Fingers-On: Bulova Precisionist X Sport 96B349 For tenth Anniversary Assortment

In 2020, Bulova celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Precisionist watch household with the Bulova Precisionist X (extra on aBlogtoWatch right here). The brand new assortment of watches was the primary main facelift to the Precisionist watch household in a variety of years, providing a daring and futuristic new housing for Bulova’s revolutionary Precisionist motion household. In early 2021, Bulova introduced a extra mainstream model of the Precisionist X with the Bulova Precisionist X Sport assortment (extra on aBlogtoWatch right here), which included this Bulova reference 96B349 in polished metal on an identical bracelet (and in addition elevated the case water resistance). I’m going hands-on with the Bulova Precisionist X Sport 96B349 with you immediately, in addition to the Precisonist X reference 98B355 limited-edition for visual-comparison functions.

I used to be there when Bulova first debuted the Precisionist assortment over a decade in the past, and I recall pondering to myself, “Why aren’t extra individuals enthusiastic about this?” The revolutionary motion know-how supplied a variety of very fascinating options at a value, that on the time, was very inexpensive. (Extra on the motion beneath.) Now, in 2021, the outside of the Precisionist assortment continues to be fashionable however arguably extra refined and wearable — however nonetheless purposefully avant-garde. I later got here to know that not sufficient of my colleagues within the watch media house actually took the time to know the Precisionist, and merely judged the watches at face worth. If you’re a watch hobbyist, this strategy is a mistake.

Bulova actually is approaching the Precisionist X household as a “like it or depart it” proposition, and these watches aren’t for everybody. Core to this difficulty is the sheer measurement of the Precisionist motion (right here, the caliber NN50), which is, admittedly, fairly massive. It wants to make use of a bigger battery than most quartz watches — a lithium-ion battery concerning the measurement of many watch actions itself. Bulova designers have thus needed to take care of the massive dimensions of the motion when constructing a case round it. Since then, plenty of different firms have confronted comparable challenges, akin to when producers attempt to construct a sublime watch case round massive smartwatch module {hardware}.

Which means just about all Bulova Precisionist watches are chunky little guys, and this Precisionist X Sport watch is not any exception, but it surely does put on extra comfortably than some earlier Precisionist watches, as soon as the bracelet (or strap on the 98B357 and 98B357 fashions) is comfortable in your wrist. I haven’t measured the precise weight, however given all of the metal used for the case and bracelet, this one of many heaviest watches I’ve placed on my wrist shortly. Some individuals truly love that (however not everybody). Like I stated, the load isn’t a difficulty supplied the watch is safe in your wrist. It does change into a difficulty if heavy watches don’t match correctly.

The Bulova Precisionist X Sport watch is rated at 44.5mm-wide, however with out the crown and together with the case flanks, it wears nearer to 48mm-wide. The case is 17.35mm-thick, and it has a lug-to-lug distance of about 52mm. New for the Precisionist X household is 300 meters of water resistance for the watches, up from 50 meters from the earlier Precisionist fashions.

The general design of the Precisionist X Sport makes use of a hexagonal-style case form with a collection of attention-grabbing fashionable design parts and a sophisticated case development. The architectural type and wonderful case ending are of top quality, and the general composition is simply as attention-grabbing as it’s polarizing. On the blue face, we see the higher subdial that mimics the form of the case together with a semi-skeletonized strip and plenty of attention-grabbing design parts. Bulova’s goal was to maintain shield legibility, so, regardless of every part that is happening with the face, the palms and utilized hour markers stand out fairly effectively. Over the dial is a thick, AR-coated sapphire crystal.

Now, let me converse concerning the Precisionist motion for a bit. I’ve mentioned this mechanism at size up to now and can now briefly go over its options. At its core, it is a high-performance quartz motion that operates at 262 kHz, which is far quicker than the roughly 32 kHz of most different quartz watches. That interprets into annual accuracy of about 10 seconds, versus customary quartz watches which are correct to about 10-15 seconds monthly. This requires extra energy, therefore the bigger battery measurement that allows the watch to nonetheless have about two years of battery life.

Then comes the sweeping (versus ticking) seconds hand. The motors within the watch are rather more refined than in most quartz actions, and the central seconds hand glides, versus ticks. The movement of the seconds hand is visually just like that of a Seiko Spring Drive, which is smoother than the sweeping hand of a mechanical watch.

Lastly, there may be the 1/1000 of a second chronograph. Offered through analog dial solely, the 12-hour chronograph is ready to measure right down to very minute fraction of a second. The general Precisionist X Sport dial has a whopping eight palms on the dial, in addition to the date indicator disc. As soon as the chronograph is began, the palms within the uppermost subdial start to spin extra quickly than the human eye can simply comply with. I’m not saying that most individuals want a 1/a thousandth of a second analog chronograph, however enjoying with it on a watch just like the Precisionist is nothing wanting entertaining.

Bulova has watches in its assortment which are decidedly mainstream, which is why, at occasions, watch hobbyists get perplexed when the corporate comes out with novel designs like the unique Precisionist, and now the Precisionist X Sport. It is going to take a couple of years earlier than their attraction sinks in, particularly in an period when conservative watch design guidelines. Bulova is doing itself a favor by persevering with so as to add to the already-robust model historical past of distinctive designs — and for those who can stand the majority, the Precisionist X Sport is definitely a reasonably darn cool timepiece. Value for the Bulova Precisionist X Sport 96B349 is $995 USD and the Precisionist X 95B355 restricted version is $1,295 USD. Study extra or order on the Bulova web site right here.