Stunning blast from the past

I always consider my first "real" watch as an old TI series 500 LED digital watch. My dad had bought me a cheap "Timex" with futuristic numbers, as a "trial" watch, and once I was able to prove I could keep track of that, he bought me the Texas Instruments. I loved that watch, and despite always running low on batteries, I thought it was the coolest watch ever. That love for LED watches has never died. Yes, LCD's have rendered them all but impractical, but despite recognizing that LCD displays are so much better, they never held for me the "the cool" factor of that glowing LED. As soon as this became available I knew I had to buy it. It is stunning. The blue and silver look so nice together (As a child "red" used to be my favorite color, now it's blue, so go figure). The modern "driver" design actually works while driving since you simply have to use your non watch hand to push the button while your watch hand stays on the wheel. Try that with your typical pulsar. The watch is well built and the matching bracelet ties it all together as a cohesive piece. The battery used is a standard CR2032 button battery making battery replacement inexpensive and easy. The battery compartment open with a quick 90 degree clockwise turn of the compartment with a penny or a dime. No need to go to a watch shop to change out the battery on this one. That ease of battery replacement also affects it's water resistance. Don't take this in the water kids, it has minimal water resistance, and while it should survive rain shower, or a possible accidental drop in the sink, this watch should not be used for any type of water activities. The quartz symbol next to the Bulova name harkens back to a time before the "quartz crisis" where the industry was still trying to elevate quartz technology and digital watches as the next evolutionary step in horology instead of the mass produced disposable commodity that they have since become. And the price tag reflects this. If there's any criticism, it's that in an age where a Casio F91w can be had for 10 bucks, 35 times that for a less capable watch seems just "wrong". But then again, that's what the "quartz crisis" delivered. A glut of dirt cheap, stunningly accurate, boring watches, that are barely distinguishable from each other The Computron exhibited that you could have a stylish and high quality quartz timepiece, that was anything but boring. Yes, it is anachronistic, overpriced and represents a vision of the future that never quite came to be. But in an era of boring smart watches, this Computron still holds up rather well. Besides, I still get a small smile on my face everytime I push that button and read the blue display. And isn't that part of what collecting watches is all about?

Beauty

Exceptionally nice watch. Might be collector item some day.

Keep the old catalogs open!

I always wanted the original Stainless steel stipple top version with the polished stainless bracelet. I could never find a vintage that was to my satisfaction. I was thrilled when I saw at Basel Bulova was reissuing the Computron, but was a bit disappointed that they werent doing that model. Now that I own it I'm thrilled! It looks fantastic. They kept the original dimensions, so not huge which I like and keeps with the vintage appeal. It looks so much better in person, on the wrist. I constantly get questions and compliments. I own several reissues, Snorkel, Military small seconds,Aerojet etc.and several vintage models, Oceanographer,Sea King and love them all. This one is a winner.