On Veterans Day, a short film from Complecto and Bulova about the veterans learning watchmaking and building careers at a school in Odessa, Delaware. “It’s given me back a sense of purpose.”

That’s what one veteran told us when we visited the Veterans Watchmaker Initiative (VWI) earlier this year to make this film with Bulova. We spent the day watching students at their benches and listening to them talk about how they found watchmaking and what it had come to mean in their lives. I’ve thought about that line a lot since.

From Queens to Odessa

When I think about American military watches, Bulova is one of the first names that comes to mind. The company made A-11 field watches for U.S. service members during World War II, and its MIL-SHIPS traces back to a dive-watch prototype the U.S. Navy tested in the 1950s. The new A-11 Jimmy draws on an original Bulova A-11 featured in Jimmy, a film about Jimmy Stewart’s wartime service. Explore the MIL-SHIPS history and read about the A-11 Jimmy here.

That history also includes what Bulova did for veterans when they came home. After World War II, Arde Bulova founded the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking to train returning veterans with disabilities, tuition-free. The school’s Woodside, Queens, building even had a wheelchair ramp built into the original design. I keep thinking about that detail. Someone had to think through who could get into the building before anyone could sit down at a bench. Discover the school’s history here.

That school inspired Sam Cannan to start the Veterans Watchmaker Initiative in Delaware. Today, Sam and his team carry that work forward with support from Bulova and others who believe in the school’s mission. You can see what that continuity looks like in Joey Tucker, an instructor at VWI. He served in the Navy as an electronics technician aboard submarines, graduated from VWI, and now teaches watchmaking there. Veterans coming into the program get to learn from someone who’s sat where they’re sitting. Meet the VWI instructors here.

What an Open Door Can Do

I started Complecto to help more people discover the world of watches and to build a community where the people who love them can help shape it and open doors for others. A day in Odessa gave me a more personal understanding of what an open door can mean. The veterans we met were learning a craft they could make a living from, alongside people who understood what it takes to build a life after service.

Hearing what that opportunity meant to them made this one of the most rewarding films we’ve made at Complecto. I’m grateful to Bulova for bringing us into a partnership that gives people a way into watchmaking and to the students who let us see what they were making of that opportunity.

Supporting the Mission

Bulova’s VWI Special Edition Military Chronograph helps support VWI’s work, with 10% of every sale going directly to the school, creating employment opportunities in watchmaking for U.S. military veterans. Discover the watch at Bulova.com.

You can also support the school directly or learn more about its programs. Visit the Veterans Watchmaker Initiative.

This Veterans Day, thank you to everyone who has served and to the families who have shared in that sacrifice. To the veterans who welcomed us into your school and trusted us with your stories, thank you.