Offered here is a presentation inscribed Bulova chronograph watch presented to U.S. Army general and president of the United States Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower by Bulova Watch Company Chairman Arde Bulova. The back of the watch has the engraved inscription “TO/GENL. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER/AS A TOKEN/OF MY ADMIRATION/AND RESPECT/ARDE BULOVA.” General Dwight D. Eisenhower needs little introduction. Before serving as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961, Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army, serving as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during WWII who led victorious Allied forces in the invasion of France. Eisenhower’s service to his country has been well-documented and debated by military and presidential historians for decades. A military legend in his own right, his stature as a Cold War president has only grown over the decades. The origins of the Bulova Watch Company were e stablished when Bohemian immigrant Joseph Bulova founded J. Bulova Company in 1875 in New York. In 1945, then Chairman of the Board Arde Bulova founded the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking. The school provided training for returning disabled WWII veterans and eventually became a fully operational rehabilitation facility, advocating for all disabled people nationwide until closing in 1993. The watch company gained the attention of General Omar N. Bradley, whom graduated from West Point in 1915 alongside Eisenhower and was one of Eisenhower’s most trusted subordinates during WWII. Bradley was a close friend of Harry D. Henshel, the brother-in-law of Arde Bulova. Henshel served as an officer in the First Army directly under Bradley and invited Bradley to the watchmaking school. When Bradley returned to civilian life in 1954, he accepted a position as chairman of Bulova Research & Development Labs Inc., the defense subsidiary of the company. After Arde Bulova died in 1958, Bradley became the chairman of the company, a position he held until 1973. Bradley’s close relationships to Eisenhower and the Bulova Watch Company could have easily facilitated a presentation. The historical record also shows that Arde Bulova himself had access to the executive branch. Documents published on the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum website include daily presidential appointments for the date June 23, 1950, indicating “Mr. Arde Bulova - 630 Fifth Avenue, New York City” was present at an off the record luncheon in the Vice President's office attended by Truman. It is not unreasonable to assume that Arde continued to rub elbows with those seated in the highest positions of power after the departure of the Truman administration. Then, there are Eisenhower’s own actions to consider. In July 1954, the same year Bradley became the chairman of Bulova’s defense subsidiary, President Eisenhower increased the tariff on imported watches. The decision recognized “that the American watchmaking industry is essential to our national defense,” proclaimed the Bulova Watch Company Annual Report, 1955. Arde presented to the Committee on Armed Forces of the United States a detailed account of the critical role American watchmaking played in supplying weapons to the military, and Bradley calmed shareholder concerns related to the protectionist measures in the company’s annual report:: “Bulova is producing mechanisms of the most complex and delicate nature for our national arsenal – detection devices for guided missiles, mortar fuses, mine detectors, complicated torpedo-head assemblies, quartz crystals, and certain devices which are classified as secret by the Department of Defense,” wrote Bradley. Under Bradley’s guidance, the number of employees at the R&D division increased fivefold within one year. When this watch was presented to Eisenhower remains unknown. The historical facts presented here make it highly plausible that this watch made it to the general’s wrist at some point between the years after WWII and before Arde Bulova died in 1958. How the watch left Eisenhower’s possession is retold in a letter of provenance written by George Eckstein of Boone, Iowa. Boone, Iowa, is central to the story as it is the hometown of Eisenhower’s wife, Mamie. The Eisenhowers, even while Ike was president, frequently returned to Boone to visit Mamie’s relatives and friends. One such relative was her Uncle Joel Carlson. At one of these visits Ike gifted this watch to Joel Carlson. Over the years the watch was repaired by Eckstein’s father, Walther, a jeweler/watchmaker in Boone. At some point, Carlson determined that the watch was too expensive to repair, so Walter Eckstein offered the trade of a new Bulova watch for this watch. The trade was accepted, and the watch remained with the Eckstein family until now. Besides the inscription, the watch has a face with numbers and minute markers highlighted in gold, a 30 minute totalizer, a small second hand, a pebble grain leather strap marked “HONG KONG", and a buckle marked “W. GERMANY STEEL.” Includes a photograph of Ike and Mamie. The watch is a 1941 Bulova Chronograph 13AH 17 jewel movement. The case serial number is 214797.

Fine. There are light scratches on the crystal, and the face retains much of the luminous/gold finish. (Mechanically does functions, although no inspection by our writers is pertinent as we are not qualified watch experts, but we can attest to the authenticity of the inserption!) The strap has tight stitching and show minimal flex wear. An interesting piece of personal history linked to American president and general Dwight D. Eisenhower. A "monumental" addition to any 20th century U.S. military or museum collection.