The idea of a quartz movement with a smooth sweep second hand was difficult for me to process having been exposed only to the click-click quartz movements more commonly encountered.  I knew it could be done because I bought an inexpensive wall clock a few months earlier that had that same fascinating feature, but on a wristwatch?  That I had not seen except in much more expensive Spring Drive pieces that were/are way beyond my watch collecting budget.

Then along came the Bulova Precisionist on a watch forum in which I reguarly participate being sold by another member.  I couldn't resist and grabbed it.  When I removed it from its packaging after its arrival, the first thing I wanted to see was the second hand in action.  Sure enough, it made its way around the dial with no discernable incremental jerking, at least to my eyes. I read another review that suggested you could see the tiny clicks if you looked closely enough, but that doesn't work for me.  It is smooooooth.

The first Bulova Precisionist I bought was a Champlain, a rather large sport style watch that was uber impressive, but dominated even my large wrist too much for my taste, so I started looking for a more reasonably sized Precisionist and I came upon the Longwood Rose-Tone Brown Leather watch on Amazon.com which is the subject of this review.

The Longwood Rose-Tone Precisionist is absolutely eye-catching gorgeous.  Don't take my word for it.  People I don't know sneak peeks at my Longwood when I wear it in public.  A prime example is when I play in an 18-piece dance band for a local senior citizen dance where I sit in the front row of the band playing saxophone.  The first time I wore this watch to the dance I noticed dancers passing by and occasionally glancing at my watch.  It was unmistakable.  They didn't ask about it, they just looked at the watch then at me and I just smiled, as much as I could with a sax mouthpiece in my face.

Others have favorably commented on the beauty and elegance of this watch and its mesmerizing smooth sweep second hand. Some have asked where I got it and I knew why.  They would soon be checking out Amazon.com for these fine watches.

Someone once said there is elegance in simplicity, or words to that effect.  Well, the Longwood, unlike the Champlain, is the epitome of elegance in its simplicity and Zen-like dial that provides the time and the date at a glance.  And the time it provides is as accurate as it can be without daily atomic clock updates, most probably the only way to improve upon Precisionst accuracy.

Reading the specifications of this watch is an interesting course in watch design. Specifically, when it describes the three (count 'em) prong tines on the tuning fork which normally has only two, and how that dramatically  increases the sampling frequency that is the basis for time accuracy, it is amazing.  Similarly, the specially designed battery that lasts a remarkably long time even though driving a smooth sweep second hand, which normally requires more energy from a battery, demonstrates to what lengths Bulova designers went to make this the finest watch available on the market at this price point.  And price point is no small consideration.

The Spring-Drive Seiko will run you just under $4,000 while the Bulova Precisionist Longwood Rose-Tone set me back less than $220 (because I bought it discounted at Amazon.com).  If that doesn't impress, I don't know what will.  I realize there are valid reasons for the price difference, but if you don't have four grand to spend on a wristwatch, the Bulova Precisionist may be the best alternative for you as it was for me.

I've bought and sold several watches over the past few years, but this watch is a keeper.  It is so stunning I keep it in reserve for those special occasions when i want to look my best with wrist candy like the Precisionist and I use my Casio G-Shock Atomic/Solar as my daily wrist wear.  Btw, when I compare the time between my atomic-clock-updated Casio G-Shock to the time on my Bulova Precisionist, it never fails that they are a match.  But, the Precisionist is supposed to be accurate to within about 10 seconds per year.  How good is that?!

In short, buy it.  You won't be sorry.