Bull bars on cars started getting popular in the 1950s. At first they were a practical way to keep wildlife from embedding itself in your grille, but because some people thought they looked cool, they became fashionable.
Incredibly, protective steel bars on watches came along a lot earlier than the automotive versions. Before the dawn of the 20th century, the watch was a delicate item carried in the breast pocket. Then with the outbreak of WW2, the watch became a vital piece of battle kit and needed to get tough quickly. Most early war watches were pocket watches that were adapted by adding wrist straps and rudimentary protective bars across the face.
