Bulova Men Analog Automatic Watch with Leather Strap 96B385

Product Information

In the watch world, you generally get what you pay for. But in the case of Bulova, you get a lot more than that.

And, now launching re-creations of its most iconic models, it’s not just Bulova’s future-focused models that get the hearts of watch lovers stirring. Unboxing the Bulova Wilton GMT. Finally, send your watch for regular servicing. Bulova has several service centers around the world. Find out more about servicing your watch at [email protected]. Bulova Wilton GMT Price: The ultimate sub-1K ‘true’ GMT watch New affordable automatic GMT movements are exciting, but the Miyota 9075 movement gets us giddy for more reasons. It's a variation of Miyota's 9000 series, including popular examples like the 9015, and these are no cheap, low-end movements. They're Miyota's modern movements with solid build, decent accuracy and a premium feel more akin to the ETA 2824 movements they're intended to compete with than Miyota's older 8200 series of rather basic movements. You'll find them powering respectable watches mostly ranging from the upper hundreds into the thousands. If the energy of jumping for joy could be encompassed within a watch, the Bulova Wilton GMT would be it. Stately and old-school in styling, although this makes it a great dress watch for formal occasions.

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What's the difference? Both use a fourth hand to display a second time zone in 24-hour format, and many Swiss GMT watches work just like the Seiko 5 Sports: pulling the crown out to its second position, you set the date by turning it in one direction and advance the GMT hand in the other. A "true GMT," however, allows you to adjust the time without affecting the GMT hand, which is set separately. The use for this is that you can set the GMT hand to your home time and then conveniently update the main time as you travel. The most famous and prestigious GMT watches like the Rolex GMT Master II and Explorer II function in this way. With a case size of 43 mm, but actually measuring 49.5 mm lug to lug, the Bulova Wilton GMT is undeniably big for a dress watch, which are typically up to 41 mm. However, with a recent trend towards chunky watches being worn on formal occasions, this didn’t bother us. And the leather strap doesn’t extend much beyond the watch case, so even for those with relatively small wrists, we found the watch doesn’t actually look too large. So, we feel confident about the overall quality of this movement, but there's more: the Miyota 9075 is what's often called a "true GMT" by nerdy collectors. That doesn't mean that watches like the Seiko 5 Sports aren't "real" or legitimate GMTs — what it does mean is that Miyota's functions a bit differently, and in a way that many collectors tend to view as more desirable, premium or at least often more expensive. Japanese GMT movements are like buses. You wait ages for one and then two to turn up at once. Bulova has launched a new GMT watch that comes with a new movement from Miyota. That might surprise some but I think that many forget that Bulova is owned by Citizen. With that connection, it’s no surprise that Bulova is the first company to receive a new movement from Miyota (also owned by Citizen). The Wilton GMT is the new watch in their classic series; the Wilton GMT. It is powered by a new Miyota 9075 movement which is a GMT movement with an independently set hour hand. The 9075 follows closely along from Seiko’s NH34 GMT and is a second affordable GMT movement from the Japanese movement powerhouses. Japanese brands Seiko and Citizen are competing to offer affordable automatic GMT watches. The winner? Consumers.

meters of water resistance means this watch isn’t appropriate for more adventurous pursuits. However, this is fairly standard for a dress watch. By ‘true’ GMT movements, we mean those with a jumping local hour hand. Rarer and typically more expensive, they allow the hour hand to be set locally. But thanks to Miyota and Bulova, these movements are now available for those of us with slightly tighter purse strings who want seamless timekeeping.A watch brand that stands the test of time (forgive the pun), Bulova is one of our favorite luxury watch brands for stylish, innovative, and wearable timepieces that you won’t have to launch a crowd-funding campaign to finance. Does the new Bulova match the importance of the movement? And yes, this movement is going to be very important. As a Miyota, it’s going to be available to a whole host of macro and micro brands and as traveler GMT it’s going to democratize this type of watch in a way that will make the watch snobs weep. Design & Watch Specifications The debate around traveler or office GMTs is as filled with snobbery as any other watch debate. The traveler GMT where the hour hand is set locally is the rarer of the two types and has benefits in certain limited use cases. They are a pain to set up though and are most suitable as an only watch where set-up complications are less frequent. What does matter though is that this complication will almost certainly be available at an affordable price to many watch brands. That has to be a good thing. Price & Availability Here's what makes this all particularly exciting: just as the Miyota 9015 and related movements have powered some of the best affordable automatic watches from a range of third-party brands, it's easy to imagine that the new 9075 will also now be an option. (There are already some examples.) The same will presumably be true of Seiko's movement. We're talking a future of quality, affordable GMT watches for all! But what about the watch that debuts this movement, the Bulova Wilton? This is a great price for a watch with a traveler GMT. Whether you love or hate its design the value it represents is undeniable. It will be well made. It’s certain to be reliable and it’s going to be a talking point among watch fans for years to come.

As for the Wilton, it’s a classically styled watch on the dressier side, and feels fairly typical of many recent Bulova releases. It has a stately and refined quality to it that isn’t particularly adventurous, but feels very much a part of the brand’s long history by employing a timeless, vintage inspired aesthetic. The Wilton, available in stainless steel with a blue dial and a gold plated version with a white dial, feels like a lot of its look is pulled from classic watches from the middle of the last century, with a Roman numeral dial and dauphine hands. An embossed representation of a globe is also featured on each dial, calling attention to a possible use case for the watch (although admittedly this style of dial is more common on world timers).But what’s getting watch lovers talking is a more recent release. While not a re-issue (look to the Bulova Archive Series for that), the Bulova Wilton GMT is a traditionally styled timepiece from the Bulova Classic collection of elegant dress watches.