Feed the Meter: Bulova’s “Parking Meter” Re-Issue Offers More Than Just Retro-Appeal

You would certainly be within your rights to decide to view the recent re-issue of the 1973 Chronograph “31008-6W” timepiece from Bulova, produced during the maker’s design heyday of the early 1970s when this watch earned the apt nickname “Parking Meter,” as simply an ode to inventive, funky, out-of-the-box design.

But it wouldn’t be the best decision you ever made.

Of course, all the envelope-pushing design and detailing from the era are apparent for the “what the heck is that” vintage-inspired watch fan looking to sport a bit of unorthodox wrist flair.

For instance, there are the bull’s head chrono pushers at the top of the case, the 6 o’clock crown, the blue-on-steel colorway, the outer tach scale and railroad hour gauge, and the orange-tinted hands.
 

It might be more fun to decide to view the timepiece as a chronograph that only sports one sub-dial AND a second-time zone watch that doesn’t feature a third central hand. Let me explain.

The original “Parking Meter” timepieces used the fan-shaped sub-dial at 12 o’clock to tally the 30-minute chronograph interval and the lower sub-dial at 6 o’clock as a 12-hour totalizer.
 

In this new execution made for the Archive Series, the upper sub-dial is unfettered from the chronograph function and displays the hour in a 24-hour format. Meanwhile, the lower register tallies the minutes for the chronograph’s hour interval.

If you were wondering where the crown at 12 o’clock (which wasn’t on the original) comes in, this is it. That new top crown now serves as the master time-setting crown for the new “Parking Meter,” while the original-position-crown at 6 o’clock lets you bi-directionally shift the inner gauged hour ring.

Ta-da! A simplified, outside-in approach to tracking a second time zone. You can tell home time via the central minute hand and the 24-hour sub-dial (and yes, by the visual position of both the central hour and minute hands), but a crown-controlled inner hour gauge now gives you a second time zone as well.
 

Chronograph timings continue to click off from the top pushers using the central seconds hand and the lower hour totalizer, meaning you won’t be timing race cars crossing the finish line with this watch, but so what?

The new Parking Meter Chronograph is a limited edition of 5,000 individually numbered pieces and is available now via Bulova’s official website for $595.

(Images © Bulova)