Watch Review: Lum-Tec Bull42

Lum-Tec is a family run, USA based company devoted to bringing some of the best quality watches on the market. Our parent company Wiegand Custom Watch, LLC. has built watches for thousands of customers around the world as well as designed, improved, and built watches for many other well known brands. The LÜM-TEC brand is the showcase brand for Wiegand Custom Watch, LLC, demonstrating what they are capable of producing. LÜM-TEC watches are made with only the best available materials and components and are all hand crafted by their team of professional watchmakers. Chris Wiegand – President, takes extreme pride in every watch we produce. He is always available to answer questions, and help the customers out with anything he can. He can be emailed directly at chris@lum-tec.com.

Lum-Tec takes pride in their service. With service points around the globe, you can be assured that for any repair you will have an unheard of fast turnaround time, so you can get your watch back on your wrist fast and enjoy it.

LÜM-TEC ® takes watch manufacturing and design to a personal level. They freely communicate with their customers through email, phone, and on web forums daily about design input, suggestions, and any way to constantly improve their business and final product. Chris says that their customers make LÜM-TEC what they are. Without them, they would be just another watch company.

I have found in this hobby of ours that most people are either a fan of quartz movement or they are not, there are a small handful that don’t care either way. I understand why some prefer quartz as tends to be more accurate than mechanical movements and it’s definitely “tougher” as well. I fall kind of in between, where I can certainly appreciate quartz movements for what they are and the place they have but I personally prefer mechanical movements. Now if you are like me in terms of being a mechanical movement fan, don’t write off the Bull42 just yet as I believe this is a nice & affordable chronograph that has some details worth looking at. This watch is one of those watches that you can grab and go beat the shit out of without that feeling guilty while you doing it. The Bull42 is powered by the SII VK67 Mecha-Quartz movement. The nice thing about Lum-Tec is they supply free lifetime battery changes and pressure testing.

The 42mm case can definitely take the abuse because of the military grade titanium carbide black PVD hard coating. As far as water resistance goes, it has a 200 meter rating which considering the fact this isn’t the watch you grab to go diving with, the 200 meters will more than suffice for most wearers. Lum-Tec did however arm the Bull42 with a screw down threaded crown that I am appreciative of. Lum-Tec took the crown protection a step further by using double Viton® seals. I’ve heard both sides of the screw down vs push/pull crown debate but for me this comes down to personal preference and I prefer a screw down crown. It should be mentioned that the location of the crown at 12 o’clock does make for operating the crown a bit difficult. Granted you won’t need to access the crown once you have initially set your watch but I think it’s an important detail to mention. I can tell you though that is the only area on the Bull42 that I was an area of “concern” which is a very minute area. If this was a mechanical movement then I would be more concerned because it would make winding a real chore.

The square case on the Bull42 not only has that stealth look going for it but it also has some nice charm thanks to it’s unique shape. That unique shape, that square shape is exactly what attracted me to the Bull42. The little details of the screws on the bezel and case are definitely attractive but it would have added a bit of that coolness factor if those said screws served an actual functional purpose. This watch wears true to it’s size and maybe just a hair smaller because of the short, curved lugs. The case hugs the wrist comfortably due to the curving that Lum-Tec incorporated into the case design. This case is sleek and stealthy, armed with a custom molded 24/22 anti-static rubber strap. The strap conforms to the wrist with optimal comfort no matter where you are wearing the Bull42. A nice bit of detail adorns both pieces of the rubber strap. I’m referring to the raised Lum-Tec name that can be seen in the pic below. If the rubber strap isn’t your thing you can always swap it out for something different. Thanks to the drilled lugs, changing out the strap is quite easy to do.

What do you use your chronograph for? Do you use it for work related purposes? Timing during your workouts? Or perhaps making sure you don’t burn dinner? Well whatever you use your chronograph for, the operation and accuracy are what the important factors are for timing your “missions” successfully. The design of the dial allows for some fantastic legibility not only for reading the time but also on each of the sub dials. I like how crisp the button pushers are when operating the chronograph function and I also love how the hands respond with precision. The large sword style hands have faux patina/aged look that works well set against the textured black dial & case. Lum-Tec always assures that their watches are just as legible in the dark as they are during the daylight hours. This is due to the MDV luminous technology on dial and hands. The precise diamond cut hands are coated by X1 grade Super-Luminova which glow like a torch. The combination of numerals and round markers to indicate the hours comes together in a very legible and cohesive display detail. Each hand, including those on the chronograph sub dials are sized perfectly in both length and width which adds to the great legibility of the Bull42.

Finishing off the Bull42 case is the military grade double anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal and the solid screw down case back. The Bull42 reminds me of that pocket knife I grab to take with me when I go hiking. It’s not my “best” knife or my sharpest knife or most expensive knife, but it’s a knife I know can handle whatever I may need it for while hiking…….even if I just use it to widdle a stick for some mindless relaxing fidgeting. How does this relate to the Bull42? In my opinion the Bull42 is a watch I would just grab, strap on my wrist knowing it will handle whatever adventures I may come across on my time in nature. Whether I time laps on a jog or I hit my wrist against rocks while climbing a cliff side or accidentally bury my wrist in mud….. I know the Bull42 can handle any of it and it does it well without being my most expensive or “best” watch. The Bull42 doesn’t pretend to be something that it’s not. Lum-Tec designed an easy to grab watch, that is legible and features some accessible & reliable functions (12 hour chrono sub-dial, 60min chrono sub dial, sweeping 1/5 chrono seconds hand, & a continuous seconds hand) This particular Bull42 model is available on Lum-Tec’s website for $555 USD. There are other variations available as well. https://lum-tec.com/collections/bull42-series

As their name suggests, Lum-Tec watches never disappoint with their flashlight quality lume and that certainly holds true with the Bull42. I like that the Bull42 offers something different from the old sea of the same old designs. The Bull42 is a solid piece that offers a different wearing experience from the typical. The square case offers a refreshing experience on the wrist in terms of comfort, presence and overall appearance. What enhances the comfort experience of this watch is the crown placement because the crown won’t dig into the wrist/back side of the hand, as crowns placed at the 3 o’clock position can. The stealthy black keeps it under the radar with an over the top/in your face look but it’s secret weapon is a symmetrically designed dial that packs a huge legibility punch. What allows that punch to be a knockout blow for me is the detail that Lum-Tec put into the lume application which didn’t stop at the main hands or markers, everything on the dial received that same lume treatment. I love that each of the sub-dial hands and numbers are coated with lume. That’s an example of design dedication that separates the experienced Vs the newbies. The pic below shows exactly what I am referring to.

As you expect and as it should be with any watch purchase, everything on the Bull42 functions perfectly. I mentioned earlier what could improve upon the wearing experience on this watch and those little areas for me are not deal breakers, just suggestions in my opinion that would enhance this watch. This would be a great piece for those looking for something different from the diver flooded market. I would also recommend this piece to anyone looking to try their first Lum-Tec. This is a company that has been around in the microbrand world for many years. A company that will stand behind their watch with an excellent customer service experience. I see more and more “fly by night” companies popping up these days. There’s a certain ease of mind comfort that a seasoned brand like Lum-Tec brings to your purchase. The Bull42 is a quality release from Lum-Tec that offers some nice details and a different kind of wearing experience that I find attractive. It’s a watch that definitely deserves a look.

Thank you to Chris and the Lum-Tec team. Thank you all for taking the time to check out this review.

Specs:

• SII VK67 Mecha-Quartz movement
• Date display
• 12 hour chrono sub-dial
• 60min chrono sub dial
• Sweeping 1/5 chrono seconds hand
• Continuous seconds hand
• 316L Surgical grade Stainless Steel case
• Curved front and rear case profile for comfort
• 42mm case width / 24mm lug width
• 52.5mm lug to lug length
• 12.8mm case thickness
• Military grade Titanium Carbide black PVD hard coating
• Thick slightly curved sapphire
• Military grade double anti-reflective coating.
• Solid 316L stainless steel caseback
• High tech Viton® gaskets
• 200 meters water resistance
• Custom molded 24/22 anti-static rubber strap
• MDV luminous technology on dial and hands
• Premium, diamond-cut hands with X1 grade Super-Luminova
• Threaded crown with double Viton® seals
• Free lifetime battery replacement and pressure testing
• Two year limited warranty
• Limited numbered series of 500 worldwide
• Designed, assembled by hand and fully tested in Ohio

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