The bezel is bi-directional, and moves smoothly when the upper crown is turned. The inner rotating bezel is white and orange, which is a great contrast to the black dial. The inner rotating bezel and the movement are my two favorite things about this Bulova Snorkel (96b208). The dome also adds to the retro feel of the Accutron II Snorkel. The dome extends about a millimeter and creates a nice distortion effect on the dial when viewed from the side. In fact, as an Oris rep once said, I would not get this watch wet ( Editor’s Note: Reviewer is referencing an experience from Wind Up 2016 where an Oris Rep instructed TBWS to not get the Oris Diver 65 wet because he (the rep) didn’t trust the water resistance… talk about bonkers).įinally, we have a domed mineral crystal. I don’t think I would take it diving, especially considering the top crown is not screw down. The watch is rated to 200 meters water resistant, but is not ISO certified. The back of the Bulova Accutron Snorkel II is screw down, mostly unadorned, save for a script on branding, water resistance and a few reference numbers. Fortunately, the butterfly clasp makes it easy to pop on and off, but more on that later. Both of the crowns sit deep in the case, and while the bottom crown is easy to unscrew and re-thread, I find it very difficult to use the top crown while it is on the wrist. Interestingly, the top crown is neither signed, nor screw-down. The bottom crown, which is screw-down, is signed with the Bulova tuning fork symbol, a motif that is present in a number of places on the watch. The Accutron II Snorkel features two crowns: one at the 2 o’clock that controls the inner rotating bezel, and a second crown at the 4 o’clock to control the time and date. I don’t know if it is just me, but I can’t help but see Batman’s ears when I look at this Bulova’s lugs. The case has a gentle curve that ends in angular lugs. The modern version features a stainless steel cushion style case measuring 43mm across and 48mm lug to lug. Accutron II Snorkel case is gently brushed on its face, with a nice contrasting polished chamfer on both sides. While I don’t think this particular Bulova Snorkel is considered a reissue, the watch is heavily inspired by the 1969 Bulova Accutron Deep Sea. With its retro, supercompressor styling, internal rotating bezel, twin crowns, and smooth second hand sweep, the Accutron Snorkel is a really fun piece. I agonized over the different colorways, finally settling on the orange, white and black (this particular model reference # is Bulova 96B208). Initially, I wasn’t drawn to any of the models, until I saw this Bulova Accutron II Snorkel on Instagram, and fell in love. Now that I found a quartz movement with a sweeping second hand, I had to find an Accutron II model that it came in that I liked. The sweeping seconds hand was actually the reason I discovered the Accutron Snorkel.Īfter scouring the internet to figure out why quartz watches don’t have that smooth sweeping motion, I stumbled upon both the answer (sweeping movements use too much battery power), and the solution (a big ass battery). At 57.6k bph, the Accutron II Snorkel makes 16 small movements of the second hand each second, so the second hand has a really smooth sweeping action. ![]() This translates into three to four small movements of the second hand per second. The majority of mechanical watches operate at around 21.6k to 28.8k bph.
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