Giving Disabled Vets a Vocation and Purpose

In 1945, after World War II, Arde Bulova, son of Joseph Bulova, founded the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking. The purpose of the tuition-free school was to offer disabled veterans a means of rehabilitation, combined with master watchmaking skills and dedicated job placement. In 1946, in front of a distinguished audience that included Veterans Administrator General Omar Bradley, the first class of veterans graduated from the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking and prepared to take their new place in the world as skilled watchmakers. The school operated for several decades before closing.

To Serve Those Who Serve Us

In 2017, through the vision and dedication of Sam Cannan, a retired Baltimore police officer and Swiss-trained master watchmaker, the Veterans Watchmaking Initiative (VWI) was established. VWI welcomed its first students, and founding sponsor Bulova pledged to support the program, a tradition it is proud to carry on..

The school created a system that’s been replicated throughout the world and adopted by other Allied foreign countries as a means to train disabled veterans to be self-supporting, self-respecting members of society and graduate with the finest watchmaking skills. VWI provides disabled veterans the opportunity to rebuild their lives by learning the lucrative skills of mechanical watchmaking. Simultaneously, VWI supplies the understaffed profession of watchmaking with new, well-trained experts.

As Bulova’s unwavering support for Veterans Watchmaker Initiative, we proudly announce VWI as an Authorized Service Center: