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Bulova Accutron Deep Sea "Devil Diver" 666ft, circa 1960s — view 1 of 6
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Wristwatches · Wristwatch

Bulova Accutron Deep Sea "Devil Diver" 666ft, circa 1960s

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Bulova (maker)
Date
c. 1960s
Country of origin
United States
Object type
Wristwatch
Stock no.
vws2875
Credit line
Dealer listing, Vintage Watch Specialist (vws2875)
Catalogue title (original)
Very Rare Bulova Accutron Deep Sea "Devil Diver" 666ft - c.1960s (English)

View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Catalogued by Vintage Watch Specialist (dealer), United Kingdom (stock number vws2875), this is a wristwatch by Bulova, made in United States, dated c. 1960s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Dealer description — Vintage Watch Specialist

A Very Rare Bulova Devil Diver 666ft in Superb Original Condition and Boasting a Blemish Free Dial and Nicely Aged Lume, c.1969 Bulova was founded and incorporated as the J. Bulova Company in 1875 by Bohemian immigrant Joseph Bulova.[3] It was re-incorporated under the name Bulova Watch Company in 1923, and became part of the Loews Corporation in 1979. Bulova began developing Accutron in 1952. Accutron is to be an electronic watch that will be guaranteed accurate to within 2 seconds a day, or 1 minute a month. The secret behind this inherent accuracy will be a tuning fork which will divide each second into three hundred and sixty equal parts. What’s On Offer This striking Bulova dive watch is in remarkably good condition, and is a very rare find! The watch is in superb original condition and features a tuning fork movement - hold it to your ear and you will hear the hum! This was a trailblazing move at the time of production as most other dive watches of the time were built around automatic movements. The dial is in nice condition and remains blemish-free. The hour plots retain their original lume as do the hands and it has aged to a nice pale yellow evenly across the dial. The central crosshair is a nice detail and gives the dial balance and symmetry. The 'coke' bezel is in exceptional condition and the red quarter corresponds to the red on the date wheel bringing the watch together with a sporting aesthetic which has become synonymous with dive watches across lots of brands. The case and bracelet are also in good shape with only the usual signs of wear on a vintage piece - ie nothing notable. This really is a gem of a find and very rare to find, especially in this fantastic condition. A worthy contender for any collection. Snap it up!

Historical context

Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)

Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.

The classic era of the mechanical wristwatch: dive watches, chronographs for motor racing and space flight, GMT watches for jet travel, slim dress watches, automatic calendars, and the rise of Japanese manufacturers alongside Swiss, American, German and Soviet industries.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking

Atlas type guide

Dive and water-resistant watches

Keeping water and dust out of a wristwatch was a long-standing challenge. Rolex's screw-down Oyster case (1926) and Omega's Marine (1932) were landmarks; in the early 1950s Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms and Rolex's Submariner defined the professional dive watch with rotating bezels for timing dives, luminous dials and high water resistance. The ISO 6425 standard (1982) later codified what a 'diver's watch' must do.

Dive watches became icons of post-war design and exploration, and their evolution — helium escape valves, ceramic bezels, saturation-diving depth ratings — records the history of underwater work.

What to look for

  • Unidirectional or bidirectional rotating bezel with minute markings.
  • Screw-down crown and case back; depth rating printed on the dial.
  • Luminous hands and markers (radium before c. 1960, tritium c. 1960–1998, then Super-LumiNova).
  • Reference numbers on the case between the lugs or inside the back.

Dating clues

  • Screw-down Oyster cases: from 1926.
  • Professional dive watches: from 1953.
  • Tritium 'T' marks on dials: c. 1960–1998.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

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