as the harsh conditions of Pacific islands—enduring monsoon humidity and sea air. The chosen solution was a robust and precise hand-wound hack-watch movement (to allow easy field servicing), with a permanent small seconds hand (so the wearer could always confirm the watch was running), an oversized crown for gloved operation, and a highly legible dial with luminous hands for use at night or in low light.