If you’ve been in the watch game long enough, you’ve probably heard of the watch brand Bulova. Bulova has a rich history of watchmaking and has created several community-favorite watches that timepiece enthusiasts gladly wear today.
But, throughout my experience as a watch connoisseur, I’ve also noticed that not as many people know about Bulova as its watchmaking precedes. So, that begs the question. Are bulova watches comparable to big name brands like Rolex, Omega, and Zenith? Simply put, are bulova watches good?
P.S., if you’re a watch guy, we think you might like these:
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Are Bulova Watches Good?
Yes, Bulova watches are good. Bulova’s watches are known for their precise timekeeping and accuracy, durability, and style. While watch brands similar to Bulova might take a traditional approach with designing their watches, Bulova likes to explore their boundaries, releasing timepieces that not only look interesting, but also last the wearer for a lifetime.
You can also see their prestige and quality throughout Bulova’s history as a watchmaker.
In 1927, Bulova released the Long Eagle wristwatch, advertised by Charles Lindbergh who had recently become the first man to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. This made the Lone Eagle a bestseller in America.
In the 1940s, Bulova built an official military watch for American soldiers serving on the frontlines in World War II. The Bulova “Hack” Watch had a locked-in apparatus and precise timekeeping. This allowed for increased durability that would help the watch last against constant gunfire and movement.
And in the 1960s, Bulova released the Bulova Accutron, the world’s first fully electric watch.The watch used a revolutionary 360-Hertz tuning fork to ensure an oscillation rate of 360 times per second.
Bulova has contributed quite a bit to the watchmaking world, introducing new technology, watch builds, and icons that are still present today. With all these contributions, if someone were to ask me, “Are Bulova watches good?” Without a doubt, I would say yes.
Where are Bulova Watches Made?
Bulova is an American watch brand, but they are currently owned by the Japanese watch brand, Citizen. Bulova’s headquarters are established in New York City, but that does not necessarily mean that Bulova watches are only made in New York City.
Bulova has their watches made in many different locations, including but not limited to Japan, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. In fact, Bulova has opened a European headquarters located in Fribourg, Switzerland.
Are Bulova Watches Swiss Made?
Not all Bulova watches are Swiss made. However, Bulova does offer a Swiss-made watch. Previously known as the Accutron, Bulova’s Swiss-made line is the Accu-Swiss. The European facility based in Fribourg, Switzerland oversees the manufacturing of the Accu-Swiss.
Are Bulova Watches Expensive?
Bulova’s price range for most of their watches is between $100-$600. Bulova does offer watches that are $1,000+, but some of their most notable models do not extend past the $300 mark.
Whether or not Bulova watches are expensive depends entirely on your own budget. For some, a $300 watch might not fit their budget. For others, a $300 watch might be a great deal. But when you take a look at what Bulova watches are offering for their respective price point, you’ll see that most of the time, you’re getting a watch that is worth more than what you paid.
Is Bulova a High End Watch?
Bulova is an old brand, but with their price range being between $100-$600, I wouldn’t necessarily call them a high end watch. They’re not competing against names like Omega, Rolex, Zenith, or Nomos which offer watches that easily go into the $2,000 range.
However, Bulova is a nice in-between end watch. They’re not on the low-end of watchmaking and price. They beat Invicta, Fossil, and MVMT in terms of quality and they beat Timex in terms of pricing.
However, it’s hard to compare them to luxury watch brands because even Bulova’s $1,000+ watches aren’t what they’re known for. Bulova is mostly known for their utility-based, bold aesthetic watches within the $100-$600 price range.
That being said, it’s worth comparing Bulova to some other watch brands within Bulova’s price range.
Interested in high-quality leather watch straps for your Bulova? Check out our review of Fluco, a German watch strap manufacturer.
Is Seiko Better Than Bulova?
Seiko has two brands, Seiko and Grand Seiko. Grand Seiko is a high end luxury brand where most Grand Seiko watches go anywhere from $1,200 to $8,000+. This price tag comes from the premium materials they use, the more precise movements, high-quality finishing, and other bespoke details.
So if we’re comparing Grand Seiko to Bulova, it’s pretty hard to justify Bulova as the winner when Grand Seiko has the better movements, designs, details, and quality overall.
However, if we’re comparing Seiko to Bulova, then that’s a different story. Based on the preferences of watch enthusiasts and overall feedback of their watches, Seiko beats Bulova in overall quality.
And it’s not hard to see why, with Seiko having some very notable watches like the SKX, SNK809, and Presage. However, Seiko builds very traditional watches with very traditional functionality and that’s where Bulova wins.
Bulova isn’t afraid to experiment with new ideas and designs. As we’ve seen with the Accutron, Bulova can innovate, bringing new designs and functions to the watch community which is where I think Bulova flourishes.
Bulova does offer traditional dress, field, and dive watches, but Seiko wins in terms of quality and craftsmanship by a slight margin. However, Bulova’s fearlessness to create new products that disrupt the watch market and force their competitors to be better is what I think makes Bulova special.
So, are Bulova watches good compared to Seiko? Definitely. But are Bulova watches better than Seiko? Probably not. In my opinion, both are at about the same level overall, and each one stands out in their own way.
Bulova vs. Tissot
Another watch at about the same price point as Bulova is Tissot. Tissot is well-known in the sporting industry, having partnered with the NIBA, FIBA, Tour de France, and several racing teams.
Therefore, Tissot watches are well-known for their precision and functionality. However, that doesn’t mean that Bulova lacks in those fields. One of Bulova’s most famous watches, the Precisionist, only gives up about 10 seconds per year, an absurdly impressive amount.
Tissot watches are also very accurate. The watches on the lower end of their quality only give up +/- 10 seconds a day, which is still very accurate considering Tissot is not using their best materials possible to create the watch.
However, after looking through several designs and the opinions of other watchmakers in the community, Tissot seems to win when it comes to their functionality. With watches like the Tissot T-Touch providing 15 separate functionalities, you can do more with most Tissot watches than Bulova watches.
However, Bulova seems to win when it comes to design and innovation. Again, Bulova’s watches seem to use better accents, color combinations, and components, making them the more stylish option to choose.
When it comes to precision and accuracy, that’s a tie since both Bulova and Tissot provide top-tier timekeeping.
Bulova vs. Citizen
While Bulova might be owned by Citizen, both Citizen and Bulova specialize in different types of watches. Citizen’s watches are known for more casual environments, even though they do offer dress watches that can be used for formal occasions.
Therefore, Citizen excels more when it comes to their functionality, especially with their world-famous Eco-Drive movement which allows watches to be powered solely through light energy.
You’ll also notice that Citizen watches like to go with a traditional look. Their dress watches are clean and minimal. Their field and pilot watches tend to use a neutral dial color and almost always possess a chronograph feature.
This is what allows them to make such consistent designs and is also why their beater watches are some of the best. I recently wrote a blog post on the best beater watches a man can own. You can check that out if you’re interested.
Bulova, on the other hand, likes to experiment and their movement, accuracy, and watchmaking technology are superior to Citizen’s. Bulova has dabbled in quartz, mechanical and automatic movement while Citizen likes to keep their watches functional, focusing mainly on quartz movement.
That being said, Bulova definitely has the better aesthetics and range of options. However, Citizen is a great, functional piece that can last you a long time, especially thanks to their Eco-Drive movement, which has made Citizen one of the best watch brands in the world.
So in the end, it depends on what you want. Do you want a clean design with a wide range of features that will never fail to impress you? Or do you want a solid, dependable piece that has the fundamentals nailed.
P.S., we also compare Seiko and Citizen to see which watch brand is better!
Our Favorite Bulova Watches
After taking a deep look into Bulova and its products, it’s worth taking some time to look at some of our favorite Bulova watches. These watches have gone down in history as some of Bulova’s best watches made to this date.
Bulova Accu-Swiss 63B171
The Bulova Accu-Swiss is an important watch to Bulova’s brand, not only because the quality of the watch itself is superb, but also because the Bulova Accu-Swiss was one of the first of its kind.
The Accu-Swiss watch has since been discontinued, but you can find the watch at certain retailers and even on Amazon. The Bulova Accu Swiss 63B171 features a uniquely designed silver dial design with two crowns, one at the 3 o’clock position and one at the 9 o’clock position.
The watch also possesses a Calibrator and an Arabic numeral design. The watches movement is Automatic and the specs are as following:
- 43mm case diameter
- 12mm case thickness
- Leather strap
- Water Resistant up to 50m
- Stainless Steel Casing
The 43mm case diameter and the 12mm case thickness make this a pretty tough watch to wear, but it’s also a watch that won’t be as comfortable as a sports watch. I’d say this is a pretty good watch if you want to wear for formal occasions or with business smart outfits.
You can also pull this watch off with a semi casual outfit. However, I won’t deny that there are more comfortable watches out there. This watch, though, is definitely one of my favorites, largely because of the dial design and the Swiss-made manufacturing.
Bulova Men’s Special Edition Lunar Pilot Chronograph Watch
Bulova knows how to make a pilot watch and it shows in their Special Edition Lunar Pilot Chronograph. The Lunar Pilot was a watch built by NASA colonel astronaut, Colonel Dave Scott, and has thus made a trip to the moon.
This special edition timepiece has the resemblance of a Speedmaster, but it can hold its own. The Special Edition Lunar Pilot watch has a six-handed chronograph, black dial design coupled with sapphire crystal and stainless steel casing.
The specs of the Bulova Special Edition Lunar Pilot Watch are as follows:
- 45mm case diameter
- 13.5mm case thickness
- Leather strap
- Stainless Steel Casing
- Sapphire Crystal
- Water resistant up to 50m
- Powered by Bulova’s specialized high-performance UHF Quartz movement
While it is also a pretty thick watch, this watch is also built for durability. The perfect pilot watch, you can use this timepiece for pretty much anything time-related. From setting alarms to tracking different time zones, the Bulova Lunar Pilot is a bespoke timepiece that wholeheartedly deserved its trip to the moon.
Bulova Men’s Brown 96A120 BVA Series Dual Aperture Dial Watch
I simply cannot leave this watch off the list simply because of its flawless design. Bulova has been known to be innovative with their watch designs and this is a perfect example. The Dual Aperture Dial watch has a crisp, on-dial aperture through which you can view the movement.
These same apertures also serve as sub-dials, giving the watch a new chronograph look that I haven’t seen in most watches. Furthermore, the brown dial is complemented perfectly with rose gold, making the watch 10x better than it already was.
As for quality, the Bulova Dual Aperture Dial utilizes a 21-jewel self-winding movement, has luminous fill for the sub-dials, and is coupled with stainless steel casing.
The specs for the Bulova Dual Aperture Dial are as follows:
- 41mm case diameter
- 11mm case thickness
- Leather Strap
- Stainless Steel Casing
- Domed Mineral Crystal
- Water Resistant Up to 99ft
- 21-jewel self-winding movement
I love this watch simply because its so design is so complex and isn’t something you’ll see on your average watch wearer’s wrist. You’re guaranteed to have a few people do a double-take when they see what’s on your wrist if you’re wearing the Bulova Dual Aperture Dial Watch.
Final Thoughts
Are Bulova watches good? I would say so. After all, Bulova has crafted some of the most iconic timepieces in history, including the Bulova Accu-Swiss which was the first electronic watch of its time.
Bulova might not be able to compete with luxury brands like Omega, Rolex, and Panerai, but this loveable watch brand definitely has its perks. They’re not afraid to experiment with their watch designs and each watch has a full set of functionalities all while being extremely durable for the wearer.
So, next time you ask “Are Bulova watches good?” or if you are looking for a Bulova watch review, I must simply tell you that Bulova watches have been around since 1875 for a reason.