Buler was founded in 1945 by Charles and Albert Buhler. Management of the brand was taken over by Walter Rufli in 1954 after the founders withdrew from the company. By 1956, Buler was relocated into a modern factory in Lengnau.
In 1967, Buler became a founding member of Economic Swiss Time Holding. It later merged with SSIH in 1971, which was eventually renamed as Swatch Group in 1998.
The brand was acquired by Hong Kong-based Renley Watch Manufacturing in 1991, and relocated to La Chaux-de-Fonds. Buler now appears to be defunct, having last been documented as being present at Baselworld 2017.
Team ATS
Buler was likely a sponsor of Team ATS during the 1980 Formula 1 season, with its logo appearing on the ATS D4.
Marc Surer
Buler branding has also appeared on the helmet and racing suit of Marc Surer between 1980 and 1983. What appears to be a vintage promotional sticker featuring Surer during the 1980 Formula 1 season has also been spotted on eBay listings, along with a number of other Buler-branded stickers of the Swiss driver.
Image search results from an expired Ricardo.ch listing shows a Buler digital watch with Surer’s signature printed on the dial, which appears to be a reproduction of the same signature graphic featured on the aforementioned sticker. This suggests that the watch is likely to have been produced within the context of Surer’s Formula 1 career, although the relevant details cannot be confirmed.
Related Pages
References
https://masterhorologer.com/2018/08/13/buler-swiss-watches-brand-details-history-collections/
https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=buler
https://web.archive.org/web/20251118100823/http://buler.ch/en/communication/news.html
https://www.ebay.com/itm/143468362800
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/formula-one-driver-marc-surer-of-switzerland-during-the-news-photo/1089016930
https://www.ricardo.ch/de/a/marc-surer-aufkleber-formel-1-motorsport-grand-prix-f1-1242573194/
https://img.ricardostatic.ch/images/ea4b5e6d-2965-4b29-a107-fc6ea6946d67/t_1000x750/antike-bulermarc-surer-digitaluhr