# Bulova Precisionist



## harryblakes7 (Oct 1, 2010)

Hi friends,

What do we think of the Bulova Precisionist then? I tried one on today, nice big chunky watch, and a nice smooth second hand, although not quite as smooth as an Accutron....... but it is an electronic watch........ so any opinions out there? Anyone got one? I didn't buy one ( yet ) but the price starts at a resonable Â£200.............


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## stradacab (Nov 15, 2006)

I think you can get in to one for less on line...

Deffo been discussed here before if you do a search....

IMO some are a bit "gauche", stay with the Claremont in either Black or Brown, they're quite elegant.

Big watch, tiny movement- is it all a bit "style over substance?"

Oh, and don't fall for all the HEQ guff.

BUT, I still can't help but look at them and love the uber cool sweep second hand/ Hi beat/ pinpoint accuracy thing. I will own one at some point, go on, buy one too!!

Me like!


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## luddite (Dec 11, 2009)

Just search the word Precisionist, you will find the thread Anyone Own A Precisionist.


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## harryblakes7 (Oct 1, 2010)

Thanks guys, my apologies for bringing something up already discussed :blush2:


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## feenix (May 27, 2008)

Still got mine, still love mine.


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## luddite (Dec 11, 2009)

My Precisionist is back to normal now hardly deviating from zero day to day, week to week, but in the heat of summer it went haywire gaining 2.7 seconds in 3 months which would have taken it outside the guaranteed 10 seconds per year. 

Has anyone else experienced this?

As an aside, there is a rather unsightly block of metal which looks as if it is fastened by screws to the non winder side.

Does anyone know if this can be removed?


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

luddite said:


> ...but in the heat of summer it went haywire gaining 2.7 seconds in 3 months which would have taken it outside the guaranteed 10 seconds per year.


So 4 x 2.7 = 10.8 sec / year. i.e. 0.8 sec / year outside guarantee.

Not really "haywire" is it? :huh:


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## luddite (Dec 11, 2009)

Silver Hawk said:


> luddite said:
> 
> 
> > ...but in the heat of summer it went haywire gaining 2.7 seconds in 3 months which would have taken it outside the guaranteed 10 seconds per year.
> ...


As my Precisionist had only gained 4 seconds in total up to that point from January 2010 it seemed like it Paul.


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2011)

It's a beautiful movement... the watches, not so much. If the Claremont was 40mm, I'd buy one though.

I'd love to buy one and transplant it into some sensible, generic case. Maybe someday the modder community will discover this gem. I dearly hope so.

edit: Or, of course, Citizen rethinks the design, or uses the movement in other watches. Though I doubt that.


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## luddite (Dec 11, 2009)

I have a Longwood and even though it is 46mm including the crown it is quite a low profile and sits quite comfortably on my 7 inch wrist

The bezel is only 40mm the extra 6mm is taken up by the crown and the strange lump bolted to the other side.


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## webvan (Apr 6, 2010)

Quite like my Claremont on leather but not impressed with its accuracy as it has been speeding up steadily since I bought it...was at 5 spy at room temp originally, now at about 50 and have read other similar reports.


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## luddite (Dec 11, 2009)

webvan said:


> Quite like my Claremont on leather but not impressed with its accuracy as it has been speeding up steadily since I bought it...was at 5 spy at room temp originally, now at about 50 and have read other similar reports.


What does 5 spy mean?

Edit, I think I've cracked your code, seconds per year.


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## global (Oct 6, 2010)

webvan said:


> Quite like my Claremont on leather but not impressed with its accuracy as it has been speeding up steadily since I bought it...was at 5 spy at room temp originally, now at about 50 and have read other similar reports.


I've been thinking of getting myself one of these but Im a bit alarmed by what you have said. Can you point me to any discussion of issues and did you by any chance attempt to get your retailer to have some adjustment done under warranty since the watch seems to be wildly inaccurate in the light of the manufacturer's claims.

Thanks.


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## webvan (Apr 6, 2010)

Don't have the link handy but that was discussed in the watchuseek forums, let's see...here you go http://tinyurl.com/3b46fhf - I just checked it and it's running at a crappy +5 spm, hum...can't really send it back as it's been more than a year now and I'm no longer in the same country, oh well...


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## luddite (Dec 11, 2009)

global said:


> webvan said:
> 
> 
> > Quite like my Claremont on leather but not impressed with its accuracy as it has been speeding up steadily since I bought it...was at 5 spy at room temp originally, now at about 50 and have read other similar reports.
> ...


Have a look at posts #6 and #8 above.

I bought my Precisionist in January 2010 and in all that time it gained around 7 seconds, well within the claimed 10 seconds per year.


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## webvan (Apr 6, 2010)

Well good for you (although is has to be January 2011 and didn't you reset it at the end of March for DST ?) but the fact remains that there are at least two experienced HEQ testers who have Precisionists showing a drift of +4 spm and +5 spm and with the lack of a trimmer there's nothing the end user can do to fix it.


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## gaz64 (May 5, 2009)

I wouldnt notice 60 seconds a year


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## feenix (May 27, 2008)

As these watches have a 3 year warranty I'd be taking to to an AD to claim if it was outside of the spec. Can't really see a point in picking a fight on the forum about it. Its no-one heres fault that you bought a watch and moved.


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## gaz64 (May 5, 2009)

webvan said:


> Well good for you (although is has to be January 2011 and didn't you reset it at the end of March for DST ?) but the fact remains that there are at least two experienced HEQ testers who have Precisionists showing a drift of +4 spm and +5 spm and with the lack of a trimmer there's nothing the end user can do to fix it.


I do think your tone is a bit off, no one is discounting either your experience or that of those who posted on another forum, all that was said was the experience of a member here of his watch.


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## webvan (Apr 6, 2010)

Well I was just answering the question of a potential buyer ("global") who was concerned about accuracy issues with the Precisionist. I guess that what may have transpired is that I was slightly annoyed by the fact that another poster ignored that detailed reply by quoting "around it", poor form obviously so no need to pick on me.

Having said that, thanks for pointing out that there is indeed a 3 year (limited) warranty, I thought it was only a year and wasn't too bothered about it. I'll take up the accuracy issue with Bulova to see what they have to say about it and whether they will fix it. Since the manual is totally generic there is nothing written about the 10 second accuracy they mention on their site and their ads, so I have my doubts, we shall see.


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## luddite (Dec 11, 2009)

webvan said:


> Well good for you (although is has to be January 2011 and didn't you reset it at the end of March for DST ?) but the fact remains that there are at least two experienced HEQ testers who have Precisionists showing a drift of +4 spm and +5 spm and with the lack of a trimmer there's nothing the end user can do to fix it.


I can confirm that I bought my Precisionist in January 2010, and no I did not re set it in March.

My testing was done in real time, partly on the wrist but mainly placed face up on a desk.

Hope that clears up your confusion.


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## luddite (Dec 11, 2009)

Just checked my receipt.

Its dated 7/12/10.


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## global (Oct 6, 2010)

Didn't intend to provide a cause for dispute! :dontgetit:

If I buy one and it is heading to end the year 'out of spec' then it goes back for repair, but what I am more interested in is whether this kind of 'inaccuracy' occurs frequently.

I am unworried (though sympathetic) to one or two watches exhibiting this problem but would be much more concerned if reports of hundreds of inaccurate Precisionists were being heard.


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## webvan (Apr 6, 2010)

Two reports I'm aware of so far but that's from people who are rather "anal" about accuracy, normal people wouldn't worry about 60 spy as Gaz64 pointed out above.

The thing is that the Precisionist only has a (fairly) high frequency quartz of 262Khz to ensure stability, nothing like the advanced thermocopensation schemes used by ETA, Citizen or Seiko. The closest comparison is the Seiko 8Fxx that also beats at 262Khz and that is now discontinued. It's not clear why it was stopped, possibly to push the higher end 9xx movements but since the price is in another league it's unlikely. Maybe Seiko got concerned about the accuracy drift, since all known 8Fxx based watches from around 2000 are badly out of spec at +60/80 spy and they've all speeded up. There is a one-time -26spy adjustment possible though.

Bottom line is that if you're big on accuracy you should hunt down an ETA based HEQ watch as they use advanced thermocompensation and the icing on the cake is that they can be adjusted by the end user by (unlimited) steps of +/- 4spy. My old Omega Polaris from 1990 with calibre 1441 is now ticking at +2spy, neat eh ;-)


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## danboy (Sep 14, 2011)

feenix said:


> Still got mine, still love mine.


what a beauty.


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## luddite (Dec 11, 2009)

danboy said:


> feenix said:
> 
> 
> > Still got mine, still love mine.
> ...


Irony?


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## gravedodger (Feb 15, 2004)

Was tempted to buy one of the Precisionist's just to enjoy the smooth movement but so far I can get beyond the 'unpleasant' styling of the watch in general ... I wouldn't go so far as call the design ugly ... but there's something about the current batch that make them look cheap which is a real shame 'cause the movement is mesmerisingly smooooth !

Think I'll hold off for a bit until more models are released :dontgetit:


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## webvan (Apr 6, 2010)

webvan said:


> Well good for you (although is has to be January 2011 and didn't you reset it at the end of March for DST ?) but the fact remains that there are at least two experienced HEQ testers who have Precisionists showing a drift of +4 spm and +5 spm and with the lack of a trimmer there's nothing the end user can do to fix it.


Premature aging issue confirmed here : http://forums.watchuseek.com/f9/bulova-precisionist-aging-601895.html


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## global (Oct 6, 2010)

I did get a Precisionist after reading the various threads.

I went for the Claremont model with strap and made that decision on the following basis.

I did not want to spend heavily on a relatively unproven movement with probable drift issues so bought the least expensive option. I also wanted a watch with numerals - hence Claremont.

My findings after three weeks of ownership are that the accuracy is good - I cannot yet see any change in time. The styling is broadly acceptable but the curved crystal is too reflective and is also easily scratched - I have done so already! The strap is dire and I shall stick a mesh strap on it which will look better to my tastes. The back is very thin and 'tinny' and there is a slight aura of cheapness about the general 'feel' of the watch. I think that there are more solid watches available for the money. The smooth second hand is great - just like my hummers!

I look forward to more general availability of this movement so it can be put into a better styled casing.


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