Bulova; Any Good?

[DanB7290]

Whilst out Christmas shopping for a watch for my girlfriend, I came across Bulova watches, the jeweller was selling them for £3-600 for automatic movements. Are they any good at this price? Feels like the right time to get my first proper automatic watch and some of them looked pretty good.

[MrB.]

I have to be honest and say I know very little about the brand itself. However, if it were my money, I'd suggest looking at Hamilton or perhaps stretching to a Longines at the upper end of that price range.

Just worth considering.

[DanB7290]

Thanks, I'll look into them. I've looked into Bulova a bit more, turns out their more modern watches don't have automatic movements but are Quartz with a sweeping second hand, and the company itself is now owned by Citizen.

[andy tims]

They used to make some lovely watches.

I miss this one



The modern stuff does nothing for me.

[Variomatic]

DanB7290 said:

Thanks, I'll look into them. I've looked into Bulova a bit more, turns out their more modern watches don't have automatic movements but are Quartz with a sweeping second hand, and the company itself is now owned by Citizen.

"[...] now owned by Citizen" isn't automatically a bad thing.

Don't forget that Citizen also own Arnold & Son and La Joux-Perret. LJP's movement customers include companies like Panerai, Louis Vuitton, Franck Müller, Corum, Hublot, Harry Winston, Raymond Weil and Sinn. But you'd hardly say that any of those are really using Japanese movements, would you?

Remember, the Swiss industry's successive merges into Swatch Group were essentially protectionist from the start, whereas Citizen have never needed to "protect" themselves and acquisitions are made to broaden their capabilities.

To that end they tend to be far more "hands off" than Swatch and allow their subsidiaries to do what they do best. After all, that was the reason for buying them in the first place!

[mackie1]

I'm a Bulova fan, they have a very diverse range from cheapish Quartz, through Precisionist/accutron and up to their Accuswiss line.
I would suggest looking at Steinhart too. I love my Ocean Titanium, amazing value and no reliance on Swatch on that particular model.

[FarmyardPants]

andy tims said:

They used to make some lovely watches.

I miss this one



The modern stuff does nothing for me.

I agree their regular quartz watches traditionally are a lot better looking than the uhf ones, but there are some new models out which are worth a look.

I have one of these incoming, couldn't resist after a price drop last week (now half rrp) on Amazon. It's even larger than I expected (arguably too much for my puny wrists) but I don't care, I love it already! Sapphire glass, 10s/year accuracy, what's not to like? The quality seems excellent for the money, the only negative is the rotating bezel which feels a bit cheap. Have boxed it up again for Xmas

Edited by FarmyardPants on Monday 14th December 22:28

[mikeveal]

They're not as good as they used to be, at one time they were major innovators and very well considered in the American market.
The newer stuff is aimed squarely at the bottom end of the market. But from what I've seen they're nicely priced for what they are.

Which model exactly are you looking at? Tissot and Hamilton also slug it out in that range. Although Variomatic will be quick to slag off owner ETA's monopoly on supply of parts to the repair market.

[marcosgt]

mikeveal said:

They're not as good as they used to be, at one time they were major innovators and very well considered in the American market.
The newer stuff is aimed squarely at the bottom end of the market. But from what I've seen they're nicely priced for what they are.

I wouldn't agree they're at the 'bottom' of the market (that's a LONG way down ), but I would agree that the recent UHF 're-imaginings' are well priced for their quality.

Not a 'quality' range overall, but certainly not rubbish for the prices - Well priced and a bit different, especially with the sweeping second hand.

I recently added a 'Deep Sea' alike for under £200 and it's a nice watch for the money, IMO.



M

[mikeveal]

Yeah, they're a way off the very bottom. What I meant was, once upon a time they were on a par with the likes of Omega, Hamilton, Wittnauer etc.
Now they play into a price/quality range that sits below these.
You're right, I was unjustly harsh.

[Foliage]

Sort of off topic, what about 'uniform wares' watches, any thoughts on them apart from them all seeming to be quartz :S

I like the look but don't like the price or the movement in them.

[Variomatic]

mikeveal][... said:

Tissot and Hamilton also slug it out in that range. Although Variomatic will be quick to slag off owner ETA's monopoly on supply of parts to the repair market.

Wouldn't dream of it! Lovely quality brands using modern movements with the latest assembly technology, what's not to like?

Besides, if people haven't got the message by now and still pay good money for cheaply made, poorly supported, tat dressed up as "Swiss Quality" there's clearly no hope for humanity so why bother?