BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
American watch brand Bulova has been quite keen on going back to its horological heydays in recent times by re-introducing popular watches from its rich historical past. In 2018 the brand released a modern version of the famous Devils Diver and now in 2020 Bulova has re-issued an entire collection of one its most sought-after models ever, the Chronograph A aka ‘the Surfboard’.
What made the Chronograph A from the past a crowd-pleaser was its Surfboard inspired oval face, and this new modern re-issue keeps the vintage flavor intact. So, what you have here is a balanced bicompax layout that has been presented in the shape of a surfboard and highlighted in different colors including blue, black and silver to make it pop against the base dial that is being offered in cream and blue. Surrounding the distinctive sub-dials are applied lume filled blocky hour markers like the ones found in the original reference, a printed minutes/chronograph seconds track and a tachymeter scale to measure speed. Time can be read using a chunky rectangular handset that has been given a nice pop of color on the tips to match the tapering chronograph seconds hand.
The case on the modern Bulova Chronograph has been crafted from 316L stainless steel and comes in two different sizes. It measures 38.5 mm in diameter along with a thickness of 16.7mm for the mechanical version and 40.5mm in diameter and a slightly slimmer 14.5mm for the Quartz version. While the width of the watch does seem modest, the height does indicate that this would be one chunky watch on the wrist. At 3 is a screw-down crown that should help keep the watch water-resistant to 200 meters, and at 2 and 4 are nice pump style pushers. Sitting on top of the case is a dive time bezel with an aluminum insert that like the dial makes good use of color to lend the watch a sporty and retro appeal.
As far as the drivetrain behind these new watches is concerned you can choose between the Swiss Sellita SW-510 mechanical caliber or the Japanese Miyota Quartz movement 6S21-00A. Both options look great, but I feel that the hand-wound Sellita SW-510 would offer closer to original experience, but it does come at a significantly higher cost.
Bulova has hit another home run with the new Bulova Chronograph A collection. The mechanically powered variant would be offered only with a beige dial and a steel bracelet, and would come packaged inside a special box, limited to just 350 examples, priced at USD 2,950 each. As for the quartz driven variants, there are several colorways to choose from, each of which would come attached to a black silicone strap and would make you shell out just USD 695.
Visit Bulova here.
