Guide to Vintage Bulova (and Generic) Watch Bands and Bracelets

I often get asked about the originality or appropriateness of a particular band or bracelet to a given watch or, similarly, for advice regarding which strap would be a "period correct" choice for a particular watch.   So, I have put together this guide to help answer those questions.  Whether you're trying to figure out whether the band that you have is the "correct" one or you're in search of the band that would fully restore your treasure to its former glory, this guide should provide the tools you need to make the right decision.

Understanding the correct mount for a watch is similar to identifying the correct period box--you first have to know the date of your watch, then you can use the resources here on Watchophilia to identify the accessories that would have accompanied it.  If you're not sure about the date of your watch, please check out these tutorials:  Identifying a Bulova and Dating a Bulova.

While the images below may not show your exact watch, they will tell you the straps and bracelets that were popular when your watch was manufactured, and which would, therefore, be a period-correct choice now.  I have never accepted the idea that a watch only had one strap possibility, namely, the one shown in the vintage advertisement.  I believe that advertisers--be they Bulova or a retailer--decided which strap looked best on the watch for the advertisement campaign, but that strap was likely not the only option available at the point of sale.  For example, there will always be people who prefer a leather or cloth strap over a metal bracelet.  Why then would any watch seller offer only one of those possibilities to everyone?   My goal here is not to identify every watch and the strap that went with it, but rather to present you with options, any one of which would be appropriate based on the age of your watch.

An important point to note as you review the ads below is the progression of styles through each decade.  To keep things simple, I have organized the images into sections by decade.  However, in reality, band and bracelet styles did not change quite so precisely or regularly.  Instead, they tended to evolve as the decade progressed, with styles earlier in the decade often being quite different from those that came later in that same decade.   This is another reason why it is very important to know the date of your watch, so that you can then study the bands and bracelets that were propular in the years closely surrounding the date of your watch.

In the examples below I have not attempted to show every band or bracelet that was available every year.  Rather, I captured what I believe to be at least one good example of every general type of band or bracelet shown in the available vintage Bulova watches for sale for the stated decade.  The year listed below the advertisement is the publication date of the advertisement and is not intended to represent the only year that the depicted band or strap was used.  Similary, the watch in the ad is not intended to suggest that only that watch used that strap.  In general, this article is intended to be a style guide, rather than a comprehensive catalog of every strap used by Bulova on every watch.