# Any thoughts on the Bulova 98b252 Lobster Chronograph?



## too solid

I've been looking at the Bulova 98b252 lately and one popped up locally for $200. Does anyone have one? If so what are your thoughts? I think it's a sharp looking watch and wouldn't mind trying one out.










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## Wolfsatz

Great price for that piece. I do not have one, but it is good looking piece. I have the snorkel, and this should be a bit better from the looks of it.


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## too solid

Seems like the price may be too good. Guy is refusing to meet locally and wants to ship. lol 


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## DaveK12

It is good looking. Which, if any, hand gets the 16 Hz sweep?

I want one without the chrono, blue/white with the mesh band. Drool.


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## tayloreuph

DaveK12 said:


> It is good looking. Which, if any, hand gets the 16 Hz sweep?
> 
> I want one without the chrono, blue/white with the mesh band. Drool.


I like the case shape better than the Accutron II but I'm not sold on the sub dials. I wonder how crowded it will be in the metal.

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## yankeexpress

Got this 96b237 Snorkel chrono Accutron II for $119 new. Be aware it does NOT have the smooth sweep 16 beat per second of other Bulova like the Precisionist and non-chrono Lobster below it.










blue Lobster 96b232 was $94 new.


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## yankeexpress

Precisionist chrono vs Accutron chrono quote:

"It is important to note that the Precisionist movement in the Accutron II collection of watches is slightly different than the movement in the larger Precisionist watches (collection). That is because in order to reduce the size of the movement for these more classic timepieces Bulova needed to use smaller batteries. To maintain the same three year battery life Bulova slowed down the frequency of the watch so that is uses a bit less power. So what does all this mean? Basically in order to have a watch that is not so large, Bulova decided to offer a bit less accuracy. Having said that, these are still much more accurate than "traditional" quartz movements. So while the larger Precisionist movements are "way" more accurate than most quartz movements, the Accutron II Precisionist movements are "much" more accurate."

Bulova Accutron II Surveyor With Precisionist Movement Watch Review | aBlogtoWatch

They also slowed down the beat rate of the sweep to 8 bps from the 16 bps of the big Precisionist.

BTW, the Moonwatch chrono also has the smaller, slower Accutron II movement.


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## yankeexpress

Video showing the 8 bps sweep of the Accutron II chrono sweep hand:


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## yankeexpress

Video showing smooth 16 bps sweep of the non-chrono 98b252 lobster:


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## rzapalac

too solid said:


> I've been looking at the Bulova 98b252 lately and one popped up locally for $200. Does anyone have one? If so what are your thoughts? I think it's a sharp looking watch and wouldn't mind trying one out.
> 
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> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I sure do like that color combo the best of any Lobsters I have seen. Not a fan of yellow or the orange highlights on the blue one. What would make the red and black chron perfect (IMO) would be the mesh bracelet! ?

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## TaxMan

DaveK12 said:


> It is good looking. Which, if any, hand gets the 16 Hz sweep?
> 
> I want one without the chrono, blue/white with the mesh band. Drool.


All the ones I have seen have the sweep applied to the chronograph hand. The seconds sub-dial runs at 2 beats per second. I found that to be little disappointing.


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## TaxMan

rzapalac said:


> I sure do like that color combo the best of any Lobsters I have seen. Not a fan of yellow or the orange highlights on the blue one. What would make the red and black chron perfect (IMO) would be the mesh bracelet!


I really like this color combo. Reminds me of an actual Lobster. We need a photo next to some clarified butter.


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## nevada1995

I have one and I like it a lot, wears really well for me and I really like the shape of the case. At $200 it's a good deal.


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## BenchGuy

yankeexpress said:


> ...To maintain the same three year battery life Bulova slowed down the frequency of the watch so that is uses a bit less power.
> 
> ...So what does all this mean? Basically in order to have a watch that is not so large, Bulova decided to offer a bit less accuracy. Having said that, these are still much more accurate than "traditional" quartz movements. So while the larger Precisionist movements are "way" more accurate than most quartz movements, the Accutron II Precisionist movements are "much" more accurate."
> 
> They also slowed down the beat rate of the sweep to 8 bps from the 16 bps of the big Precisionist.
> 
> BTW, the Moonwatch chrono also has the smaller, slower Accutron II movement.


Frequency: What is the frequency of the Accutron II movements?

Beat rate: This is done by changing the conversion of the quartz signal to pulses driving the step-motor...and is not a new idea in the quartz world. The JLC 631 (1hz and 4hz) and FP1271 (1hz and 16hz) chronograph movements are examples. More energy is required to drive the motor at a higher rate. Generally the circuit alone is responsible for a small share of the current consumption (eg 0.5 microA for the ETA 251.272 chronograph movement). Same movement...basic timekeeping (chrono not engaged)...3.2 microA.

"Way more"..."much more"...? What does this mean quantitatively? I'd be curious to see some actual numbers...especially as to quartz frequency. Temperature is traditionally the most important variable in quartz accuracy... If I recall correctly, Precisionist movements are not temperature-compensated and achieve their accuracy through the 3-tine geometry of the quartz crystal...

Regards, 
BG


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