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Bulova Archive Series 98A324 MIL-SHIPS Green Watch - Special Edition - W09373
Ref. 98A324
Sits in Bulova’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Bulova watches we list, which start at £100.
Price range £100 to £1,250 across 120 Bulova watches in stock.The MIL-SHIPS Bronze exists because of a single watch that almost nobody saw: a 1957 prototype Bulova built for the U.S. Navy that never reached production. This 150th Anniversary release draws directly from that original, translating its military-dive brief into a sandblasted CuSn8 bronze case that will darken and mottle with wear into something no two owners will share. The army green dial carries a bi-colour moisture indicator strip at six o'clock — on the prototype it would signal a flooded case; here it stays purely as a document of where the design came from. The bezel requires a deliberate push-down before it will rotate, a security mechanism that makes accidental displacement essentially impossible. At 15.4mm the watch sits high on the wrist, driven largely by a double-domed bubble crystal that introduces mild vintage distortion when viewed at an angle — which suits the period character of the thing entirely. The lug width was widened to 18mm over earlier reissues, opening the watch to the full range of current straps rather than the restrictive 16mm of the historically faithful predecessors. The Miyota 83S0 inside hacks and hand-winds, and its 60-hour reserve means a watch left on the nightstand Friday morning is still running Monday.
- Reference
- 98A324
- Brand
- Bulova
- Collection
- Archive
- Case size
- 41mm
- Case thickness
- 15.4mm
- Lug width
- 18mm
- Case material
- Bronze
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Green
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Bezel
- Bidirectional rotating
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- 83S0
- Water resistance
- 200m
- Bracelet / strap
- Fabric strap
- Strap colour
- Green
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Super-LumiNova
- Retailer
- F.Hinds
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 50.8mm
- Power reserve
- 60 hours
- Strap
- Interchangeable
Learn more about Bulova
Joseph Bulova, a Bohemian immigrant, opened a jewellery shop on Maiden Lane in New York in 1875 and moved into watch manufacturing in the early twentieth century, building a plant in Sag Harbor and later a substantial operation in Queens.
Bulova's instinct for firsts was commercial as much as technical. It ran the first national advertisement for a watch brand in 1926, broadcast the first radio commercial in American history — a time announcement — in 1926, and aired the first television commercial ever broadcast in 1941, paying nine dollars for the slot.
The engineering came too. The Accutron of 1960 replaced the balance wheel with a tuning fork vibrating at 360 Hz, driven electronically. It was accurate to within a minute a month, far beyond mechanical watches, and it hummed rather than ticked. NASA used Accutron timing mechanisms in spacecraft, and one was left on the Moon in the equipment package of Apollo 11.
Bulova also made an enormous contribution to American war production, supplying military timing devices, and founded a school of watchmaking for disabled veterans.
The company was acquired by Citizen in 2008. Modern collections include the Precisionist, with a high-frequency quartz movement producing a smooth sweeping seconds hand, and reissues of the Accutron and the 1970s Computron.
- 1875
- Joseph Bulova opens his New York shop.
- 1941
- Airs the first television commercial in history.
- 1960
- The Accutron tuning fork movement is released.
- 1969
- An Accutron timer is left on the Moon by Apollo 11.
- 2008
- Acquired by Citizen.
Also in 6 collections
This watch appears in Back in Stock (3,629), Automatic Watches (1,904), Sports Watches (882), Dive Watches (634), Green Dial Watches (491) and Limited Edition Watches (229).
Manufacturer’s guarantee
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch built to be worn hard and got wet.
Strengths
- 200m water resistance, rated for actual diving
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- One of Bulova's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 15.4mm thick, so it will not disappear under a cuff
Bulova Archive Series 98A324 MIL-SHIPS alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | 98A324 | SRPL51K1 | C0324301604100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £599 | £580 | £695 |
| Case size | 41mm | 41.7mm | 41mm |
| Water resistance | 200m | 200m | 200m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Fabric strap | Stainless steel bracelet | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | 60 hours | 41 hours | 80 hours |
| This watch | Closely matched |
|
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Yes. At 200m it is rated for swimming, snorkelling and recreational diving.
Water resistance explainedWill the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Sapphire, mineral and acrylic comparedDoes it need a battery?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
Quartz, automatic and solar comparedHow long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 60 hours fully wound — enough to survive a night off the wrist, but not a full weekend.
What size strap does it take?
18mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Will it fit my wrist?
Lug-to-lug is 50.8mm, which suits wrists from roughly 17.5cm (7 inches) upward.
Lug-to-lug decides fit more than case diameter does.
How to size a watch to your wristIs it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's.
Cheapest place to buy
F.Hinds is the only UK retailer we track stocking this reference, so there is nothing to compare it against today.
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