Bulova 97B225 Hudson Automatic Silver Dial Brown Leather Band

Bulova 97B225 Hudson: A Dress Watch That Shows Its Movement

Bulova introduced the Hudson in mid-2024 as a clean-sheet dress case, and the 97B225 is the rose gold-tone version on brown leather. What makes it worth a look is not the styling, since plenty of brands do arced Roman numerals. It is the parts list. A double-domed anti-reflective sapphire crystal and an exhibition caseback are not standard equipment at this end of the market, and Bulova fitted both.

Four Textures on One Dial

The 39mm dial carries four separate finishes without turning into noise. A fine basketweave fills the center, a smooth chapter ring holds the minute track, and arced Roman numerals sit at 6 and 12 with polished rose gold-tone batons between them. The date at 3 o’clock is small and color-matched rather than a white square dropped into the design. Under the domed sapphire it reads clean at arm’s length and rewards a closer look.

The Miyota 8215: Common, and That Is the Point

Inside is Miyota’s 8215: 21 jewels, 21,600 vph, a 42-hour reserve, automatic with hand-winding and a stop-seconds device. It is one of the most widely used automatics in the business, which is both the criticism and the case for it. Miyota rates it at -20 to +40 seconds a day, so this is not a chronometer and does not pretend to be. What you get instead is a movement any watchmaker can service cheaply, and an exhibition caseback that lets you watch it run.

What 39mm Actually Wears Like

The case measures 39mm across with 44.5mm lug-to-lug and gently curved lugs, so it sits flat on most wrists. It is 11.9mm thick, though. The convex case profile and the domed crystal add height, and this is not a slim watch in the classic thin-dress sense. Water resistance is 30m, which covers rain and hand-washing but not swimming, whatever Bulova’s “splash resistant” label implies. The 20mm strap uses quick-release spring bars, so swapping it takes seconds.

The Bottom Line

This is for someone who wants a mechanical dress watch with real sapphire and a view of the movement, and who does not need it to be 8mm thick. If a genuinely slim case is the priority, look elsewhere. If sapphire, an automatic you can actually see, and a 39mm case that suits most wrists is the goal, the Hudson makes a strong argument.