Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Vintage Bulova Accutron Spaceview Watch circa 1960s
- Maker / attribution
- Bulova (maker)
- Date
- c. 1960s
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Materials / technique
- crystal
- Auction house
- LiveAuctioneers auction archive
- Lot
- Item 72444709
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 3B, Modern & Vintage Watches, Champagne Auctions (2019), via LiveAuctioneers
- Catalogue title (original)
- Vintage Bulova Accutron Spaceview Watch Circa 1960s (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 72444709), 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. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: crystal. The record is illustrated with 4 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
Lot description — Champagne Auctions
Pease note that during the service the watch crystal and handset where replaced, this watch has been fully serviced and runs to spec. In 1960, Bulova had a vision of the future. In that future, there was humming.Initally 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 33mm, stainless steel 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.So no matter your mechanical-movement inclinations, there is no denying that the Spaceview is a one-of-a-kind piece of horological history.
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
Quartz, digital and electronic watches
Electronic watches arrived in three steps. The Hamilton Electric 500 (1957) was the first battery-powered wristwatch, still with a balance; Bulova's Accutron (1960) used a tuning fork. On 25 December 1969 Seiko released the Astron 35SQ, the first quartz wristwatch, closely followed by the Swiss Beta 21 group. In 1972 Hamilton's Pulsar introduced the LED digital watch, and LCD displays soon made digital watches cheap.
The 'Quartz Crisis' that followed devastated the Swiss mechanical industry, which lost two-thirds of its workforce between 1970 and 1984 before recovering with the Swatch (1983) and the luxury mechanical revival. Solar, radio-controlled, kinetic and connected smartwatches continue the electronic line.
What to look for
- Battery hatch in the case back and calibre markings with 'Quartz' or a crystal frequency.
- Display technology: LED (red, push-button) versus LCD (always-on).
- Tuning-fork hum and a smoothly sweeping seconds hand on Accutrons.
- Model and reference numbers, often printed on the back.
Dating clues
- Electric balance watches: from 1957.
- Tuning-fork watches: 1960–c. 1977.
- Quartz analogue: from December 1969; LED digital: 1972–c. 1978; LCD from 1973.
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.
Read next:Seiko calibre 35A (Astron)
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