A MEN'S BULOVA STAINLESS STEEL AUTOMATIC DIVER'S WATCH WITH A MOISTURE INDICATOR BASED ON THE PROTOTYPE FOR THE W.S. NAVY IN 1957. TO 200 metres

Model: Mil-Ships-W-2181 Submersible
Date: 2022
Case: C8601544
Movement: Signed, automatic
Dial: Signed, black, Super LumiNova applied hour dots, white outer minute division, white hands with Super LumiNova insert, white centre seconds hand, moisture indicator at the six o'clock position
Case: Signed, stainless steel, aluminum with Super-LumiNova bi-directional bezel with locking mechanism, screw-down crown, screw-down back
Strap: Blue fabric
Size: 41mm
Accompaniments: Bulova box

A forgotten prototype that came back to life thanks to a watch collector....

Bulova always had close links to the U.S. military, especially during the Second World War, producing watches and even during the 1960s, the Head of Research & Development at Bulova was a US five-star General, Omar S Bradley.

In 1955 the U.S. Bureau of Ships isued a contract to create a submersible watch for the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Divers) and UTD (Underwater Demolition Team) requesting a watch that had good visibility in the dark, that had to be watertight and had to have a rotatable outer bezel.

Between 1956 and 1959, Bulova submitted three different initial prototypes for testing to the U.S. Navy. After a few revisions, the final version of the watch was agreed on and was really well received by NEDU (the US Navy Experimental Diving Unit) and so the U.S. Navy then ordered 1,000 of these watches - but Bulova never produced them, the project was dropped and the watch was forgotten to history.

Only 12 known prototypes of the original Bulova watch are known to exist. One enthusiastic watch collector had collected five of these and contacted Bulova about them and, together, they have now worked together to bring to life this special wartch through a new version of the incredible Mil-Ships-W-2181 for all of us to enjoy - and to rediscover a forgotten part of watch history, this time with new materials and new technologies.