Wristwatch Review: Caravelle Sports Quartz Men's Watch with Black Nylon & Leather Strap

If you are looking for a great deal on a sinister looking watch designed by Bulova, you'll want to check out this Caravelle Sports Quartz Men's Watch. I've had one for a couple of months now and I really like it.

A Caravelle men's sports watch

Caravelle Watch Design

This Caravelle Sports watch has a black dial with a "carbon fiber" stippled pattern in the center of the dial.  CARAVELLE appears in the top quarter of the dial and 50m denotes the water resistance in the bottom quarter.  A small date window is positioned just above the hour marker at the 6 o'clock position. A smooth track around the perimeter of the dial has raised batons to note the hours.  Each baton is a green color and is outlined in black.  Numerals with the same color and outlining mark the 12 and 6 o'clock positions.  The Bezel has a slight coin edge, but does not rotate.

A look at the nylon strap reinforced with leather on a Caravelle watch

Caravelle Watch Dimensions

This watch has a 41mm diameter case that is 10mm thick.  The strap is 20mm with a very slight taper.  Overall, it's a nice size: substantial but not overwhelming.

Watch Construction

The watch has a black coated stainless steel case and caseback.  I'll ding this watch slightly for workmanship as I did have a quality issue initially in that the crown or stem didn't want to push in completely (not due to a spacer). I was able to pop the case back off, push in the stem, and pop the caseback on again. After that I was able to set the watch and it works perfectly.

Overall Impression

I like this watch.  It fulfills the Caravelle mission of bringing a solid value in for consumers at an affordable price point.  

A Quick Video Look at this Caravelle on X

Here's a video that I posted @the_watch_dude on X.

Here's a quick video look at the Caravelle Men's Quartz Sports watch with nylon and leather strap. (2/2)#WatchAddict #WatchLover #Review pic.twitter.com/lFMHEIPO1M

— TheWatchDude (@the_watch_dude) August 3, 2024

Unfortunately, this Caravelle watch is no longer available on Amazon.

Watches A to Z: Caravelle

Caravelle is a watch brand introduced by Bulova back in 1962.  It's purpose was to offer quality Bulova-designed timepieces with jeweled movements at lower, more accessible, price points. This is a good thing because I'm a big fan of more accessible price points.    

A Vintage Manual Wind Caravelle Watch - Joe Haupt from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Today, the Caravelle website says that Caravelle watches are inspired by vintage designs. This is also a good thing because I like vintage designs. It's also a sign that Caravelle watches might be a little more interesting than usual to watch collectors. For a dose of vintage and classic, I like this Caravelle by Bulova Open Aperture Automatic on Amazon.

Caravelle Open Aperture Automatic

A quick look at the men's Caravelle section of the Bulova website reveals plenty of interesting watches.  On Amazon, I found this Caravelle retro quartz watch and it's a beauty.

Caravelle Retro Quartz Watch (Amazon.photo)

Caravelle Watches in my Collection

One of the first watches I added to my collection was a Caravelle stainless steel diver-style watch.  It was one of the coolest watches. Sears stores used to have an abundant supply of Caravelle watches. Unfortunately, the rubber strap deteriorated and I was unable to find a nice replacement strap.  If I still have this watch, I may have to restart my search for a replacement strap.

Caravelle by Bulova Diver Style Watch

Recently, I've added a new Caravelle watch to my collection.  This one has a cool blacked-out look with green batons for marking the hours.  This watch is also a good value proposition with a unique look at a low price point.  You can find this Caravelle by Bulova Sport Quartz (Model 45B155) on Amazon.

A New Caravelle Watch

In this era of rampant inflation, Caravelle is a brand that you can use to stretch your watch buying budget and add interesting watches from a storied watch company.