Collecting Bulova Accutron watches

An Accutron or two is a "must" in any watch collection. Many of us have considerably more than two because we love them.

Buying and collecting Bulova Accutron watches - the world's first tuning fork watch. Created in the 1960's and 1970's, they are now highly prized world-wide by watch collectors.

While people think the tuning fork watch was a 20th century invention, the first prototype mechanical tuning fork clock, the "pendule ç diapason", was manufactured by Louis F. Breguet, grandson of the watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet. Breguet filed the patent on October 26, 1866, and March 1867. He also introduced a clock with a vibrating blade and mentioned a clock with 2 tuning forks and one with 2 vibrating blades. But the low frequency of the balance wheel made it impossible to improve on the accuracy of mechanical watches of the time, and the invention was ignored until the mid 20th century.

The "Bulova Accutron" has a frequency of 360 oscillations per second (360 Hz). The vibration of the tuning fork is controlled by a transistorized circuit. When the left magnet on the tuning fork moves to the right, the phase-sensing coil generates an induction voltage on the base of the transistor. The transistor "switches on" and becomes a conductor instead of a resistor. The electrical current is able to flow through the right circuit. The drive-coil becomes a magnet and gives an impulse to the permanent magnet. The movement of the permanent magnet in the driving-coil also causes an induction voltage opposing the power cell voltage. The result is a very small electric current and longer battery life. The problem ofturning the linear motion of the fork into a circular motion of the hands was solved by having the index jewel connected to the fork and pushing the ratchet wheel one tooth forward at a time. The pawl jewel is fixed to the watch frame and prevents the ratchet wheel from moving backwards. The ratchet wheel was an outstanding technical achievement - 2.4 mm in diameter, 0.04 mm thick with 300 teeth, each 1/100 mm high. In one year it revolves 38 million times. To protect this delicate ratchet system, the Accutron may be set only by turning the hands forward and to avoid damaging the delicate "fingers" that push it. Another technical achievement was the coil. The driving coil has 8,000 turns made of wire with a diameter of 0.015 mm and is an incredible 90 meters long.

However while Hetzel and Bulova were banking on the Accutron being the future of the watch, the majority of the watch industry was looking in a different direction - Quartz Technology. As the quartz movement gained popularity, it became cheaper to produce and equally as accurate as the Accutron. Accutron sales began to diminish. Soon, high end electronic watches like the Accutron virtually disappeared from the watch market - replaced with low end movements from Asia, mass produced for a fraction of what it cost to create an Accutron.

It wasn't long before collectors of early electronic horology began to seek out tuning fork watches. Their limited years of production and styles made them the ideal collectable. As demand for "hummers" went up, so did the prices.

The original Accutron was the 214. They are easy to distinguish because of the unique "backset" system. This means that the crown that sets the watch is on the back, not on the side like traditional watches. The 214 came in many models - from men's dress watches to railroad models. There are even a few 214 ladies' pendant watches and some of the earlier models featured asymmetrical designs that combined stainless steel with 14 k gold. However by far the most collectable 214's are the Spaceview and the Astronaut.

Should you add an Accutron to your watch and clock collection? Why not? Many people still routinely wear the Accutrons they bought back in the 60's and 70's and many others have joined them in proudly wearing these "hummers". They are very reliable, workhorse type watches and still maintain their reputation for accuracy and style. However, it should be noted that in the 1980's, Bulova began to run out of spare parts for Accutrons, and by the 90's, they stopped taking them in for repairs all together. Parts such as original coils and crystals are a commodity today. Coil problems are the most common cause of Accutron failure, and a coil repair job can be expensive.

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