The History of the Bulova Accutron
Eric’s Bulova Accutron Quartz
We’ve previously discussed the Bulova Accutron, but only very briefly. As such, in lieu of Eric buying his very own vintage Bulova Accutron, we wanted to take another look!
On October 10th, 1960, Omar Nelson Bradley, formerly a senior American military official under President Eisenhower during WWII, introduced the first Bulova Accutron to the world! At the time he was President of Bulova, with the first Accutrons dubbed the ‘Spaceview’, which were skeleton dial models with a view of the novel tuning fork movement.
While the Bulova Accutron was first introduced in 1960, its story goes back much further…about 250 years before the watch was released! The first tuning-fork clock was created by Louis François Clément Breguet in Lyon, France in 1856, who used a technology, the tuning-fork itself, which had previously been invented in 1711 by John Shore.
It is remarkable to think of a technology that was as commercially successful as the tuning fork in the late 20th century, being somewhat dormant for centuries before Bulova came along. Bulova was not the first to reignite curiosity into the tuning fork, however. Elgin made their first electronic watch in 1952, sparking interest again in the technology with their Elgin Grade 725. Seeing this development, Bulova entrusted Max Hetzel, a Swiss engineer, to work on the development of a tuning fork movement in the early 1950s. He introduced a tuning fork to the watch movement, replacing the balance in hopes it would improve accuracy – and it did! Thus, the first patent was registered in 1953, with a working prototype ready the following year and Hetzel accredited with inventing the new watch!
Old Bulova Accutron ad
The first Bulova Accutron movement was the Cal. 214, which was developed in 1959 by an American engineer working for Bulova. This is the same movement that was in the models shown in 1960 and the first ones sold the following year!
For its novel technology and extreme accuracy, the Bulova Accutron was chosen as the go-to watch for many interesting endeavors. Firstly, there is NASA, it is well-known that the Bulova Accutron was used for several different space missions, including the Apollo program. And like the Speedmaster is even credited with saving an astronaut’s life in 1963! Then there’s the Bulova Accutron Astronaut – chosen by the CIA to be worn on the wrists of their Lockheed A-12 pilots, a plane very similar to the SR-71 Blackbird. At the time, in the midst of the Cold War, the American military was working on several clandestine projects like the A-12 spy plane to conduct reconnaissance missions on their Soviet counterparts. The Americans built their planes to fly out of the reach of Soviet radar, and Soviets continually upgraded their radar systems to try and seek out American spy plans. This resulted in Francis Gary Powers, an American agent, being shot down in the Lockheed U-2 plane and causing an international incident!
Bulova Accutron Spaceview / Credit: The Discerning Collector
And so, this was the ‘environment’ that the Bulova Accutron Astronaut was introduced to, on the wrists of pilots like Francis Powers in the throes of the Cold War.
Now, the Accutron continued being improved by Bulova, with the Cal. 218 introduced in 1965, this same movement was also used by the likes of Omega and Universal Genève¹³. Today it is still in production, however as a separate brand, no longer directly under the Bulova umbrella, and no longer with tuning-fork movements. Several Accutron re-issues have been released including one with an engraving of Buzz Aldrin’s signature!
By: Andres Ibarguen
Read more:
Omar Nelson Bradley.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Omar-Nelson-Bradley.
Solnon, Remy. “Bulova Accutron: the tuning fork revolution.” Watchonista, https://www.watchonista.com/articles/bulova-accutron-tuning-fork-revolution.
“A history of the evolution of electric clocks.” Electric Clocks NL, http://www.electric-clocks.nl/clocks/en/page07.htm.
“Turning Forks.” Smithsonian, https://americanhistory.si.edu/science/tuningfork.htm.
Foster, Jack. “In-Depth Bulova's Accutron Astronaut – The Watch Chosen By The CIA For Pilots Of The Fastest Plane Ever Made.”
“Francis Gary Powers.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francis-Gary-Powers.