In Review: Bulova 1973 Jet Star

Bulova hit it out of the park with the 1973 Jet Star. Built to be a classic sports watch with a bit more formal styling, this watch looks great, features a lovely case shape and face, and does something great: it runs a quartz movement with sweep second hand, something that warms my heart to no end.

The result is a watch that runs like an automatic but won’t stop if you put the watch down for a few days. It also features a prominent date window and luminous pips and hands.

First, a bit on the movement. The Jet Star runs Bulova’s Precisionist movement, an “8-jewel quartz mechanism vibrating at a remarkable 262kHz, accurate to 5 seconds per month with increased resistance to temperature changes, and with a sweeping seconds hand.”

Check this thing out:

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If you know me, you know that I’m not a quartz guy. I definitely don’t like a deadbeat seconds hand – the tick tick you get with a standard quartz. I don’t mind something like a mecha quartz chronograph – the seconds hand sweeps when timing and there is no running seconds – but a standard quartz movement turns a watch into a commodity.

What Bulova has done with their Precisionist is to turn quartz into an artistic statement. By recreating the mechanical sweep seconds hand, they essentially harken back to their roots as an early electronic watch company while providing a watch that can hold its own among similar brands.

I also like this watch because Bulova didn’t give in to current price pressures. At $595 this watch is amazingly affordable. I’d say this watch is on par with certain Tissot and Oris models – the Sidereal or PRX come to mind – and those watches brush the $1K mark without blushing. That Bulova priced these things at less than $600 is great.

The whole package – from the 40mm turtle case to the wine-red face – are excellent. When stacked against similar low- to mid-level luxury watches this thing is a must-buy. If you want something with some provenance, some classes, and a lot of interesting design and mechanical choices, you need to get a 1973 Jet Star.