# Mini-Watch Review Bulova Military UHF 262KHz watch (model 96B229)



## jrosado3 (May 7, 2015)

This watch arrived today in a ordinary looking Bulova Box. The opening was not very exciting as the watch was shipped from outside of the US and it had been opened by customs.

The watch was running when I opened the box and I immediately was drawn to the smooth sweeping motion of the accutron II, sorry UHF 262 KHz, movement. This watch is around 42 mm wide and 11 mm thick. For a modern Bulova it is not bulky at all. The case is stainless steel with squared edges that are brushed on the vertical surfaces and polished on the horizontal ones. The coin edge bezel gives it a distinguished look. The military dial reminds me of the Patek Phillipe Calatrava dial.

The face is black and the markers and numbers are white. There are two tasteful splashes of red on the tip of the second-hand and on the "60" mark at the noon position. The hands and the numbers on the dial are coated with luminous material. However, the brightness is relatively weak and wears off quite fast after charging with a light. I have to wear it at night to give a better insight on the luminosity of the watch. The watch has a date complication that displays at the six o'clock position. I appreciate that the date wheel is black with white numbering.

I quite like the vintage look of the watch and also like the branding change that Bulova has made to their watches. The brand name at the top and the "262KHz" at the bottom give it an uncluttered look. The tuning fork logo is relegated to the crown and I think it looks nice in that location. The Bulova brand is also engraved on the buckle and that's a nice touch.

The model I bought came with the green nylon bracelet with a faux NATO look. I like how it looks and how it feels on the wrist. However, I have two minor complaints. The first is that the space between the holes in the bracelet make it difficult to find a sweet spot for my wrist. The watch either feels too tight or too lose. Hopefully that will be sorted as the bracelet is broken in. the other (picture below) is that the bracelet has a leather pad that catches with the buckle when I am putting the watch on. Minor annoyance but I imagine as time goes by it will cause some wear and tear.

In summary, this watch is well made, looks great and in my opinion wears more expensively than it is. I had been lusting after a Tudor Ranger in recent months and this watch has made me forget about it.


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## jrosado3 (May 7, 2015)

lume is on the weak side but will last 6 to 7 hrs.


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## charleswtch (Aug 27, 2015)

nice lume...6 to 7hr is still cool.


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## dovonex (Dec 7, 2015)

Tagging on to your mini review with a take of my own, after having also picked up the Bulova 96B229 today. Hope you don't mind, jrosado3!

First, will introduce the story of how this ended up in my possession, then I will share some photos with commentary from having the 96B229 for most of a day.
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*Background Story*:

Had a workday that started with an agonizing 6 hours of non-stop meetings/workshops yesterday, so I decided to go the mall for a walk to get some blood flowing again. During said walk, popped into a watch store towards the end of my walk for a quick browse, saw the 98B245 (Black Military Chronograph with UHF) and immediately liked the look of it even though it was a Bulova*. I didn't have time to stick around to try it on right then, so made a mental note to search for it online later at home.

When I was home, did some research, thought the UHF was really neat (didn't see it the day before), and pretty much decided I wanted the watch. I'd never owned a watch with a black case before, but thought the 98B245 look stunning in person and in photos so I'd give 'er a shot. The sister chronograph in the Military collection, the 96B231, was quite a stunner as well so that was the fall back plan if black didn't work out.

The following morning, I didn't wear a watch since it was already decided I was going to buy this watch (how naked my wrist felt for those few hours!). I popped into the store during a half hour break, tried on both the 98B245 and the 96B231, but neither one was to my liking! Two main reasons: (1) the second hand was actually on the bottom subdial rather than the long thin hand which nullifies the sweeping second, and (2) the strap is rather poorly made and fit either too large or too tight on my 7.25" wrist.

Exasperated, I tried on the only other Bulova UHF model in the Military collection, the 96B229, and was rather surprised that I took an immediate liking to him. We had a moment. As my break was ending soon, I didn't do any real close inspections or negotiation, completed the transaction, and was my merry way with a watch to fill my wrist's empty feeling. 
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*Photos*:








The 96B229 bought today, 2015/12/16








Wrist shot (7.25" wrists) with the 96B229; good size and feel, really enjoy the readability of this watch








Side view of wrist shot (7.25" wrists) with the 96B229; generally wears well and it's not too thick, but the NATO-lookalike strap does wear either a little loose or rather tight. I also noticed that my band isn't the same as jrosado3's








As noted, this is not an actual NATO strap, but rather a look-alike that you need to take out the spring bars at the lugs if you wanted to change things up. Not a fan of this design choice








Photo of lume after 10-second exposure to 230 lumen flashlight








In any case, the 96B229 has found a place in my collection, and I am confident that I'll grow to like it more as time goes on, and I'll likely change out the band at some point in 2016.

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*In Conclusion*:
Based on the first day of ownership/wear, I am a happy camper adding the 96B229 watch to my collection. At its price point**, it's a lot of watch from an aesthetic, engineering, and historical perspective.

Turns out my first post on WUS is a rather long one, whoops 

Cheers,
JT

_*Had discounted Bulova as a 'cheap' brand years ago because it wasn't Swiss; silly teenage belief about watch 'heritage' I picked up which is now thankfully on its way out after falling in love with many non-Swiss (i.e. German, Japanese) brands._
_**The watch is $425.00 CAD at MSRP with a current 25% off promotion for the holidays._

P.S. I cannot use Ctrl + V on the writing my reply for some reason. Took me a few times to learn my lesson so my apologies if there are random jarbles of stuff pasted in odd spots, haha

P.P.S. Posted last week, but didn't seem to have made it through so giving it another try. Hope this doesn't double post!


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## hack99 (Jul 7, 2008)

Thanks to both, for the reviews. Looks like a great watch. This post has put this into my radar. One would believe the accuracy would be astounding. 
Thx again


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## James_ (Sep 5, 2011)

Just a comment on the lume. It won't last anywhere near 7 hours. 1 hour at most. Had one a while ago.


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## jrosado3 (May 7, 2015)

Mine does. granted it is very weak at the 6 hr mark.


James_ said:


> Just a comment on the lume. It won't last anywhere near 7 hours. 1 hour at most. Had one a while ago.


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## walltz (Nov 21, 2015)

solid watch with a nice strap....nice one.


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## knafel1983 (Oct 30, 2015)

I really wish Bulova would come down on their sizes. I love this style, but fits large for a 42mm.


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## the5rivers (Mar 10, 2016)

This is a nice watch. I actually have the MUFC version of this watch (96b250) and I love it. Great looking piece.


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## James_ (Sep 5, 2011)

Double post


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## James_ (Sep 5, 2011)

James_ said:


> Just a comment on the lume. It won't last anywhere near 7 hours. 1 hour at most. Had one a while ago.





jrosado3 said:


> Mine does. granted it is very weak at the 6 hr mark.


Yes I was wrong and had been meaning to come and correct myself. It does indeed last about 6 hours. Thanks for the correction 

Really enjoying my chrono UHF


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## miscellaneousmicron (Mar 4, 2015)

Thanks for the review, any comments in how the crown functions? Even a good quartz tends to feel flimsy when setting the time..curious of Bulova was able to get a substantial action or not


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## Gregorinho (Aug 23, 2015)

Wow the chrono version looks awesome and very different, i like it a lot


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## stilren (Jan 25, 2015)

really nice looking watch. congrats.


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## jrosado3 (May 7, 2015)

this watch is very sturdy and solidly build. Crown feels firm and precise. I had not worn this watch in a few weeks and your question prompted me to put it on. I really like this watch.


miscellaneousmicron said:


> Thanks for the review, any comments in how the crown functions? Even a good quartz tends to feel flimsy when setting the time..curious of Bulova was able to get a substantial action or not
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## miscellaneousmicron (Mar 4, 2015)

Very cool, thanks for the reply, bulova is such an odd brand--They remind me a lot of seiko b/c of the way they can be really solid or highly questionable 


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## theretroshave (Jan 30, 2015)

Thanks for the photos, and description of the band. The band appears to be of high quality, but the fact that it is not a true nato is a turn off for me. Thanks for saving me from disappointment. Enjoy your UHF! I am thoroughly enjoying mine, and hopefully will be for years to come.


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## wild4stangs (Mar 1, 2011)

Wow, this is a very sharp watch!


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## bryan00 (Nov 21, 2015)

congrats on your watch, looks great.


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## Val1984 (Apr 29, 2016)

Thanks for the review! I recently got my first Bulova (the moon watch) and I am positively surprised by the quality. Good price-performance-ratio in my opinion...


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## jrosado3 (May 7, 2015)

theretroshave said:


> Thanks for the photos, and description of the band. The band appears to be of high quality, but the fact that it is not a true nato is a turn off for me. Thanks for saving me from disappointment. Enjoy your UHF! I am thoroughly enjoying mine, and hopefully will be for years to come.


 Bulova sells this watch with a nice leather band also.


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## valuewatchguy (Jun 16, 2012)

Will this watch be too big for a 6.25" wrist?

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## rfortson (Feb 18, 2012)

There are a couple of versions on Amazon for ~$125-150 (both chrono and non-chrono). I'm seriously considering one at that price.


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## jrosado3 (May 7, 2015)

I would not wait much to get it. They are no longer listed in the official Bulova website. Guess, it was a limited run maybe?


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## kon (May 11, 2016)

James_ said:


> Just a comment on the lume. It won't last anywhere near 7 hours. 1 hour at most. Had one a while ago.


How disappointing.....it's a nice looking watch.


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## R2rs (Oct 22, 2011)

Nice watch! Look perfect with this strap!


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## borchard929 (Feb 15, 2016)

Just wanted to chime in. My wife bought me the 96B231 for my birthday, and I love it!








The ONLY thing I was disappointed with, is that the chrono model only has the moving second hand in the 6 O' clock , small chrono dial. I t doesnt have the large, sweeping second hand.


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## laza80 (Aug 9, 2016)

You shouldn't be disappointed, every real chronograph uses large second hand for chrono function. It's the way it's meant to be.


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## oynag (Sep 4, 2014)

Thanks for the review- appreciated.


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## anabuki (Dec 27, 2014)

Small second hand of chrono doesn't sweep. Move like an ordinary quartz. :-(


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## JesterIzDead (Jan 5, 2017)

borchard929 said:


> Just wanted to chime in. My wife bought me the 96B231 for my birthday, and I love it!
> The ONLY thing I was disappointed with, is that the chrono model only has the moving second hand in the 6 O' clock , small chrono dial. I t doesnt have the large, sweeping second hand.


This is why I passed on the new Moon watch. Opted for the Telluride, instead. To my amazement, it sweeps smoother than all my COSC watches.


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## dovonex (Dec 7, 2015)

As an update 14 months later - this watch has served me extremely well in various settings: both light and high impact exercise, casual social settings, formal business settings, traveling, etc.

It was supposed to be 1/7 of my weekly rotation, but is now 5/7 of my rotation where 1/7 I don't wear a watch and 1/7 I might wear a solar-powered watch to keep it well juiced. I have and am going to pick up various straps for it (black nylon NATO, black textured leather, distressed brown leather, tan alligator). 

As mentioned, this was picked up on a whim. Originally, I was planning to get the SDGM003 and SBGA011 as my dark/light dress watches, but it seems I'll be skipping the SDGM003 as a dark dressy watch and going straight for the SBGA011  

Amazing how some things work out!


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## SimpleWatchMan (Apr 25, 2014)

Nice. I like this Bulova UHF, chrono or non chrono.


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