Harry B. Henshel, 88, the last member of the Bulova family to head its high-end watch company, died June 29 at his home in Scarsdale, N.Y. No cause of death was reported.

Bulova Watch Co. was started as a jewelry store by Henshel’s grandfather Joseph Bulova in New York in 1875. Mr. Henshel started at the company after serving in World War II and took over as president after the death of his uncle, Arde Bulova, in 1958. He became chairman in 1974.

The company became a subsidiary of the Loews Corp. in 1979.

It was under Henshel’s tenure that the company released the Accutron, a groundbreaking battery-powered watch that used a tuning fork as the timing mechanism to achieve greater accuracy. Mr. Henshel also developed the Phototimer, the first automatic timing device used in sports, in 1948, the company said.