VIDEO: The Bulova Sinatra Collection hits a variety of top notes
Zach BlassPeople who like watches have hobbies and passions that extend beyond horology. Maybe its cars, or cigars, or whiskey or all the above. But one thing I have never met is a watch lover that doesn’t like music. Music is universal, and one of the biggest musical icons of all time is Frank Sinatra. So, perhaps, it comes as no surprise considering their origins in America and their Art Deco aesthetics, that there is a full lineup of Bulova Sinatra watches in a variety of classic formats.
The Best is Yet to Come utilizes a circular case with a classic so-called ‘fancy’ lug shape evocative of watches like the IWC calibre 89. The model we have in hand today is a 40mm stainless-steel model outfitted on a vintage-inspired bracelet.
The dial has a dotted outer minutes track, applied hour indices, a dauphine-styled Alpha hours and minutes handset, a central running seconds hand, Bulova and Sinatra dial-branding, and a framed black on white date complication at 3’. Compared to other models within the collection, it has a more modern feel to its dial aesthetic with a black dial that has a cloth-like appearance due to its cross-hatched texture. Exhibited through the Sinatra-etched sapphire caseback is the manually wound Sellita SW215 calibre with 42 hours of power reserve. It has a clean industrial finish, but exhibits a classic sensibility due to its balance taking up a third of the movement as was standard with traditional calibres. As for pricing, the watch carries a retail price of US$1,395.
Precious hues more your style? Next up we have this Summer Wind watch from the Sinatra collection. Sure its 40mm rose-gold toned stainless-steel case has a precious edge, but the matte grey dial gives it a more casual feel and vibe. The Summer Wind utilises more faceted indices than the Best is Yet to Come, and forgoes the 6’ Sinatra branding in favour of an applied signature Sinatra fedora taking the place of the twelfth hour indice. The Summer Wind also uses an alpha handset, and has a 3’ date complication, but here the hours and minutes hands are luminsicent and the central seconds hand rendered in an eye-catching orange. Matching the dial, this Summer Wind is outfitted on a stamped grey leather strap and exhibited inside the watch is an automatic Miyota calibre rather than the manually wound Sellita SW215.which may have something to do with the $400 price drop down to US$850.
Last but not least is the Bulova Sinatra My Way, a 29.5mm rectangular gold-toned watch that oozes Art Deco flair – its longer lug-to-lug stature ensuring its size will work for modern and classic tastes alike.The silvered white dial has a nice vertical brush, with a rectangular railroad outer minutes track, applied hour numerals and indices, a shortened dauphine-styled alpha hours and minutes handset, and a sun-in-square running seconds sub dial. Rounding out the dressier sensibilities is a pebbled black leather strap with a gold-toned deployant clasp and, beneath a solid caseback, you have a quartz movement that will run within 15 seconds per month. Of the three segments, the My Way is the most price-approachable coming in at US$550.