Nicole Rogers
This is my first Bulova and have to say its a hefty timepiece, great details on the dial face, bezel and essentially, the entire watch. The bracelet is chunky, although detailed with a combination of brushed and polished finishes, with the Bulova logo, however I found it to be a little brash and ungainly. I promptly substituted it with a 24mm NATO strap natostrapco.com and now the watch looks proportional and easier on the wrist.This inner details of the watch face are spectacular; the carbon fiber is industrial, the "engraved" steel ring connecting all the hour markings and the blue/cobalt ring that only reflects when light shines on it. The crystal has a complex curve on it and this is the only watch I have seen that has such a curve on it. The outer ring on the face is raised and has the tachymeter markings as well. The non rotating bezel is polished and has black engraved markings such as diver 60 min markings; the side of the bezel is also textured and 4 hex screws holding everything together. The case is large and tall, with a dual brushed and polished steel finish. The 3 push buttons are polished and the screw down crown has an engraved Bulova logo, it is has an engraved angled gear patten for handling and is protected with crown guards on either side.Now down to the mechanics, in a word its fabulous. The stop watch in motion is absolutely gorgeous to look and the primary driving force behind the purchase of this watch. The smooth motion of the large second's hand is sublime and the added infinity symbol of the precisionist line is a nice touch. The transition from normal mode to the stopwatch function and back again is nice to see as it moves faster to move to the 12 o'clock position to zero the stop watch and then rushes to catch up to the current time once switching back from the stopwatch to the normal mode.Then there are the sub-dials; top most displaying two needle hands measuring 10th and 100th of a second, left one measuring the minutes, the right one measuring the hours and the bottom most the 1000th of a second, while the large second's hand, doing its thing measuring the seconds. The hour and minute's hands are hollow broad sword style hands, with luminous markings on the tips (luminous markings are on each hour marking as well, however that is one downside to this watch, not at all bright and frankly a bit poor, however not a deal breaker for me).This watch is great and a lot going for it, the size may deter a few people, but replacing the bracelet with a leather/Ballistics Nylon or NATO / ZULU strap changes the characteristics of the watch and reduces the acreage it occupies on your wrist. In is a good way, by reducing the BLING factor of this watch, not something that I was going for. It looks more understated and you will blind fewer pilots and thus make the skies a safer place... which is a real public service.SSSSSOOOOOO....UPs are...- Great watch- Awesome movement- Great detail and finishDOWNs are...- Brash bracelet (decided to replace it with a 24mm ballistics nylon NATO from natostrapco.com)- Large / heavy (may apply to individuals with slimmer wrists, but on my 7" wrist looks great once the bracelet was removed)- Luminous markings are not too bright (not a deal breaker at all)
