Bulova Men's 96B260 Analog Display Analog Quartz Silver Watch

I had been considering Bulova's Lunar Pilot watch. Then I happened to learn of THIS watch, the 96b260, another Bulova chronograph, using a nearly identical Precisionist UHF movement, in a case with very similar dimensions, but with a much more modern, sleeker design. I felt it was almost as if the (somewhat simple) 1971 prototype had gone into production all those years ago, and then been updated in various ways to address problems encountered with the original design...."Crystal keeps getting bumped? Lets make it flush with the bezel!"..."You want the main chronograph hand to record seconds continuously? You got it!"...etc.Amazon sent me one post-haste, due to my extra-special relationship...I'm such a good customer they call me Prime!....thinking of changing my first name to Optimus.Overall dimensions of this watch are very close to those of the Lunar Pilot, specifically 44.5 mm wide (not including the pushers or crown), 52 mm lug-to-lug, and 14.5 mm height. The space between lugs is 22 mm, so bracelets and straps are a width proportional to the size of the case. That said, the bracelet DOES taper down to 20 mm at the clasp anyway. The signed crown is 6.5 mm, with an unusual spiral serrated surface. The pushers are 4.5 mm, with slotted collars around them. The sides of the case and lugs are highly polished, while the top surfaces of the lugs are brushed. I have not tried to fit a leather strap to this watch, so don't know if the holes for the spring bars are located in different positions for this bracelet model vs. the leather strap model, as they are on the Lunar Pilot.The crystal is mineral glass, 35 mm across, and flush with the polished bezel. The bezel itself is 42 mm across. The dial is very detailed with lots of depth, executed in a gunmetal grey with machined markers for the hours, and minutes marked on a beveled chapter ring. Four black sub-dials record elapsed time for the chronograph. The 12 o'clock dial records 10ths and 100ths of a second, with a hand for each. The dial at 6 indicates 1/1000 seconds. Elapsed minutes are measured at 9 o'clock, and hours, up to 12, at 3 o'clock. A rectangular date window is located near 4:30. Admittedly, the dial is NOT as instantly legible as on the Lunar Pilot, due to less contrast between hands and the markers, and to the dial being busier. That said, I find the dial is surpassingly beautiful to gaze upon, even when the chronograph hands are not moving, and see it as a technological work of art. Because it is so pleasing to view, I don't mind looking for an extra second or two to read the time.The primary hands are sword shaped, and highly polished, with a bit of lume near their tips, and an elongated slot near the hub. The subdial hands are a mix of simple pointers, and pointers with counterweights, perhaps to help distinguish their functions. Most are also polished, but a couple are either entirely blue, or have blue tips. The central seconds hand has a polished finish with a blue tip, and Bulova's trademark Mobius shape as a counterweight.The movement in the watch is unique to Bulova, with a special type of quartz crystal that vibrates 8 times faster than conventional quartz watches. This gives an accuracy of about 10 seconds per YEAR. Also, the central seconds hand runs continuously, in the smoothest sweep you've EVER seen since the Telechron wall clocks common in public schools in the 60's and 70's. To use the chronograph function you must first press the pusher at 8 o'clock, which puts the watch in "chronograph mode"...and the central seconds hand glides around to park itself at 12. Chronograph timing is initiated in the conventional manner, via the pusher at 2 o'clock. This causes the hands on the 12 o'clock subdial to spin merrily for the first 30 seconds of timing, after which they pause until you stop the chronograph, by pressing the same pusher again. At this point, the subdials at 12 and at 6 move to indicate the actual value of the elapsed time.An interesting thing to note about the central seconds hand during chronograph timing...it doesn't sweep smoothly in the same manner as during normal timekeeping mode (and not in the same manner as on Bulova's Lunar Pilot either), but pulses in one-second moves...not quite like most quartz watches...instead of snapping instantly to the next position, the hand advances and pauses in a more fluid motion. Perhaps this is to remind the wearer that it IS in chronograph mode.Activating the pusher at 4 o'clock will cause all chrono hands which aren't zeroed to return to their start positions, which they do in the smoothest way imaginable. After zeroing the hands, the pusher at 8 o'clock can be used to return to normal timekeeping mode. When this is done, the central seconds hand (which has kept track of real-time seconds all this time), motors around to where it should be and resumes its normal steady sweep.If you timed an event which lasted longer than one minute, the hand at 9 would advance one division for each minute. Similarly, if the chronograph were engaged long enough, the hand indicated elapsed hours at 3 would indicate that as well.The back of the watch is nicely machined, and the bracelet is extremely nice, with a machined butterfly clasp and solid end links. Adjustment is by removing links and half-links. On my seven-inch wrist, the watch is a good fit, near the upper size limit for what I would want to wear, but it's not stupidly huge like some other watches that I could name, but won't. The 96b260 IS a fairly large and fairly heavy watch, but the lugs don't completely overhang my wrist, instead sort of following the curve and hugging my wrist a bit. So, despite it's size and weight, I still find it comfortable to wear (and would probably be OK with the Lunar Pilot, too). I'd never choose a watch this weight for active sports such as bicycling, running, tennis, raquetball or swimming, because it's weight jiggling on my wrist would be distracting. However, for everyday wear, or even for strapping to the outside of a space suit via an extra long velco, it would be just fine. A certain amount of the weight comes from the beautiful solid-link bracelet, so if weight is really a concern, the leather strap model 96b259 weighs quite a bit less.Overall, I find the watch to be extremely handsome, and comfortable to wear for everything except active sports. I like some features about it better than the Lunar Pilot...most notably the flush mounted crystal and the continuously running, almost hypnotic central seconds hand. The watch is magnificent to view and operate, and does everything in a very smooth, precise manner. Every detail of it's construction gives the look and feel of very high-quality hardware and workmanship.

I absolutely love this watch... so beautiful... photos doesn't do justice at all.. it is not too big, nor too heavy, it's just perfect.. feels really solid and I love it... it looks like a much more expensive watch.. the only downside, as with most Bulova's, is that it doesn't have shappire cristal... I knew that before buying it and I'm not going to deduct one star from it.. anyway, I bought it with amazon's amazing discounts (275 bucks more then 50% discount) as always, and for that I'm 110% satisfied with the product and recommend 1000%.. go ahead and buy it, you won't be sorry, the watch looks spectacular...

The issue is with the watch design itself. I wore the watch twice and on the second wearing lightly (very lightly) touched a metal door handle. While this is usually not a big deal, it is with this watch. The glass for the watch face extends out from the bezel about 3/4mm or 1/32”. The very edge of the glass is what “Ticked” the door handle and I mean in the slightest sense. This caused the glass to break inwards into the watch bezel cavity. Now I have a tiny hole at the edge of the face of the watch with tiny chards of glass floating inside the watch itself. It will take a jeweler or a watch-Smith to repair this and I know it will be an expensive repair due to extracting the glass from the insides of the watch mechanism. The extension of the glass from the bezel is new to me. The other Bulova watches I have do not have this feature and the bezels extend above the edges of the face glass to protect the glass.

A great timepiece for the price. Finishing overall for the dial and strap is good and the smooth sweeping seconds hand is definitely pleasing to look at. Watch is accurate and chrono function is precise to 1/1000. The lume needs improvement though. Very pleased with model, will strongly consider getting more Bulovas in the future.

Absolutely gorgeous timepiece. For the price, you cannot beat the value as it competes directly with watches in the $1,500 range. These models are referred to as "High Accuracy Quartz"... the jeweler who adjusted it for me says its the most accurate quartz watch in the world. Extremely pleased with this purchase.

This is an amazing watch. The movement is sexy and the crystal is just WOW. I have received so many compliments on it. I am so glad I got it at a low price for the quality. This is my first Bulova and I am hooked.

It’s a nice watch unfortunately I just don’t love it. Size is fine, it just doesn’t pop on the wrist. Thought it would be a bit more eye catching. I had only seen it online not in a retail store. Not a fan of the bracelet doesn’t have a solid sturdy feel. Think it was a returned watch, it had a over sized plastic crystal cover that was dirty, same with the plastic cover on the back of watch. If I hadn’t had some links already taken out I would definitely return it.

Sharp looking watch - Quality I expected. Feels a bit light, and seems fragile.

I have a number of these watches, with this movement. And what sets this one apart is that it is an actual "watch" size as opposed to a wrist monstrosity... mind you I still like my monstrosities. This one I can wear to the office or out, or for sports (I don't for sports though... but I could).Waterproof rating is sufficient for showering/swimming. This size format being the difference between the others which have a higher waterproof rating.I really like this watch, and do not have anything bad to say about it!

Excellent très belle montre merci. livrée très rapidement et en tous ce que j'ai acheté merci.

gorgeous watchworth every dollar paid for it.

Oferta inigualable por una pieza de gran calidad. Se ve mucho mejor en vivo y funciona de maravilla. Excelente producto.

Lo que yo esperaba, un reloj muy bueno y todo el pedido y su entrega en orden. Excelente reloj bulova