The movement, shown from both sides.

Most automatics hide the movement under a solid dial and let you glimpse the rotor through the back, if at all. The 98A139 cuts an aperture into the dial itself, just above centre, so the balance wheel oscillates in plain sight while you read the time.

Bulova calls it an open heartbeat. Turn the watch over and the exhibition caseback shows the rest of the 21-jewel self-winding movement. Nothing else on the dial competes: baton markers, baton hands with luminous fill, no date.

The case, bezel and crown are all stainless steel under a black ion-plated finish, and the strap is black leather. The only bright elements are the hands, the markers and the moving parts inside the aperture, which is exactly the hierarchy the design wants.

Ion plating is a hard surface coating rather than paint. It resists everyday scuffs well, but a deep scratch on a black-plated case shows steel underneath and cannot be polished away the way a bare steel case can.

Forty-five millimetres is large for a dress watch and large full stop. Bulova files this under Classic, but the proportions are closer to a sport watch wearing evening clothes. On a small wrist the lugs will overhang.

Water resistance is 30m, which Bulova rates for splashes and rain rather than swimming. That fits the leather strap and the dial aperture. This is a watch for desks, dinners and the lounge, and it makes no other claim.