Bulova Accutron
Bulova watches have a wonderful pedigree with genuine longstanding heritage that that is widely regarded by their contemporaries. Bulova watches was founded back in 1875 by Joseph Bulova, a bohemian immigrant with masterful watch making qualities.
However, in 1923 the Loews group created the Bulova Watch Company, which was to base itself primarily in New York.
At this new found home Bulova watches were to thrive, taking innovation to new levels for the time.
The Bulova watches brand not only rapidly became famous for being masterful watchmakers, but were also widely esteemed among their peers for developing many new watchmaking tools.
Arguably their most horological achievement of yesteryear was the development of the Bulova Accutron movement. This wonderful movement achieved amazing timekeeping precision by using resonating tuning forks as a base regulator.
Such innovation received widespread acclaim and announced the arrival of Bulova watches as a true industry leader.
The Bulova Watchmaking School was established in 1945 by Arde Bulova and became well known as a school of excellence. Its true notoriety was based on the fact the many of its best watchmakers were former war veterans.
Bulova were also the first watch company to use a television commercial to promote their products. This happened in 1941 before a baseball game and cost nine dollars, a tidy some of money at the time.
Bulova Accutron watches were first sold commercially in 1960. These illustrious models used a 360 hertz tuning fork that drove a mechanical gear train to turn the hands of the watch. At that time this was the very first watch to use any sort of electronic technology to regulate its functions. This was a boon for the industry as such innovation was usually reserved only for scientific devices.
The very first Bulova Accutron watches were easily identifiable by the very distinct hum that could be heard when the tuning fork was in operation.
The accuracy of these esteemed Bulova watches was said to be so precise that it was the only watch of its time to qualify for Railroad certification.
It is a lesser known fact that in the 1960’s the Bulova Accutron watch brand was embroiled in a so called space race. This was a competition with Omega to be the first watch worn in space.
Ultimately, at the time it is said that NASA chose the Omega Speedmaster as it could be certified as dust resistant. However, the space race was not entirely lost as Bulova Accutron movements were used in the instrument panel clocks and time-keeping mechanisms in the spacecraft for those missions.
Such was the success of the Accutron 214 movement in space that NASA went on to use them in many of their early space satellites. It is also rumoured that during this period the USA government asked Bulova to hold of in introducing the 214 movement as they die not want the Soviet Union to have it during the cold war.
The tuning fork movement was undoubtedly head and shoulders above its competitors for many years. However, its only true weakness at the time was the shear complexity of the movement.
This complexity increased production costs and excluded the Bulova Accutron from the mainstream watch market to a large extent in the years to come.
The mass production of Quartz battery movements compounded these difficult trading conditions, as they could be made for a third of the cost, and could keep time just as effectively and precise as the Bulova Accutron watch collection.
However, Bulova did produce the tuning fork Accutron watches for seventeen years with the last one leaving their watchmakers in 1977.
Since this date Bulova have continued to produce the Bulova Accutron Collection but with quartz movements regulating the timepiece.
The Bulova Accutron watch has remarkable heritage that really does astound when it is given scrutinised. Today the appeal and esteem a Bulova Accutron watch remains just as it was all those many years ago.
The Bulova Accutron watches of today perfectly combine classical styling with modern sporty looks. They offer wearers the opportunity to experience a watch that sits at the pinnacle of refinement.
Their movements are now Swiss hand made and come in both automatic and quart battery variants. We may no longer have the tuning fork movement but the allure of the Bulova Accutron watches is as strong as ever.
The pleasure of owing such a prestigious timepiece cannot be conveyed in mere words. It is a luxury watch that will invigorate the imagination and delight all who are fortunate enough to experience it.