Bulova 98A338 Surveyor Automatic Green Dial Two-Tone Bracelet

Bulova 98A338: The Surveyor Puts Its Heart on Display

The Surveyor line answers a question most brands at this price avoid: how do you make a mechanical watch feel mechanical without turning it into a full skeleton? The 98A338 answers with a single cut at six o’clock. An open aperture exposes the escapement and balance wheel, and everything else stays conventional — applied markers, a clean chapter ring, and a green dial that reads almost black until the light finds it.

Green, Gold, and Restraint

Two-tone is easy to overdo. Bulova keeps the gold to the bezel, the crown, and the center links of the bracelet, leaving the case flanks and the outer links in brushed steel. The green dial with gold-tone hands and applied markers does the rest of the work, and the tuning fork at twelve is the only branding cue on the dial. It is a warmer look than the plain steel Surveyors without tipping into costume territory.

The 82S0: Ordinary in the Best Way

Behind the exhibition caseback sits the 82S0, a 21-jewel Miyota automatic with a hack function and a 42-hour power reserve. It is not chronometer grade, and Miyota does not claim it is — the published spec is -20 to +40 seconds a day. But this is the caliber family that made open-heart dials affordable in the first place, any competent watchmaker can service it, and the rotor you watch through the back is the same mechanism visible through the aperture up front.

39mm, and Proportioned for It

The case runs 39mm across and 11.45mm thick, with a 46mm lug-to-lug span and standard 20mm lugs. The lug span matters more than the diameter here: 46mm keeps the watch sitting flat rather than overhanging. Anti-reflective sapphire tops it, which is not a given at this end of the catalog.

The Catch, and Who It Is For

Water resistance is the compromise. Bulova rates the 98A338 as splash resistant, which means hand-washing and rain are fine and swimming is not. That is the usual trade for a display caseback, If you want an open-heart automatic with sapphire, real two-tone finishing, and a case size that does not shout, this is a straightforward pick. If you need something that shrugs off a sink, look at a sealed caseback instead.