Back in February 1958, under the heading of Project NS186-200, three pre-production samples of a new Bulova ?submersible wristwatch? were delivered into the charge of the US Navy?s Lieutenant Commander W F Searle in Building 214 in Washington Navy Yard. They were there to undergo trials of  ?watertightness, readability in darkness and various subjective tests…?  They?d be tested at 392ft in the lab and then on some working dives to be checked for watertightness, usability and legibility. This was the second trial of the new watch; the first had been in May 1957.
Two of the three failed; the watches had a tell-tale patch on the dial that would change colour if moisture entered the case and, although there was no sign of moisture and the watches ran happily, the patches changed.
Bulova, perhaps mindful of the cost of yet again re-engineering the cases and seals to pass (LCDR Searle also recommended re-siting the winding crown to make it less vulnerable), quietly shelved the idea, put the prototypes on a shelf.
The firm has now remedied their failure in the late fifties and relaunched the MIL-SHIPS-W-2181 in two models; an $895 version powered by a self-winding Miyota 82S0 and a 1,000 watch limited run with a Sellita SW200 at $1,990. No need to be worried this time – Bulova have given it a 200m water resistance rating and, let?s face it, like so many things, seals and engineering today have come on a long way since the 1950s.

There?s a lot to like abou...