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.

Watch Review: Citizen Men's Quartz Stainless Steel Watch with Day/Date

As the Covid crisis stretches on and on, my opportunity to wear watches to work and other locations has declined. Yet, a few nice watches have still come my way.  For example, I chose this Citizen Stainless Steel watch to commemorate my fifth anniversary with my employer.  It has a cool silver-on-silver look that I've always found appealing.

 

The watch is nicely proportioned for a dress watch.  It has a case this just 8mm thick and a 38mm dial. It makes for an attractive watch that fits nicely under the cuffs of a dress shirt.  The silver-on-silver just looks competent and professional.  The watch is rated as water resistant to 50 meters or 165 feet.  So, it can bang around with most casual watches.

One aspect of this watch that isn't apparent from the Amazon description is that the bracelet achieves a two-tone affect by alternating flat brushed metal tone on the outside and an inner strip of highly polished metal.

This Citizen watch features a small but readable day and date window.

The etched clasp (shown above) is a nice touch and gives this watch a nicely finished look.  The 38mm dial diameter looks a little small on the wrist compared to some more casual watches.

Overall, it's nice to have a decent classic watch or two in your collection.  This Citizen Stainless Steel Watch with Day & Date is perfect for almost any occasion.

[Update:  It's getting hard to find classic Citizen watches like this anymore.  However, I did find one that comes close here on Amazon.]

Affordable Automatic Watches: Reef Tiger Men's Tourbillon with Convex Lens

Reef Tiger Men's Tourbillon Automatic with Convex Lens

Reef Tiger has a very special looking men's watch with mechanical movement.  They call it a casual watch, but it's a beauty.  Built around the Seiko NH39 automatic movement with windows revealing the movement and a transparent caseback, the Reef Tiger has what they bill as a convex lens, but which looks a domed crystal to me.

 Check out the profile pictures on Amazon to see the side view.  The watch is a sensible 40 millimeters in diameter and has a steel case, a sapphire crystal, and calfskin leather strap.  It offers water resistance of 50 meters.  A subdial shows the 24 hour time.  You can find this Reef Tiger watch with a blue dial on Amazon. 

As luxurious as this watch looks, the price point seems quite reasonable for a quality automatic watch.  Reef Tiger is a brand I've been following for awhile.  They have some great looking watches.  This one looks like a great Christmas gift for any man who appreciates a fine watch.

[Amazingly, as of August 2025, the Reef Tiger Tourbillon is still available on Amazon in three different color combinations. Reviews are mixed with some good and one quite bad. If you're intrigued, this Reef Tiger is swimming here on Amazon.]

 

Improving the Looks of Your Watch with an ArtStyle NATO-style ballistic strap

While social distancing may limit our abilities to show off our watch collections, this is a great time to spruce up our watches.  If you are looking to replace a fading, brittle, or oxidized watch strap, one of the easiest ways to improve the looks of your watch is to give it a NATO-style ballistic nylon strap like this one from ArtStyle.

This strap is 1.5 millimeters thick and is 11-inches long.  The ballistic nylon strap can be ordered in many colors.  The strap comes with a tool for removing watch bands and spring bars in order to make removal of the old watch band easy.  This is a fun way to give an old watch a rugged new look!

If you'd like to find an great looking ballistic nylon watch strap from ArtStyle, they are available in many colors and widths here on Amazon at Artstyle Watch Band.

 

Wristwatches of the Apocalypse: Timex Expedition Vintage Metal Field Watch

As the COVID crisis goes on and on, I'm not going out as much and I'm not going to the office at all.  Days go by without wearing a watch.  But, a few days ago, I opened my watch drawer and my Timex Expedition is still ticking.  It's ready to go somewhere.  Anywhere.

Timex Expedition Vintage Metal Watch

I think I'll wear it this evening.  We need to get out of the apartment.  It's time for an expedition of some kind.

[Update 1/7/2024:  Thank God, it seems like the worst of COVID is well behind us.  Now the question is what kind of watch to wear and where to wear it!]

 

What watch are you wearing during the Corona shutdown?

Wearing my Tissot Carson Powermatic 80

For much of this Corona virus (Covid-19, Sars2, whatever) shutdown, I haven't worn any watch at all.  I wasn't going anywhere.  If I did, I wasn't going to get out of the car.  At most, I thought, a fast food worker might get a quick glimpse of my wrist as I clumsily maneuvered my ATM card into a terminal awkwardly mounted at a drive through window.  But, lately, I've been wearing my Tissot Carson Powermatic 80.  It's a timepiece that my wife bought me as a gift and it feels good to wear it from time to time.

Even, if we are in a shutdown, time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking, into the future.  You might as well pass the time wearing a watch you enjoy.  This Tissot watch cost a significant amount on our budget and it means alot.  It's also nice to have something "Swiss Made" in my collection.

It may be awhile before I'm fully back in the swing of things around the neighborhood, but there's no reason not to wear a nice watch.

A Dream Watch: The Shinola Detroit Runwell 47mm

Do you have cabin fever yet?  Are you ready for all this Covid-19 lockdown to end?  What will you do when you get out?  What will you buy when you get out? I would sure like increase the proportion of American products on my shopping list. 

Unfortunately, when it comes to watches, there aren't many watches made in America today.  Nevertheless, if we are going to start down the road to economic recovery and employment opportunities for all Americans, we need to start somewhere.

I'd love to start with a luxury watch like this Shinola Detroit Runwell 47mm.  It's a quartz watch with a lustrous stainless case, a luxurious 24 5/13 millimeter leather band, and a double-curve sapphire crystal.

The Detroit Skyline from an early 1900s vintage postcard

The watch would come in a beautiful wooden display box with a booklet.  It would truly be a dream watch.  Best of all, it would be assembled with pride in the United States using a mix of American and foreign components.  The watch represents a small step towards bringing a watch manufacturing industry back to the United States.  It's a step worth taking!