Wristwatch Review: Caravelle by Bulova Stainless Steel Watch

It's hard to beat the functional and iconic looks of a classic diver's style watch. That's why I enjoy my new Caravelle by Bulova Stainless Steel Watch (Model 45B35K). It has all the classic styling cues of a diver style watch: a counter-clockwise rotating bezel, a black dial, luminous hands and markers, large easily read numbers at 12, 6 and 9 o'clock, very small minute numbers at 5 minute intervals, a date display a 3 o'clock, and a sturdy rubber band. The Caravelle by Bulova watch has an attractive stainless steel case with a flat back and gentle curves to fit your wrist where the band attaches into the case. While it is not explicitly called a diver's watch, this Caravelle by Bulova watch is also water resistant to 50 meters.

Like a NASCAR race where drivers are only separated by tenths of a second, it is hard for diver's style watches to distinguish themselves. There must be hundreds of watches with diver styling in the market place. However, there are at least a half dozen reasons to genuinely like this Caravelle by Bulova Stainless Steel Watch. First, the watch is genuinely comfortable to wear. The rubber watch band isolates the metal belt buckle style clasp from your skin and the watch case has curves that fit the contours of your wrist. Second, the Caravelle by Bulova Men's watch is not too thick. At 3/8-inch thick, it is thin enough to fit under the cuff of a dress shirt. Third, the Bulova has provided a large and legible watch face (1 and 3/16-inch across the crystal, 1 and 7/16-inch across the bezel) in a watch that isn't a clunker. Fourth, the Caravelle by Bulova Model 45B35K is not too heavy. Fifth, the rubber watch band is fitted right into the case like a very high end watch with no gaps. Sixth, the Caravelle by Bulova Stainless Steel Watch is affordable. On sale at Kohl's I was able to get my watch for about $45. It's simply amazing to get a Bulova watch at a Casio or Armitron price.

Of course, even the most perfect looking watch has it's flaws. The Caravelle by Bulova Stainless Steel watch has a battery-powered quartz movement. According to the manual, I can expect the battery to last for a year. A year will fly by and I'll have to replace the battery or take it back to the store so that they can replace the battery. I'd hate for it be cast aside in a box of dead watches. I also think that the band could be just a tad longer. While the watch band fit my 8 1/2-inch wrists just fine. I'd like to have another 1/2-inch of watch band available. Finally, to add the most minor of knits, when you flip the watch over, the back plate of my watch is slightly misaligned. The Bulova logo is at 8'oclock instead of 9 o'clock where it would line up with the protected crown. Since it's not something anyone can see, I can't really obsess over it.

The styling of my Caravelle by Bulova watch puts other similar watches in my collection to shame. For example, while my Relic "Wet" Multi-Function Men's Watch is great, the Caravelle by Bulova is simply more refined. The sparse black and stainless looks is more masculine. The contrast between the flat stainlessless steel and high shine of the bezel edge and numbers on the Caravelle by Bulova watch simply works. The sub-dials and extra hashmarks on my Relic watch just seem busy and superfluous when compared to the simpler Caravelle watch. The Caravelle by Bulova also looks more sophisticated and more expensive than my Gametime Agent Series College Team Watch which is really just for fun. The Caravelle by Bulova makes my Lorus Men's Analog Watch and my Pulsar Men's Analog Watch look plain in comparison.

Overall, I love my Caravelle by Bulova Stainless Steel Watch. It's a great addition to my watchbox and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a classic look from a respected brand at an affordable price.