Bulova Accutron Spaceview, 1963

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

In 1960, Bulova had a vision of the future. In that future, there was humming. The Accutron was the world's first electronic watch. About a decade before the infamous Quartz Crisis, Bulova put into production a watch that did away with the traditional balance wheel, favoring instead a tuning fork design - a 360-hertz steel tuning fork powered by electromagnets attached to a battery-powered transistor oscillator circuit - as its timekeeper. Designed by Max Hetzel, the Accutron made waves, becoming the first wristwatch to be precise enough to be qualified for U.S. Railroad certification, guaranteed to be accurate to about one minute per month, or about 2 seconds per day. While Bulova had grand plans for their watch of the future, they never anticipated the success that the uniquely appointed Spaceview would generate. Designed to be a salesman's tool and display watch only, the Spaceview 214 was never intended for retail purchase. But when demands for the watch spiked, Bulova responded, producing retail versions of the watch with the same unique characteristics of their display models. With its round goldfilled case and visible circuitry and tuning fork, the Accutron Spaceview was unlike anything before, and really, anything since. While in production for about 17 years all together, the tuning fork technology was eventually beaten out by quartz crystal movements, making this unbelievable piece of history a short-lived, but totally revolutionary wristwatch. This specific example is one of the earliest 214 movement executions, marked by the crownless case design — a design that Bulova moved away from in 1965 when they developed the 218 movement which had a time setting crown at the 4 o'clock position. In fact, based on case codes, this piece dates to 1963. So no matter your mechanical-movement inclinations, there is no denying that the Spaceview is a one-of-a-kind piece of horological history. Oh, and the humming? Hold this baby up to your ear and you'll hear that tuning fork, humming away!