I actually wore this watch (and took the photos) earlier this week but didn't get around to writing about it until today. I picked this up from BlingDaily.com a couple years ago. $150 for a "Swiss Made" automatic is really hard to beat these days. These appeared to be closeouts as original MSRP was $670. I did see them later drop to $100, but I'm sure they disappeared quickly at that price. But looking beyond the price, this is a really nice watch. I'd say the overall quality is on par with most Hamiltons. The design falls between a dress watch and a more rugged "tool" watch, and because of this it makes a really great all-around watch. The case is 40mm with 22mm lugs, so it's pretty substantial. The case has a nice combination of brushed and polished surfaces, once again walking the line between dress and casual. The leather strap is nicely finished and not at all flimsy, and is fastened with a stainless deployant. My favorite part of this watch is the dial (protected by a sapphire crystal.) The white dial has a number of fine details that work really well together. The fine diamond pattern in the center is surrounded by a ridged ring which is then duplicated just inside the seconds track. In between the two rings are the bright silver-tone applied roman numerals, and the open hands share this finish. The second hand also has a Bulova logo on its "tail" which mirrors the applied logo at 12 o'clock. On the other side, the exhibition caseback shows off the engraved rotor and somewhat plain ETA 2892.A2. This is actually a really nice movement and much more modern than the ETA 2824, which I have a number of in my collection. As you can tell, I'm quite fond of this watch, and the more closely I examine it the more things I find to like.
Today I'm wearing my new Bulova chronograph for the first time. I actually just discovered that Citizen now owns Bulova and all their brands, including Accutron of course. I'm not sure if this watch was designed and created before or after the Citizen acquisition, nor am I sure if it matters. It's a nice watch, comparable to my Accutron VX-200 in many ways. Build quality seems as good or better overall, but the bracelet on the Farnswoth is not as complex and possibly not as heavy. Although the chronograph is all highly polished stainless steel and very fancy, it's still built like a tank. The crowns and chronograph pushers have knurling on them, but it's just for looks as none of them screw down. Water resistance is rated at fifty meters. The movement is probably the most unique feature to me. Unlike many chronographs that use the Valjoux 7750 or slightly rarer 7753, this one uses a Valgranges A07.211 which appears to have been designed with larger watches specifically in mind. In this case (no pun intended) the watch is a substantial 44mm wide and 14mm thick with lugs that appear to be 24mm wide. It has a similar self-winding mechanism to the 7750 so it also has the characteristic "wobble" if you get the rotor freewheeling with the movement of your wrist. The dial is very attractive, with a subtle raised pattern, black chrome hands and markers and red accents. So far I really have no complaints. I suppose it would be nice if it had a non-reflective coating on the flat sapphire crystal, but sometimes those are more trouble than they're worth (especially if done with poor quality control.)
Let me start by saying I promise to wear something other than a diver's watch tomorrow. But today, it's another diver's watch! It's a Bulova Accutron VX-200 automatic. It's one of my more recent watch purchases, but not a surprising one. First, it's a diver's watch, and I seem to be drawn to their style, functionality and durability. Second, it's somewhat similar to the Tissot Seastar 1000 which I always liked the looks of but was unimpressed with the feel when I finally tried one on. Finally, it was on sale for a quarter of the MSRP which was impossible to pass up, especially since the Bulova outlet store was selling them for much more. It's a great watch, big and heavy but not overly bulky. It has a unique look that stands out in the world of cookie-cutter divers, large screw-down crown and a fantastic bracelet made up of more than a hundred individual link pieces. Overall it's a great watch and I've been very pleased with it.
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