Few Hollywood lives moved as dramatically as James Stewart’s did in 1941.
One month he was collecting an Academy Award for The Philadelphia Story, and the next he was entering the U.S. Army as a private.
Bulova’s new A-11 JIMMY picks up that thread through one of the most practical objects of the period, a military wristwatch built not for glamour, but for coordination, clarity and survival.
At a glance
- Bulova has introduced the A-11 JIMMY, a modern field watch inspired by the World War II A-11 Hack Watch.
- The 37mm stainless steel watch uses a no-date black dial, hacking automatic movement, double-domed sapphire crystal and BGW9 Super-LumiNova.
- Priced at $795, it is scheduled for delivery in October 2026 ahead of the theatrical release of JIMMY on November 6.
A military watch tied to a remarkable Hollywood life
The A-11 JIMMY arrives with an unusually direct link between watchmaking, cinema and military history.
Original period watches from Bulova’s museum were loaned for use in JIMMY, the forthcoming major motion picture starring KJ Apa as Stewart.
The film follows Stewart’s passage from screen actor to U.S. Army Air Corps pilot, then back to Hollywood for It’s a Wonderful Life, released in 1946 as his first feature after the war.
That arc matters because Stewart’s service was no symbolic detour.
Already an experienced civilian pilot when he enlisted, he went on to serve with the Eighth Air Force in England, flying B-24 Liberators over occupied Europe.
He completed 20 combat missions, rose from private to colonel during the war and received two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm.
Stewart later remained in the Air Force Reserve and retired as a brigadier general.
For a watch associated with timing, navigation and synchronization, the connection is more than cosmetic.
The A-11 formula was built around legibility
During World War II, Bulova was among the key American manufacturers producing watches to the A-11 standard, alongside Elgin and Waltham.
The design was stripped down by necessity.
A black dial, white Arabic numerals, a clear minute track and central seconds gave pilots and military personnel the information they needed without decorative distraction.
The most important feature sat in the movement rather than on the dial.
Pulling out the crown stopped the seconds hand, allowing multiple watches to be synchronized against the same time signal.
That hacking function gave the A-11 its familiar Hack Watch identity and made it useful in operations where timing had to be shared precisely.
Bulova’s wartime work extended beyond wristwatches to navigation instruments, aviation equipment and other precision timing devices.
The A-11 was the wearable end of that broader effort, small enough to live on the wrist yet central to the discipline of coordinated timekeeping.
A slimmer modern field watch
The new Bulova A-11 JIMMY keeps the wartime template intact while updating the materials and mechanics for daily wear.
The stainless steel case measures 37mm across, a size that feels closer to the original military spirit than many larger contemporary field watches.
The matte-black dial remains free of a date window, with white Arabic numerals, matching hands and a precise minute track doing the work.
BGW9 Super-LumiNova gives the watch modern low-light visibility, while the double-domed sapphire crystal and coin-edge bezel preserve a period-leaning profile.
On the back, acid-etched markings nod to the military casebacks of the era.
Inside is the automatic Miyota Caliber 9039, a slim hand-winding movement with hacking seconds and a 42-hour power reserve.
The movement measures 3.9mm thick, helping bring the total case height to 11.2mm.
That is notably thinner than Bulova’s previous A-11 model, which measured 14.2mm in height.
The result should be a watch that wears with the easy restraint expected from a utilitarian military design, rather than as a costume-piece tribute.
Details & Specifications
| Brand | Bulova |
|---|---|
| Model | A-11 JIMMY |
| Case size | 37mm |
| Case material | Stainless steel |
| Case height | 11.2mm |
| Dial | Matte black with white Arabic numerals and minute track |
| Crystal | Double-domed sapphire |
| Lume | BGW9 Super-LumiNova |
| Movement | Automatic Miyota Caliber 9039 |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, central seconds, hacking seconds |
| Power reserve | 42 hours |
| Water resistance | 50 metres |
| Price | $795 |
| Delivery | Scheduled to begin in October 2026 |
The A-11 JIMMY works because it doesn’t try to make a field watch more complicated than it needs to be.
Its appeal is in the restraint, the historical connection and the fact that its defining technical feature still has a reason to be there.
For collectors drawn to military watches, Bulova history or James Stewart’s extraordinary second life in uniform, this is a modestly sized release with a story that gives its simplicity real weight.
