Saturday, March 27, 2021

The Bulova Accu Swiss Murren in Rose Gold An Unexpected Affordable Swiss Made Automatic Dress Watch

The Bulova Accu Swiss Murren in Rose Gold An Unexpected Affordable Swiss Made Automatic Dress Watch

Article by Peter C, Photos by WatchChris

When my wife saw this Bulova for the first time, her immediate reaction was “Hmmm, I wouldn’t have bought that for you.” Understand, we’ve been married 36 years so she knows my style or lack of it. And she’s right! I wouldn’t have normally bought it either. So why did I? Damn that Chris!

Seriously, when I saw Chris’s picture of this watch on Instagram I was immediately drawn to it. The rose gold was unlike any of my other watches. I have plenty of vintage yellow gold watches. And I wear them. This gold was a very bright, almost red, well rose! The brown dial has a similar rose tint to it. At least to me. The hands and indices are very rectangular, excluding the 12, 3, 6 and 9, of course. They are all applied and in a similar rose gold color. As I looked at it, there was very little contrast on this watch. But I didn’t care. I still really liked it.

I then listened to Chris’s Youtube review of another Bulova AccuSwiss, where he extolled the value in the watch and brand. (I share his enthusiasm for Bulova. I won’t go into it here but if you are unfamiliar with Bulova, it’s worth a quick search and read.) During that review he also had this watch. He mentioned the movement; Sellita 200 and the price he paid; around $250. Now this watch is discontinued and had a list price of $1,300. I was hooked. I immediately went to Ebay, found it new in box for $271 and bought it. As an aside, while I’ve had good experiences with Ebay, I’ve had some bad as well. This was my best experience to date. The watch arrived in 2 days from purchase and exactly as I expected. A brand new watch in perfect condition!

Here’s what I’ve discovered since buying this watch. I love it. It’s now my dominant dress watch. (That means I wear it to Church.) Personally, I don’t think it has the look to be casual. Also, I am concern the PVD coating may not hold up to a casual, more regular wear.

While not my favorite, the hands and indices match and fit the overall style of the watch. And even though there isn’t much contrast on any part of the dial, I haven’t had any problems telling time. One negative is the date window. It should have been color matched. White is better than black here but it stands out. And not in a good way.

One pleasant surprise was the lume. It’s on the hands and rectangular indices. It’s reasonable for a “dress” watch. Meaning it’s not very bright or long lasting but still nice to have.

I found the leather strap to be uncomfortable. You may be able to break it in over time but really, I just don’t think it is a great match. I’m still looking for the best replacement. I have it on a WatchGecko strap for now. I normally don’t like deployment clasps but because it matches the case it works here.

I’m not an expert on movements but when I put this one on the time grapher, mine was running at +4 seconds a day with equally good amplitude and beat error.

So bottom line, I never thought I would like this color or style but I do. Very much actually! And the price was fantastic for the quality and components.

I understand, it may not be for everyone but what watch is? Thank you Chris! This is a winner!