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.

Where has the Bulova Tuning Fork gone?

Would you by a Mercedes without a three pointed star?  How about a Jaguar without a leaping cat or cat face?

The Jaguar Leaper

That's why I don't like reading a paragraph like this -

"Due to a recent redesign by Bulova, recently manufactured Bulova watches, including all watches sold and shipped by Amazon, will not feature the Bulova tuning fork logo on the watch face."

According to a post I read on the PrincetonWatches.com blog, Bulova is removing the Tuning Fork logo from most of their watches.  In the future, it will only be used on Bulova Accutron II watches. I like the tuning fork logo.  It sets Bulova watches apart from other watches made by Seiko family companies.  Now, to be fair, not every Bulova Watch has had a tuning fork logo.

Vintage Bulova Ambassador watch photo by Dnalor 01 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

But still?  Shouldn't most Bulova watches sport tuning fork logos?  It's such a recognizable part of the brand identity.  I'm really glad that my Bulova watches have the tuning fork!
 

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!