Bulova is one of the few American watch companies with rich history. The Bulova 96A135 Automatic Watch is one of the few automatic watches the company made these days. Founded in 1875, Bulova traditionally produced mechanical watches for the masses in America, before inventing the “Accutron Watches”, the first electronic watch.
It then shifts to quartz watches due to lower costs and popularity and right now, Bulova’s line of watches are predominantly quartz. The company produces only a handful automatic self-winding watches these days and the 96A135 is one of it.
Bulova 96A135 Automatic Watch Specification
Diameter: 42 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Dial: Black and grey dial with aperture
Subdials: 2 sub-dials: 24 hours and seconds hand subdials (very cool!)
Dial Window: Mineral crystal
Hands and Markers: Luminous roman numeral markers and hands
Case: Stainless steel
Band: Black leather band with butterfly clasp. 22 mm width band
Movement: Japan Automatic self-winding movement by Miyota (part of Citizen Watch Group). 21 Jewels
Water Resistance: 99 feet / 30 m
Other features: Exhibition caseback, Aperture on dial, 24-hour and seconds hand sub-dials
Best Place To Buy: Amazon with Free shipping for $220 and 2-year warranty
Bulova Automatic Watches For Men – Automatic Collection
Bulova is one of the major watch makers that I like because of its daring and gorgeous styling of its watches. Just take a look at its line of watches, all features futuristic and modern looking dial which are absolutely gorgeous. I’m always been a classic-watch type of guy, but having one of the Precisionist or the Marine Star definitely won’t hurt =).
The Automatic collection by Bulova is the only automatic watches in its stable, and is powered by a 21 jewel automatic movement by Miyota, a subsidiary of Citizen. You can say Miyota is something like ETA to the Swatch Group.
In case you don’t know, Bulova has been acquired by Citizen back in 2008. Quite a sad thing really, for an American company with a very rich history like Bulova to be bought over by outsiders.
But like Hamilton, the acquisition brought Japanese technology into Bulova. And as a result, it was been able to produce a high precision quartz movement that is featured in its Precisionist series of watches through technology transfer from its parent group. So, not really a bad thing eh?
Beautiful Futuristic Dial With 2 Subdials and Aperture
The dial of the Bulova 96A135 Automatic is anything but simple. It has a normal roman numeral markers and hands on its black and grey dial. But what’s amazing is it has 2 sub-dials: one for showing 24-hours time while the other is for the seconds hand.
To have these two sub-dials at this price point is just fantastic! I really love the 24 hours sub-dial as it can show us the exact time it is now (am or pm). I believe that is a crucial thing that is missing in most automatic watch.
The seconds hand sub-dial is not really needed in my opinion though it does looks nicer to have two sub-dial instead of one. Again, I have to say again that to have these functions in a $200 watch is something sort of extraordinary.
On the dial also is a small aperture where you can see one of the wheels spinning inside the Miyota movement. Coupled with the exhibition caseback, the combination gives us a glimpse of the inner workings of an automatic watch which is really really cool.
Bulova really knows how to design a watch to make it look beautiful as well as gives the mechanical thing feeling through the aperture and its sub-dials.
Automatic Movement By Miyota
Bulova 96A135 Automatic watch is powered by an automatic movement by Miyota. There seems to be little info on which caliber it is using. There is no mention of it in Bulova’s website and nothing on Amazon too.
Regardless, one thing for sure is that a Miyota movement is something that you can be proud to own. Granted that it is not Swiss made or an in-house Bulova movement, but the movement is really robust and have good accuracy that can even rival the Swiss.
Bulova 96A135 Automatic Watch Pros And Cons
Below are the summary of the pros and cons for the watch:
Pros:
1- Good looking watch
2- 2 Subdials (24-hour and seconds hand)
3- Aperture on dial
4- Exhibition caseback
5- Solidly built and quality watch construction
6- Leather band with butterfly clasp ensuring longevity of the band
7- Reliable automatic movement by Miyota
Cons:
1- Not enough information on the automatic movement caliber
2- Dial window uses Mineral crystal which is not as scratch resistant as Sapphire crystal
3- No date function
Bulova 96A135 Price? Get It Cheapest On Amazon!
If you are interested to buy the Bulova 96A135 Automatic Watch, you can get buy it at Amazon for the cheapest price right now, about $200. Check out the link below to go to Amazon.
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Conclusion
For a $200 watch, Bulova 96A135 Automatic Watch is definitely a bargain. It is an automatic watch by a very old brand, solidly built, features a gorgeous dial design with 2 sub-dials and an aperture.
The mineral crystal dial window is a let down but you can’t really expect much from this price range. Overall, a solid and gorgeous watch for the low-middle range price. A very good buy for your money.
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Cheer!
Isaac