This new Bulova Oceanographer GMT men's watch brings a new look and new features to the legendary Bulova design. The rose gold-tone stainless steel case features a curved silhouette, a boxed sapphire crystal, a two-tone bi-directional rotating 24-hour "root beer" bezel and a screw-down crown providing 200m water resistance. The striking black dial is highlighted by tasteful rose gold accents, with applied luminescent hour markers, bold hands including a 24-hour hand, and a luminescent date display. The independently adjustable hour hand makes it easy to set the local time. The Oceanographer GMT is powered by a self-winding GMT movement with 24 lugs and a power reserve of 42 hours, which is protected by a screw-down case back. The watch is paired with a matching three-link bracelet sporting a folding clasp. Wherever you go and whatever you do, the Bulova Oceanographer GMT men's watch will make sure you do it in style.
All three versions of the Oceanographer GMT have 41mm steel cases that measure 14.6mm in thickness and 45.2mm from ear to ear. The bezel width is 20mm, the water resistance is 666 feet (~200 meters), the domed crystal is sapphire, the steel caseback is sealed (with room for engraving no less), and the movement used is a Miyota 9075 that offers a local jump travel function.
With the specs out of the way, we can focus on the overall design of the three versions, which include a steel "Pepsi" GMT with a 24-hour dial, a rose gold "root beer" model with a black and brown 24-hour dial, and finally a Dive-GMT with a dark metal case with an IP treatment hosting a luminescent dial and a luminescent diver's dial.
Mechanically, all three versions are the same, with the 9075 offering a second time zone via a small "GMT" hand that coordinates with either the 24-hour bezel on the travel models or the 24-hour dial markings on the luminescent dial diver model. Both travel models have all-steel bracelets, while the diver has a rubber strap, with both the bracelets and rubber featuring quick-change springs.
For the uninitiated: The Miyota 9075 is a 4Hz automatic movement with hacking, manual winding and date display. Miyota is part of the Citizen family of brands and offers a full "flyer GMT" function, where you can land in a new time zone and use the crown to jump the main hour hand to the new time zone without affecting the rest of the timepiece. If you cross midnight, the date will be corrected forwards and backwards.
For accuracy enthusiasts, Miyota lists a range of -10 to +30 seconds per day. For an anecdotal single reading, I put one of these Bulova's on my timepiece and measured +12 seconds/day, averaged over six positions.
For those who are curious (as I was), the Bulova did a beautiful job on the bezels, as the two 24-hour bezel models also feature a bi-directional movement with 24 clicks. In contrast, the model designed for diving has a unidirectional movement with 60 clicks.
All three versions are smaller than I expected, and the folded case design (where the crystal sits on the bezel design, which in turn sits on the case) helps to keep the Oceanographer GMT from acting like a slab. Again, very reminiscent of the Doxa, but that's not surprising given that the Sub 300 and Oceanographer (or Snorkel before that) date from the same era in the late 1960s.
The case finish is simple and largely polished, and this finish is mirrored on the outer links of the bracelets. The bracelets are also quite nice for the price range, with solid quick-change end links, split-pin construction (easy to change size with an inexpensive tool), and push-button safety clasps that have both three points of micro-adjustment for the pins and fold-out neoprene-style extensions. The bracelets, in gold or steel, taper from 20mm to 18mm at the clasp and come with plenty of extra links for large wrists. I removed seven links from these loaner bracelets to accommodate my seven-inch wrist. The weight after sizing is 144g for the steel and 104g for the rubber bracelet. After sizing, the bracelets are thin but well made and fit the look and feel of the watch quite well.
I'm very, very picky when it comes to rubber straps, and I would call this option from Bulova a good one. It's soft and comfortable while still being fairly firm at the attachment points, but I wasn't warmed by the carbon-print design and found that I very much prefer the luminescent dial on either a vintage-style Tropic strap (completing the 60s feel) or a simple NATO (though I admit it will be hard to match the case finish to the NATO fittings).
Finally, we come to the Oceanographer's calling card - its unique dial design, which features distinctive and endearing three-dimensional cylindrical hour markers. When one says this model, it's the first thing that comes to mind, and is as much a distinctive design element as it is part of the Oceanographer's vintage inspiration.
All three versions of the Oceanographer GMT match these markers, which feature oversized and somewhat blocky hour and minute hands, tiny GMT hands, a simple seconds hand, and a date marker at three, which is magnified by an inner cyclostyle placed on the underside of the crystal (another vintage charm). The date is nicely done, with black text over white and a metal surround for the aperture. Finally, the text on the dial is not overdone, and you have fun font elements with color for the "GMT" text and a special font for "Snorkel". Below the 12 o'clock marker, the Bulova label is used along with "Oceanographer", which remains one of my favorite names of any watch.
As for the applied metal markings, as with past reissues in the Snorkel and Oceanographer series, the brand's signature retains the tiny connectors between the Bulova letters. Before I photographed the watch and started working on editing these photos, I almost didn't notice it. It's much more noticeable in the pictures than it is in real life.
Of the three versions, it's probably no surprise that I prefer the luminescent dial iteration for diving and GMT, as I'm a 5 year old inside and will forever love the luminescent dial. Still, I was surprised by how much I liked both 24-hour GMT versions, specifically the warm blue tone of the dial on the steel model and the full gold effect of the case and bracelet on the "root beer" colored model.
All three have their charms, and while I'd love to see a version with a luminescent dial and brushed steel case, my fingers are most crossed for the version with the orange dial, which would capture the look of the historic Devil Divers.
The lume on all three watches looks great, with the obvious showpiece being the variant with the luminescent dial, which is still perfectly legible thanks to the dark grey surround of the hour and minute hands. Extra points are also deserved for the design of the luminescent bezel, the fully luminescent 0-15 track on the diving dial, and the way the hour markers work in conjunction with the luminescent and 24-hour markers on the dial.
To wrap things up, I think Bulova has done a great job of adding a travel complication to an already skilled dive watch design that maintains the brand's work in this area while creating a new option for those who want a bit of late 60s style that is sporty, casual, distinctive and ready to travel.
