American watch manufacturer Bulova adds to its highly collectible Archive Series to revive a 1970’s bullhead chronograph with a blue and white display inspired by a parking meter. Appropriately named the Bulova Parking Meter Chronograph Re-Edition, the design is limited to 5,000 pieces and offers all the features you’d expect of a racing chronograph with the statement “bullhorn” pushers placed centre stage.
There’s no shortage of “re-edition watches” going about these days with brands left, right and centre reaching into their archives and sourcing inspiration from historic designs for their latest releases. One brand with a pretty extensive history is Bulova, boasting milestones like the first fully electronic watch with proprietary tuning-fork based technology and a Bulova timer joining the first moonwalk, placed in the sea of tranquillity. Another popular design during this time was a bullhead chronograph known as the Bulova Parking Meter. Its unusual shapes and colours spoke to the experimental era of the 70’s with the centre display uniquely evoking the outline of an American parking meter.
The new 2022 Bulova Parking Meter Chronograph looks remarkably like that of its predecessor with the same 43mm diameter and stainless steel construction. Blue PVD coating covers the bezel which follows the trail of the iconic bull head pusher arrangement and crown on the opposite side. This includes two pushers at 11 and 1 o’clock for the stopping and starting the chronograph hand and a third crown between these pushers at 12 o’clock for disconnecting the movement and allowing you to set the time and date. Lastly, the crown at 6 o’clock is used to manipulate the second time zone, a new feature for the Bulova Parking Meter Chronograph watch.
The case of the Bulova Parking Meter Chronograph Limited Edition boasts some much-needed improvements like sapphire crystal glass on the front and a screw down case back assisting in a 100 metre water resistant rating. The dial at first glance looks to mimic the historic model closely but in-fact also offers some subtle changes. A new second time zone complication sits in the subsidiary dial at 12 o’clock replacing a 30 minutes counter and a small seconds dial at 6 o’clock supersedes a 12 hour counter. The same blue tachymeter scale is present around the edge as are the strong luminous hands for the hour and minutes, bold orange chronograph seconds hand and of course the unique parking meter-shaped hardware.
The original Bulova Parking Meter Chronograph watch was powered by an automatic movement, the “ChronoMatic” movement to be exact, which was the first automatic chronograph movement of its kind. Sadly however, the luxury watch brand have chosen to elect a standard quartz movement for powering the new limited edition. I personally would have preferred to have seen an automatic movement at its core but in fairness, the Miyota OS21 quartz calibre does keep the retail price down nicely.
As for the retail price, the Bulova Parking Meter Chronograph watch can be secured at just £449 and at price like this and with its limited edition status of only 5,000 pieces, it’s not going to be around for long. If you’d like to learn more and shop the Bulova Parking Meter Chronograph Limited Edition for yourself, head to the Jura Watches website here. Alternatively, get in touch with the team by calling 01335 453453 or send us a message at help@jurawatches.co.uk.
