Wristwatch Review: Bulova Men's Dress Classic Multifunction Watch with Diamonds

Sometimes when you see a cool watch, you have to be ready to pounce.  That's how I got my Bulova Men's Dress Classic Multifunction Watch with Diamonds. It was surprised to see it sitting under the glass at a local Ross store one night and I did a double-take. It was a little more expensive than most Ross finds, but it was a great deal for a Bulova watch. I hemmed and hawed and then my wife made me go get it.  The Model is 96D143 and it is still available with online retailers like Walmart. The little diamonds aren't usually my style and the watch was a little large for me so I let it languish in my watch box for a long while.  

Bulova Men's Dress Classic Multifunction Watch (96D143)

The diamonds grew on me over the years. Now, I'm really glad I pulled the trigger on this one and bought it. With a return to office life, this Bulova is now one of the nicest timepieces in my regular rotation of watches. 

Bulova Dress Classic Multifunction Features

This Bulova has three subdials to provide the Date, Day, and 24-hour time. It has eight tiny diamonds working as hour markers.  

Bulova Dress Classic Multifunction Watch with Subdials & Diamond Markers

The watch has a stainless steel case and bracelet secured to the wrist via a deployant clasp.

Bulova Dress Classic Showing Deployant Clasp and Stainless Steel Construction

Bulova Classic Style

This watch has a very upscale look and feel. The tiny diamonds also  increase the visibility and readability of the watch. The bracelet style makes great use of flat finished stainless outer links and highly polished inner connecting links.

Bulova Men's Dress Classic Multifunction Watch Stainless Steel Bracelet

I removed a link or two from the generously-sized integrated bracelet and it fit perfectly.

One strange thing about this watch is that it does have a dial texture and color. It has vertical stripes on the dial created by a wave pattern. The dial is also deep green. However, the watch often appears to have a black dial and the udulations in the dial don't really show up in casual wear or photography. You can barely see the stripes in this posts top photo. The pattern shows up much more easily in the Amazon photo shown below.

Bulova Dress Classic Multifunction Watch with Diamonds (96D143) - Amazon Photo

In daily office work wear, I find that this watch has a professional and successful look. 

Bulova Classic Watch Construction

This Bulova watch has a stainless steel caseback, bracelet, and case. It also has a mineral glass crystal that seems ever so slightly convex. The watch offers 30-meters of water resistance. 

Deployant Clasp and Bulova Fit and Finish

All metal on this watch seems well constructed for comfort. You don't get any sharp bits or arm hair pulling from this watch. The high quality finish of this watch separates it from budget-oriented brands.

Bulova Dress Classic Watch Dimensions

The Bulova Dress Classic Watch with Diamonds is perfectly sized for office and formal wear. The case is 42mm in diameter and 10mm thick. The bracelet is 20mm wide and can fit lengths from 140mm to 220mm long. 

Overall Impressions of the Bulova Dress Classic

I've grown quite fond of this watch due to its distinctive look, comfortable fit, and apparent quality. It's great for the business casual office where it is eye-catching, but not a distraction. It's a stylish bit of luxury from a respectable brand that does not constitute an ostentatious display of wealth or social status. If you can find a deal on it, this is a great watch to add to your Bulova Collection.

Bulova Dress Classic Multifunction Watch with Subdials & Diamond Markers

Where to Buy the Bulova Dress Classic

This Bulova watch is listed, but not currently offered for sale on Amazon. However, it does appear on the Walmart.com and other online sales sites.

Watch Review: Bulova Men's Precisionist Stainless Steel Calendar Watch

It's been awhile since my last post or review, but I still buy interesting watches from time to time.  I'm really excited about my most recent purchase. It's my first Bulova Precisionist. The Precisionist line has a 262 kHz quartz movement that three times more accurate than a typical quartz movement. It actually vibrates 262,144 times per second. This allows Precisionist watches to feature a continuously sweeping second hand that is very cool to see. The watch I bought is a Bulova Men's Precisionist 3-Hand Calendar Watch in Stainless Steel with a black leather strap.  It's Bulova watch model number 96B158.

The Bulova Men's Precisionist 3-Hand Calendar Watch (Model 96B158)

Watch Design and Construction

This Bulova Precisionist has a simple, modern, design with a charcoal or gun metal grey watch face with a sophisticated swirl pattern.  The date is at the traditional 3 o'clock position and is large enough for my mid-50s eyes to read without magnification.  The Bulova Tuning fork logo is subtly featured on the crown and buckle.  The case is 42 millimeters in diameter and 10 millimeters thick.  These are nice proportions for most wrists.

The strap is marked with the Bulova brand and labeled as "Genuine Leather" and is 22 millimeters wide.  The exterior is stamped with some sort of alligator or crocodile texture.  For my large wrist circumference, the strap could be a little longer for maximum comfort.

The watch hands and the hour markers in the minute track have a bit of luminous material to help with night time visibility.  In keeping with the smooth sweep of the second hand the extra timekeeping precision of this watch, the minute track is broken down into minutes and fifths of a minute.

The base of the second hand features at an infinity logo that is fun to watch as the hand sweeps around the dial.  Since water resistance is only 30 meters for this dressy watch, the dial trumpets the "Precisionist" movement that vibrates at 262kHz which is eight times faster than most quartz watch movements.

This Bulova Precisionist watch has a stainless steel case with a shiny silver tone to it.  It features a flat mineral crystal and a black leather strap. 

The country of origin is Japan.

Watch Review

It's not often that you can get a relatively affordable luxury watch with a storied pedigree, interesting movement, and cool design.  I love the smoothly sweeping second hand and the subtle design features.  I'm less enthused about the leather watch strap which is of average quality and a little small.  Fortunately, that is the most easily replaced part of this watch package.  Overall, I love this watch and it'll definitely be one I keep for a long time.

If you'd like to get your own Bulova Precisionist Watch, you can find it here on Amazon.

Bulova Watches for Christmas

For Christmas, you may want to give a gift that brings a touch of elegance and class.  Bulova watches certainly bring that to the gift giving season.  I only have a couple of Bulova watches in my collection, but they look good.  Here's the Bulova that I wear to the office on a regular basis.  There is something special about that tuning fork logo.

A Bulova Dress Watch

While this particular watch is discontinued, you may still be able to find this watch at various discount outlets.  If you'd like a square classic dress Bulova watch, you might like a tanker this Bulova Sutton Automatic. 

Bulova Men's Sutton Automatic

Of course, no Bulova entry would be complete without mention of Bulova Precisionist line of watches. They are among the most precise quartz watches ever made. Bulova calls it the most accurate quartz watch with a sweeping second hand. It's truly a beautiful watch and the apex of quartz watch design.

A Bulova Precisionist Quartz Watch

During this time of year, we should also remember that Bulova also makes stunning watches for the ladies. This one is stunning with Swarovski Crystal. As a gift, the Bulova Woman's Watch with Swarovski crystal makes a statement.

Bulova Woman's Watch with Swarovski Crystal

My Bulova is a winner!

I recently won a pair of sunglasses from Bulova through a Twitter contest. A photo of my Bulova watch was chosen as a photo of the day! Here's my picture. I call it "Bulova in the Boardroom."

Bulova dress watch (Model 9B168)

If you are looking for this watch, it is Bulova dress watch (Model 9B168). Bulova is a great brand for watches that are a step above the commonplace without getting into the stratosphere of ridiculous pricing.

[As of 2024, this watch might be a very hard find.  However, Amazon still offers plenty of classic Bulova watch styles here.]

 

A Bulova makes the scene

Sometimes a nice watch can make you feel like you have executive potential. At least, my new Bulova did! I recently had to speak in front of a large crowd of co-workers and managers and those Bulova tuning forks were a real confidence boost.

Bulova Dress Watch

Best of all, this prestigious Bulova can be bought for a steal! My wife bought it for me for Christmas for $99 at Sears. But, I've recently seen them for as low as $67 on the Internet (in 2012).

Today, as of this update in August 2025, Bulova dress watches cost a little more, but they still look great an instill a sense of luxury, style, and confidence. A watch like this Bulova Men's 3-Hand Quartz Calendar Date watch are an excellent choice.

Bulova Men's 3-Hand Date Calendar Quartz Watch

Bulova watches like this one (Model 96B015) still have the tuning fork and add the beauty of a sunray dial. At 38mm in diameter, it's the perfect size to fit under the cuff of a dress shirt. In 2025, you can find this Bulova for less than $200 here on Amazon!