We recently reviewed another watch by the American timepiece manufacturers Bulova, their famous Lunar Pilot and while we loved a lot of things about the watch – that true lunar history, the gorgeous inverted panda layout and the wonderful blue chronograph pushers – there were three main things that we didn’t care for. The first was the size. Sure, the more recent Lunar Pilots had a reduced size of 43.5mm, down from 45mm but that’s still pretty large for those of us skinny-wristed watch enthusiasts.
The second issue for us, and we’re aware that your space mileage may well vary, was the lack of a date complication. Sure, the original Bulova Apollo 15 watch that Dave Scott famously wore on the moon didn’t either, but in terms of day-to-day use, we like being able to see a date. And, probably even more stupid than that, that famous Bulova 265 kHz smooth sweep is only visible on during chronograph operation. The watch’s third hand was, like most chronographs, only in use when timing something. Regular seconds were only displayed on the bottom sub-dial. Again, not really a problem for most watch wearers but we like our watches to be a bit more alive looking. And so, with a heavy heart, we decided to swap it out of our ten watch box, get it on eBay and replace it with something else.
And it was during a shopping trip in Manchester’s Trafford Centre we spotted the Bulova Jet Star and, oddly, that day that was the only watch that stood out. We wanted something interesting, colourful and different but also something that would fix those three issues we had with the Lunar Pilot. And sure, Bulovas are mall watches and we were in the UK equivalent of what the Americans call a mall, but we saw the Jet Star and needed to try it on.
The Jet Star or, to give it its full name, the Bulova 1973 Jet Star “F” is a reissue of one of their iconic 1970s pieces and that seventies influence is right there. The gold-toned (but actually stainless steel) case and the golden brown fumé dial make this something of a dated but stylish piece, especially when paired with the stock brown leather strap, itself embossed with gold stitching and a waffle texture. It’s hard to figure out if this one is dressy or sporty. It could be either but, equally, it’s also neither.
The dial layout is a lot more simple than the Lunar Pilot, the watch serves an entirely different purpose. The Lunar Pilot was for calculating trajectories or whatever it is that space guys do. The Jet Star is for drinking spirits, taking drugs and swapping spouses. The Lunar Pilot is for starlight, the Jet Star is for lava lamps. But even so, what you get here is Bulova’s name, printed in their usual straightforward capitalised font. While underneath you have the Precisionist ‘infinity’ logo and that famous ‘262 kHz’ reference (which, for us, we don’t like all that much because of the random use of italics).
Atop the ‘Butterscotch’ coloured dial are the batton hour markers, themselves coloured in a mix of gold, champagne and brown, backed up by white dots in the chapter ring. The hands also mix gold and brown to interesting effect while the seconds hand opts for a dark red hue. It’s all very deliberate but reasonably classy. The date window sits at the 3 o’clock position in a rectangular window and opts for a simple black font on a white background, which helps it stand out. That said, the old ones came with a day/date layout which would have added a little more utility.
At 40mm, the case size is a bit more size-appropriate for us than the Lunar Pilot. And the lug-to-lug comes in at a very cosy 45mm. The watch fits like a dream but we’re sure it’d look fine on larger wrists too but for us lady-wristed chaps, this is one of the best fitting watches we’ve tried. And that’s despite the fact that the angular turtle-shaped case looks like it could be pretty chunky. Meanwhile, a single non-screw crown operates date and time setting and even it has its own little artistic flourish thanks to it’s fluted surface. It’s nice but understated and in keeping with a watch that doesn’t have much variety when it comes to its polishing finish.
A domed sapphire crystal offers a good level of protection, which is important because this is a watch that you’ll want to keep looking its best. This isn’t a beater. This is a head-turner that isn’t going to buy into all that ‘every knock tells a story’ nonsense. It’s not history, it’s you banging your watch into the doorframe as you go to make a cup of tea. You’re not James Bond. But we did find that the crystal was a bit of a smear/fingerprint magnet. We’re not sure why but this watch always finds a way to look grubby, asking for a bit more maintenance than any other watch we’ve tried.
But it’s under the sapphire where the real magic happens. That Bulova NM10 Precisionist movement is a marvel. If you want the smooth sweep of an automatic but with the set-and-forget convenience of quartz, then this is the watch for you. The NM10 beats sixteen times per second, propelling the seconds hand with the grace of ballet dancer on ice skates. And that’s while promising a tolerance of ten seconds per year. If you’re planning to storm a beach in a year’s time, leave your automatic at home and take a Jet Star.
Usually, such high-frequency movement comes at a cost, and not just financially. When you see how thing thing moves, you’ll expect to the battery to have the same longevity as the average opposition leader in Russia but Bulova promise up to three years of uninterrupted movement before you need to shove a new battery in there. And so, while you might not get the same level of horological appreciation from watch snobs, watch nerds will no doubt be impressed.
There are four models of Jet Star currently available. This version, the 97B214, is the only one to come on a strap by default. Colour-matching a bracelet to that case is going to be quite the task but with a strap this interesting, you’ll probably not want to swap it out. The other regular versions of the Jet Star – which come in “classic silver” or a deep “merlot red” – come on regular silver-coloured steel bracelets. While the limited edition version, with its silver dial but red/blue markers and hands, comes with a bracelet and a blue leather strap (which shares the same texture and embossed stitching as this model).
For us, the Butterscotch gold model stood out the most but the red model had us deliberating right up until the point of purchase. Not that we did it at the shop. With a retail price of £449, we knew we’d do a lot better on eBay and we did, picking up the watch as new from a Spanish seller for £270. And so we’re pretty happy with the Jet Star overall with the only niggles being that aforementioned fingerprint magnet of a crystal, the aggressively ’70s styling and the fact that the gold-coloured case looks a bit cheap. Also, even our cheap as chips Casio has better lume than this thing.
But, the Jet Star is certainly something unique. It’s a watch that makes a statement and so your main question is whether on not that’s a statement you’re ready to make with it.
The ‘Ten Watch Box’ Verdict: So, will it hold down a place in our ten watch display case? Well, no. It’s a great watch with a lot going on but we’re children of the ’80s. For us, the ’70s are all about glam rock, Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Lee dying and TV presenters that have all been proven to be sex pests. Where some see gold, red and brown as a luxurious combination to us it eventually started to look drab. And it left us wondering if we’d be better off with one of the other versions of this watch (we probably should have bought the red one). So, we sold it on after struggling to love it for a couple of months.
Availability/Options: You can buy these either directly from Bulova or from various retailers. It’s not a limited edition and should be in stock for a long time. That said, the £449 RRP should be avoided as this comes up on sale quite often or, better, you can be often found for a steal on eBay. So do that.
Brand: Bulova
Model: Jet Star
Reference: 97B214
Style: Dress
Case Size: 40mm
Movement: High-frequency quartz
Material: Stainless Steel
Band Width: 20mm
Band Type: Leather strap
Price Paid: £270 (eBay)