I have one hand wind watch from 1930, and it stills run, also have some from 50 60 and 70 and they al run , when i wind them or put on my wrist (automatics)
You didn't mention the best part of the engineering of this watch, the small wheel driven by the tuning fork... its only a couple of mm in diameter but it has 360 teeth cut into it, still people not sure how they made them so accurate and reliable 50 years ago... there are two jewels that ride on that wheel, some of these watches have had billions of ratchets on that wheel yet still work fine... need a good microscope to see the teeth on the wheel..
It is a very impressive technology and it is even more impressive that this extremely fine mechanic lasts that long! I know a person worked at the Bulova factory and made these wheels. They were drilled mechanically by mainly Italian workers (and not swiss!) in the factory in Biel (Switzerland)
My dad used to have one when I was very young. I remember slipping it on my wrist and laying down on the bed with it against my ear. It was the neatest sounding watch.
Regarding the perceived jankiness of the oscillation, I think the diffeent frame rates might be the issue. First, you're sampling a 360 Hz signal with a 1000 Hz sample rate. This gives you 2.8 samples per cycle, which is just barely above the Nyquist requirement. To make matters worse, you're exporting it as 50 Hz, for playback, most likely, on 60 Hz screens. This also gives time domain distorion since in practice, every 5th frame of the original material is duplicated, to produce the higher frame rate. So in essence, that's no grounds to suspect anything wrong with the watch.
Yes, I was about to suggest the same thing - just a basic strobing/aliasing effect because of the effective frame rate being only a small multiple of the oscillation rate.
My grandpa, former Division Chief of Aeronautics for NASA passed away last week after another’s 30 years in the private sector designing supersonic aircraft. As the only grandchild, I had my pick of his possessions, but I asked for only one thing: the watch my grandmother gave to him on their anniversary in 1961... his Bulova Accutron Spaceview watch. It still keeps perfect time, but not Due to the tuning fork. It has a heartbeat, I’d swear to it. Got the watch today, and it really is a special piece. I’ll cherish it and hope to pass it on to another generation one day :-)
I have taken a couple tuning fork watches apart as a kid, but now I get how it works. There are 2 little feeler legs off of the tuning fork that ratchet around the smallest cog wheel. Every time the fork oscillates outwards it advances the cog a little bit. I appreciate this so much more.
Dave, The watch that NASA used to go to the moon in 1969 was the Omega Speedmaster, a completely mechanical watch. The reason the Accutron looks like a sweep second hand is that the tuning fork turns a gear (we call them wheels in watchmaking) that has 360 teeth on it. If you look really closely you'll see it does click along. The watches of the world's best watchmaker (George Daniels) were fully mechanical watches accurate to less than one second a month beating the Bulova. Needless to say they cost a lot! When I was in the US military in the late 60's you could by the Bulova in military stores along with Rolex but most people bought the Rolex which was only accurate to 5 seconds a day. The Bulova guys loved to pick on the Rolex guys! Also, it's pronounced: BULL-uh-vuh Enjoy your great watch, Rob
+EEVblog No, he's right, the speedmaster is an omega wristwatch, still in production although the original lemania based cal. 321 manual wind chronograph movement used on the Apollo missions has been replaced with 861, 1861 and now some co-axial movements in newer models (although the newer models are now flight qualified and are one of the options available to nasa astronauts on missions)
Yes, that's right: www.omegawatches.com/watches/speedmaster/moonwatch/moonwatch-chronograph/ "Since its launch more than half a century ago, the OMEGA Speedmaster has been the classic chronograph, known for its robust reliability and timeless design. And since the 21st of July 1969, when it was first worn on the lunar surface, it has been popularly known as the Moonwatch."
+mosfet500 Its definitely a very cool movement-- the fact that an in house movement can be mass produced and still be accurate to way better than chronometer standards with the kind of reliability and toughness omega has gotten out of it... It's a huge leap for sure. But the lemania/321 movements still have it beat in terms of shear beauty in my opinion. Not until you step up to the likes of FP Journe, A. Lange & Sohn, Vacheron or Patek do you see movements that looks quite that good.
Yes, but he might have said that because back then all Germanium transistors were PNP ~1960 - - of-course you'll have to reverse the polarity of the battery, if the crkt allows
I remember this being shown on "The Secret Life of Machines" when I was 12 or so... The Bulova Accutron was essentially the prototype for all modern crystal oscillator powered timekeeping devices...
I have a couple of these and the most remarkable things is the micro machining of the two 'hairs' that drive the geartrain. You can seem them in a couple of the illustrations, with some pink rubies on the end. Nowdays we'd describe it as nano technology, but it was a remarkable engineering feat for the time.
"You can shut the gate on this one Maxie it's the ducks guts!" Beautiful object of desire I was blissfully ignorant of. Now on my list of things I need in my life. Much appreciate all that you do.
The Space View was actually a demonstrator watch, it was not intended to be a model for sale to the public but rather to show how the watch worked. The demand was so high for the demonstrator, Bulova made them in addition to the solid face version.
I have an M3 (1963) spaceview. I haven't had it running in a while, but it was working perfectly when I last removed the battery. One of my favorite watches by far.
accurate??? lol are you joking the world time is not accurate, one year is 365 days and the next one 366,m so how a wathc is accurate?, day is not 24hours as they say. FUCK YOU OFF IMBECILE.
When listening to the hum, the high harmonic you hear is the pawl ratcheting the index wheel forward. The index wheel spins over 38 million times per year and has 320 teeth that you can't even see well with magnification. Sometimes when you put a battery in, you'll hear just the fork vibrating, but no spinning of the movement til you tap on the side which gets the index wheel spinning.
Thanks Dave, I have always enjoyed your channel and now we have something else in common. I'm wearing my N1, 214 Spaceview right now. I'm a second generation owner after my father had one in the late '60s. Cheers!
Ahh Dave, I'm so thankful to you for providing both the sound and high-speed footage of this watch, they are amazing to witness. Quick question though, do those two metal strips to the left of the face provide any function or are they just there to fill up the space?
I had one for many years, starting as a teenager. But I knew how to pronounce "BUHlova" (not like "Lenovo"). Glad to see that you finally praise an electronic device that I also liked.
The original space view watch was only meant as a display piece in the jewellers window to show the fork mech. However they got so many people wanting to purchase one they started producing them for sale.
I think the apparent jumpy tuning fork vibration is the result of the video FPS rate not meshing smoothly with the rate of the tuning fork's vibration. The video frames are catching the fork in different positions.
M8 is not a model definition but rather a date code. M is the decade and the number is the year in that decade. These are beauties, they also made some official Railroad Approved watches with enamel dials. The movements were also used under license by the likes of Omega.
2021 Jan, I have 3 Accutron wrist watch. one is a RailRoad version. THe differance is the RR the 2nd hand stops, so it can be calibrated to the second.
Never heard of this so thanks for that! Also fully understand why you didn't take this apart but it was nice to see the pictures on how it was constructed. Electronics can be built to last - this amongst some older equipment proves it!
Thank you for showing the unique design of this watch. You will not meet many people with one. I bought a new one in 1974 for my college graduation. My background and education are in electronics. Component level design and operation, so I had to have it. Guess what watch was worn by our Astronauts? Why?
really big/many thumbs up.. only have a single one to give.That's really beautiful, the design, these pictures, the imagination of the 1960ties era.And this slomo video on the vibrating tuning forks.. Really great cinema!!
Don't tape the lavalier mic to the watch. You pick up lots of other mechanical noises transmitted through the watch (well, probably only the fork, but it will sound different due to the direct contact). Have it real close, but physically isolated from the watch and you might well get that sweet sound that you are looking for.
That is a beautiful watch. The silver oxide battery has open circuit potential of 1,55V, but the typical median operating voltage is 1.2 to 1.5 V depending on the current.
Really amazing they ever got that index wheel mechanism to work. The watch had to be regulated differently depending on whether you wore it on the left wrist vs. the right as the tuning forks were sensitive to gravity. I owned a Spaceview until it was stolen from me at gunpoint in 1970.
Other way around. The electronic oscillations, by way of the magnetic fields around the coils, kept the tuning fork moving. Then, as shown in the diagrams, the movement of the tuning fork drove a pawl against the delicate first wheel. A design so simple (and tiny!) it was genius at the time.
+Graham Langley In one point, to be pedantic, the video is wrong. The Bulova was not the first transistorized watch. From 1957 one could buy electromecanical watches. They had a mecanical oscilator with magnets and spools which functioned as motor and not only oscilator like in mecanical watch where the spring is the motor. They were made after a US patent from Ato by the swiss ESA up to the early 70's. As an interruptor, they had a transistor. I love these watches since they are incredibly reliable and all of mine are 50 years and more and working like new. An innovation was also the use of nylon.
I was 9 years old and use to stare at this watch through the local jewelers window for hours. I found one the other day and I only had to wait 50 years but I now own one. Also the bare face watch was never supposed to be sold. It was used to market the watch and the demand was so high they were forced to build them.
Could very well be. Best way to do it would be the remove the gearing and just leave the tuning fork and drive circuit. But it's the gears that also add to the famous "hum"
+EEVblog Don't take the gearing apart, please! You will never ever be able putting it together. The small ratchet wheel is very fragile and must be handled by experts only.
I'm sorry Dave, but the Omega Speedmaster was the first watch on the moon. Bulova time device, not watch is used on the Appollo missions. Omega Speedmaster started its legacy in early 1965 when Nasa approved the watch for piloted missions. It has been part of some of humankind's greatest achievements. Its role in all six lunar landings earned it the nickname “the Moonwatch”. Because it is a chronograph, the watch can be used as a stopwatch. Verry useful when you must time a burn (Appollo 13!). See: www.omegawatches.com/planet-omega/space/, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Speedmaster and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulova#Space for more info.
Bulova was founded as the J. Bulova Company in 1875 by Joseph Bulova (1851 -1936), an immigrant from Bohemia. It became part of the Loews Corporation in 1979 and sold to Citizen at the end of 2007.
Thank you for this one, Dave. You inspired me to go get my Accutron Astronaut (circa 1969, black dial, with added 24-hr. hand and GMT / 2nd timezone bezel) out of the drawer. Ordering a new battery now. For what it's worth, I believe that "M8" on the back is the date code. M8 = 1968. Mine is M9. Mine is accurate as anything laying on my desk, but gains 10 minutes a day on my wrist. I wish someone would come up with a 1.35 volt button cell that didn't kill ye gods and little fishes. Cheers.
the most astounding thing about the movement is that tiny gear that drives everything via the pawls set with tiny jewels. the gear is so fragile that the teeth can be smudged off if touched incorrectly
Just want to mention that the new Accutron line does not have a tuning fork movement. The one you put up is the Bulova Alpha - a part of the Accutron line. These watches are quartz powered but use a special movement called the "Precisionist" movement. This movement is (as the name suggests) very accurate and offers an incredibly smooth seconds hand - just slightly less smooth than the tuning fork movement. Now Bulova DID in fact make a real anniversary edition Accutron with a tuning fork movement that looks very similar to the Alpha. But this watch goes for $5,000, whereas the Alpha sells for ~$240.
I'm late to the party, again, but what a great vid ;-). I joined the GPO in the UK in the mid/late 70s and we were trained in electro-mechanical teleprinter refurbishment (total strip-down and rebuild) and I still look back in amazement at the awesomeness of their functionality. However this watch is something else. Extremely impressive
Not covered in the video, and barely mentioned in the comments, is that the “new” Accutron II has nothing in common with the technology of the original Accutron. It is a different type of movement and reuse of the name for marketing.
the best way to pick the sound of that hum would have been to use a piezoelectric pickup instead of the aerial microphone, precisely the kind of piezo capsule used as speaker in electronic watches, they catch any structural sound wonderfully and are connectable just like a normal microphone.
The band is a "Twist-O-Flex" model. They were quite a bit better than the old expansion bands. The Twist-O-Flex didn't pinch your skin or pull your hair. It was definitely a high-end band. My folks gave me a Gruen Precision watch for high school graduation. It had a Twist-O-Flex band.
Right about half way between an F sharp and an F (below A440) which is pretty much spot on 360Hz. Didn't expect to use my tuner watching a video about a watch!
Just as an FYI, the Accutron was the first battery powered transistor watch, however Hamilton produced the first battery powered watch, called Hamilton Electric Model 500, back in January of 1957,,,
I got a accutron 218D, it has date function, a very nice date function there snap at midnight. Not like my other watches there are about 2 hours to move to next number. 218D is cheaper and the beautiful coils are hidden.
I would guess this particular watch is not an "original" Spaceview, but instead a frankenwatch made by removing the dial from a "normal" Accutron and replacing the crystal. I say this mainly because it is missing the "chapter ring" that should have lumed indexes along the outside of the dial, and instead has an aftermarket "Accutron" indexed crystal. That's fine though - these are much cheaper than "original" Spaceviews and still show off the mechanism of the tuning fork very nicely. I have one myself.
I inherited one of these (tuning fork but not the see through model.) They eat batteries compared to a quartz, need to replace them 3-4 times a year, and Bulova has now orphaned them so when they break you are out of luck. No spare parts available. Mine had a gear inside which apparently has 300+ teeth on it wear out. But Bulova did give me credit = the original purchase price of the watch ($300) towards the purchase of any new watch I wanted (from any maker, not just from them) which I thought was fair.
1904 - Frederick Speidel Starts Speidel USA, Jewelry Chain Manufacturer in Providence, Rhode Island. I was born in Providence and lived within 10 miles of it most of my life.
That ticking sound is the sound of inefficiency. It comes from the escapement that tries to add back in the energy lost from the balance wheel through friction. no escapement required with a precision oscillator in place of the balance wheel.
I love how there's an ordinary (1/2 Watt?) resistor in there and a regular size transistor. The people at Bulova must have just thought: Okay this is the circuit and these are the parts we can get, let's design some mechanics! If they would have been bothered, they might have designed their own integrated circuit (or let someone else do it for them) or invented SMD electronics in the process of designing the watch, but no. They just started off with those parts and said: Mechanics is what we're good at, we'll just deal with the electronics.
Dave does this quite often when encountering words he's not seen or heard before, particularly place names, and doesn't read what's there. It's almost as if he's slightly dyslexic. (Edited to insert missing 'often'.)
It's a near-perfect watch, but as a downside, Bulova removed the crown from the early tuning fork watches. Their reasoning was that their watches were so accurate that they didn't need to be adjusted, which they admitted was a mistake, so later watches got an adjustable crown again.
I bought one of these new in 1965 and it still runs.
I have one hand wind watch from 1930, and it stills run,
also have some from 50 60 and 70 and they al run , when i wind them or put on my wrist (automatics)
You didn't mention the best part of the engineering of this watch, the small wheel driven by the tuning fork... its only a couple of mm in diameter but it has 360 teeth cut into it, still people not sure how they made them so accurate and reliable 50 years ago... there are two jewels that ride on that wheel, some of these watches have had billions of ratchets on that wheel yet still work fine... need a good microscope to see the teeth on the wheel..
320 teeth the fork moves at 360 hz so the gear actually makes more than one rotation per second.
MY CHINESE CHEAP QUARTZ WATCH IS MORE ACURATE THAN THAT SHIT.
@@lkkjhtemmexv1838 Your stupidity is profound and obvious for all to see.
@@lkkjhtemmexv1838 Who gives a shit?
It is a very impressive technology and it is even more impressive that this extremely fine mechanic lasts that long! I know a person worked at the Bulova factory and made these wheels. They were drilled mechanically by mainly Italian workers (and not swiss!) in the factory in Biel (Switzerland)
My dad used to have one when I was very young. I remember slipping it on my wrist and laying down on the bed with it against my ear. It was the neatest sounding watch.
Regarding the perceived jankiness of the oscillation, I think the diffeent frame rates might be the issue. First, you're sampling a 360 Hz signal with a 1000 Hz sample rate. This gives you 2.8 samples per cycle, which is just barely above the Nyquist requirement. To make matters worse, you're exporting it as 50 Hz, for playback, most likely, on 60 Hz screens. This also gives time domain distorion since in practice, every 5th frame of the original material is duplicated, to produce the higher frame rate. So in essence, that's no grounds to suspect anything wrong with the watch.
Yes, I was about to suggest the same thing - just a basic strobing/aliasing effect because of the effective frame rate being only a small multiple of the oscillation rate.
My grandpa, former Division Chief of Aeronautics for NASA passed away last week after another’s 30 years in the private sector designing supersonic aircraft. As the only grandchild, I had my pick of his possessions, but I asked for only one thing: the watch my grandmother gave to him on their anniversary in 1961... his Bulova Accutron Spaceview watch. It still keeps perfect time, but not Due to the tuning fork. It has a heartbeat, I’d swear to it.
Got the watch today, and it really is a special piece. I’ll cherish it and hope to pass it on to another generation one day :-)
I have taken a couple tuning fork watches apart as a kid, but now I get how it works. There are 2 little feeler legs off of the tuning fork that ratchet around the smallest cog wheel. Every time the fork oscillates outwards it advances the cog a little bit. I appreciate this so much more.
Dave,
The watch that NASA used to go to the moon in 1969 was the Omega Speedmaster, a completely mechanical watch. The reason the Accutron looks like a sweep second hand is that the tuning fork turns a gear (we call them wheels in watchmaking) that has 360 teeth on it. If you look really closely you'll see it does click along.
The watches of the world's best watchmaker (George Daniels) were fully mechanical watches accurate to less than one second a month beating the Bulova. Needless to say they cost a lot!
When I was in the US military in the late 60's you could by the Bulova in military stores along with Rolex but most people bought the Rolex which was only accurate to 5 seconds a day. The Bulova guys loved to pick on the Rolex guys!
Also, it's pronounced: BULL-uh-vuh
Enjoy your great watch,
Rob
It wasn't a watch, it was used in a instrument left on the moon.
+EEVblog No, he's right, the speedmaster is an omega wristwatch, still in production although the original lemania based cal. 321 manual wind chronograph movement used on the Apollo missions has been replaced with 861, 1861 and now some co-axial movements in newer models (although the newer models are now flight qualified and are one of the options available to nasa astronauts on missions)
Yes, that's right:
www.omegawatches.com/watches/speedmaster/moonwatch/moonwatch-chronograph/
"Since its launch more than half a century ago, the OMEGA Speedmaster has been the classic chronograph, known for its robust reliability and timeless design. And since the 21st of July 1969, when it was first worn on the lunar surface, it has been popularly known as the Moonwatch."
The co-axial was a George Daniels design. It was considered one of the greatest watch advancements.
+mosfet500 Its definitely a very cool movement-- the fact that an in house movement can be mass produced and still be accurate to way better than chronometer standards with the kind of reliability and toughness omega has gotten out of it... It's a huge leap for sure. But the lemania/321 movements still have it beat in terms of shear beauty in my opinion. Not until you step up to the likes of FP Journe, A. Lange & Sohn, Vacheron or Patek do you see movements that looks quite that good.
1:30 "Change from Germanium to NPN" I think you meant from Germanium to Silicon.
Yes, but he might have said that because back then all Germanium transistors were PNP ~1960 - - of-course you'll have to reverse the polarity of the battery, if the crkt allows
I remember this being shown on "The Secret Life of Machines" when I was 12 or so...
The Bulova Accutron was essentially the prototype for all modern crystal oscillator powered timekeeping devices...
I have a couple of these and the most remarkable things is the micro machining of the two 'hairs' that drive the geartrain. You can seem them in a couple of the illustrations, with some pink rubies on the end. Nowdays we'd describe it as nano technology, but it was a remarkable engineering feat for the time.
"You can shut the gate on this one Maxie it's the ducks guts!" Beautiful object of desire I was blissfully ignorant of. Now on my list of things I need in my life. Much appreciate all that you do.
That continuous second hand is the reason I chose my Bulova Precisionist watch! I absolutely love the look of it.
Super accurate those ones!
Lol, you guys are such nerds, It's great. I love how diverse your channel is. Please keep this stuff up. I would never have heard of this stuff.
I have an Accutron Spaceview. Thanks for the great video. Cheers
The Space View was actually a demonstrator watch, it was not intended to be a model for sale to the public but rather to show how the watch worked. The demand was so high for the demonstrator, Bulova made them in addition to the solid face version.
I have an M3 (1963) spaceview. I haven't had it running in a while, but it was working perfectly when I last removed the battery. One of my favorite watches by far.
It was the most accurate watch before it's time ran out... LOL
hahaha.
pinhead
What does a hungry watch that didn't get enough to eat do?
It goes back four seconds.
Comic timing!
accurate??? lol are you joking
the world time is not accurate, one year is 365 days and the next one 366,m so how a wathc is accurate?, day is not 24hours as they say.
FUCK YOU OFF IMBECILE.
When listening to the hum, the high harmonic you hear is the pawl ratcheting the index wheel forward. The index wheel spins over 38 million times per year and has 320 teeth that you can't even see well with magnification. Sometimes when you put a battery in, you'll hear just the fork vibrating, but no spinning of the movement til you tap on the side which gets the index wheel spinning.
Thanks Dave, I have always enjoyed your channel and now we have something else in common. I'm wearing my N1, 214 Spaceview right now. I'm a second generation owner after my father had one in the late '60s. Cheers!
You should consider removing the expansion band as it wears the inside of the lugs.
My chemistry teacher back in late 1990s used to wear such a watch. The whole class was fascinated by this thing.
Ahh Dave, I'm so thankful to you for providing both the sound and high-speed footage of this watch, they are amazing to witness.
Quick question though, do those two metal strips to the left of the face provide any function or are they just there to fill up the space?
I had one for many years, starting as a teenager. But I knew how to pronounce "BUHlova" (not like "Lenovo"). Glad to see that you finally praise an electronic device that I also liked.
well clock accuracy for space missions seems pretty "relative" in my position
The original space view watch was only meant as a display piece in the jewellers window to show the fork mech. However they got so many people wanting to purchase one they started producing them for sale.
coils don't seam very efficient... how long does the battery last?
I have five of them. Both the 214 and the 218 model eight months to a year about average
I think the apparent jumpy tuning fork vibration is the result of the video FPS rate not meshing smoothly with the rate of the tuning fork's vibration. The video frames are catching the fork in different positions.
I thought you are going to dissect this watch
Don't turn it on, take it apart!
M8 is not a model definition but rather a date code. M is the decade and the number is the year in that decade.
These are beauties, they also made some official Railroad Approved watches with enamel dials.
The movements were also used under license by the likes of Omega.
2021 Jan, I have 3 Accutron wrist watch. one is a RailRoad version. THe differance is the RR the 2nd hand stops, so it can be calibrated to the second.
I've got my dad's '69 Accutron Astronaut 214. Love the hum.
Never heard of this so thanks for that! Also fully understand why you didn't take this apart but it was nice to see the pictures on how it was constructed. Electronics can be built to last - this amongst some older equipment proves it!
Thanks for showing this. I always wondered about the first electronic watch, but never took the time to learn it's history.
Thank you for showing the unique design of this watch. You will not meet many people with one. I bought a new one in 1974 for my college graduation. My background and education are in electronics. Component level design and operation, so I had to have it. Guess what watch was worn by our Astronauts? Why?
really big/many thumbs up.. only have a single one to give.That's really beautiful, the design, these pictures, the imagination of the 1960ties era.And this slomo video on the vibrating tuning forks.. Really great cinema!!
Don't tape the lavalier mic to the watch. You pick up lots of other mechanical noises transmitted through the watch (well, probably only the fork, but it will sound different due to the direct contact). Have it real close, but physically isolated from the watch and you might well get that sweet sound that you are looking for.
That is a beautiful watch. The silver oxide battery has open circuit potential of 1,55V, but the typical median operating voltage is 1.2 to 1.5 V depending on the current.
Really amazing they ever got that index wheel mechanism to work. The watch had to be regulated differently depending on whether you wore it on the left wrist vs. the right as the tuning forks were sensitive to gravity. I owned a Spaceview until it was stolen from me at gunpoint in 1970.
how long can keep the battery the watch running? It seems a power hungry design to me.
If you use a decent battery. About a year
How did the electronic oscillating circuit detect the mechanical oscillations?
The feedback coil
enviroment temperature doesn't have influence in the clock freq like in others RTC modules for example?
Other way around. The electronic oscillations, by way of the magnetic fields around the coils, kept the tuning fork moving. Then, as shown in the diagrams, the movement of the tuning fork drove a pawl against the delicate first wheel. A design so simple (and tiny!) it was genius at the time.
To be pedantic, a quartz oscillator *IS* a "tuning fork mechanism" :)
The oldest one had indeed the shape of a fork. Today not.
32kHz watch crystals are, hence the shape of the can.
+Graham Langley In one point, to be pedantic, the video is wrong. The Bulova was not the first transistorized watch. From 1957 one could buy electromecanical watches. They had a mecanical oscilator with magnets and spools which functioned as motor and not only oscilator like in mecanical watch where the spring is the motor. They were made after a US patent from Ato by the swiss ESA up to the early 70's. As an interruptor, they had a transistor. I love these watches since they are incredibly reliable and all of mine are 50 years and more and working like new. An innovation was also the use of nylon.
I was 9 years old and use to stare at this watch through the local jewelers window for hours. I found one the other day and I only had to wait 50 years but I now own one. Also the bare face watch was never supposed to be sold. It was used to market the watch and the demand was so high they were forced to build them.
Considering how noisy the 100Hz signal was compared to the 360Hz one, could the 100Hz be the noise of the gearing system?
Could very well be. Best way to do it would be the remove the gearing and just leave the tuning fork and drive circuit. But it's the gears that also add to the famous "hum"
EEVblog Plus that would mean taking it apart and I think that would be a bad idea.
+EEVblog Don't take the gearing apart, please! You will never ever be able putting it together. The small ratchet wheel is very fragile and must be handled by experts only.
I am so glad you didn't "take it apart". I wish they paid more attention to those solder joints .... yikes!
That's a beautiful piece of engineering. Thanks for showing it off!
I'm sorry Dave, but the Omega Speedmaster was the first watch on the moon. Bulova time device, not watch is used on the Appollo missions.
Omega Speedmaster started its legacy in early 1965 when Nasa approved the watch for piloted missions. It has been part of some of humankind's greatest achievements. Its role in all six lunar landings earned it the nickname “the Moonwatch”. Because it is a chronograph, the watch can be used as a stopwatch. Verry useful when you must time a burn (Appollo 13!).
See: www.omegawatches.com/planet-omega/space/, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Speedmaster and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulova#Space for more info.
so if you placed the watch on a speaker putting out 360hz would it cancel out the watch and make it stop or put two watches back to back?
Someone needs to model the watch face for android smart watches. I'd pay a couple bucks for my smart watch to look like that.
Bulova was founded as the J. Bulova Company in 1875 by Joseph Bulova (1851 -1936), an immigrant from Bohemia. It became part of the Loews Corporation in 1979 and sold to Citizen at the end of 2007.
continuous second hand movement is just the best. I don't have any clocks in my house that tick. Can't stand it
I haven't worn an analog watch since the mid to late 1970's but I would totally wear one of those or a replica if I could afford it.
LOVING IT! I like watches that have a story or crazy ideas behind the desing choices and this one takes the cake. :D
"Dont switch it on - take it APART!!"
Dave, I'm disappointed ;-)
He wouldn’t dare....
"Hope you enjoyed it..." I DID enjoy it! Ya did your homework! Thanks, so much!
Thank you for this one, Dave. You inspired me to go get my Accutron Astronaut (circa 1969, black dial, with added 24-hr. hand and GMT / 2nd timezone bezel) out of the drawer. Ordering a new battery now. For what it's worth, I believe that "M8" on the back is the date code. M8 = 1968. Mine is M9. Mine is accurate as anything laying on my desk, but gains 10 minutes a day on my wrist. I wish someone would come up with a 1.35 volt button cell that didn't kill ye gods and little fishes. Cheers.
Get it serviced and phased. The odds are very good it can be adjusted for modern batteries. Virtually all my Acutron‘s are running on silver cells
the most astounding thing about the movement is that tiny gear that drives everything via the pawls set with tiny jewels. the gear is so fragile that the teeth can be smudged off if touched incorrectly
Hey Max, we need you to turn fork vibration into rotory motion. We need it as soon as you can do it, so... can you please hurry up with that?
I can remember the illustration of this watch in the first technical encyclopedia my parents brought me when i was a kid ('75-'80s)!!!
Just want to mention that the new Accutron line does not have a tuning fork movement. The one you put up is the Bulova Alpha - a part of the Accutron line. These watches are quartz powered but use a special movement called the "Precisionist" movement. This movement is (as the name suggests) very accurate and offers an incredibly smooth seconds hand - just slightly less smooth than the tuning fork movement. Now Bulova DID in fact make a real anniversary edition Accutron with a tuning fork movement that looks very similar to the Alpha. But this watch goes for $5,000, whereas the Alpha sells for ~$240.
I'm late to the party, again, but what a great vid ;-). I joined the GPO in the UK in the mid/late 70s and we were trained in electro-mechanical teleprinter refurbishment (total strip-down and rebuild) and I still look back in amazement at the awesomeness of their functionality. However this watch is something else. Extremely impressive
Not covered in the video, and barely mentioned in the comments, is that the “new” Accutron II has nothing in common with the technology of the original Accutron. It is a different type of movement and reuse of the name for marketing.
the best way to pick the sound of that hum would have been to use a piezoelectric pickup instead of the aerial microphone, precisely the kind of piezo capsule used as speaker in electronic watches, they catch any structural sound wonderfully and are connectable just like a normal microphone.
Why didn't you use your EMI compliance pickup coils to get a better waveform?
Power it at the correct voltage for the old batteries and film it again see if the phase changes
I just bought one and you made a video about it. You made my day sir!!!
lols.. my everydaywearer is a 285 acutron. 1976. pretty nice to see someone enjoying theirs.
oh.. and that has a calendar. but please dont wind it backward, its not so good for them in the long term.
How's the battery life on one of these ??
I am glad to you left the lightning stuff at the end of the video.
The band is a "Twist-O-Flex" model. They were quite a bit better than the old expansion bands. The Twist-O-Flex didn't pinch your skin or pull your hair. It was definitely a high-end band. My folks gave me a Gruen Precision watch for high school graduation. It had a Twist-O-Flex band.
Speidel still makes Twist-o-flex bands today! I just ordered one from them for my Accutron M7
Brilliant - very educational and interesting...
Right about half way between an F sharp and an F (below A440) which is pretty much spot on 360Hz. Didn't expect to use my tuner watching a video about a watch!
Just as an FYI, the Accutron was the first battery powered transistor watch, however Hamilton produced the first battery powered watch, called Hamilton Electric Model 500, back in January of 1957,,,
Amazing to see the fork at 1000 fps! Hope to see the watch on your wrist next time.
I got a accutron 218D, it has date function, a very nice date function there snap at midnight. Not like my other watches there are about 2 hours to move to next number. 218D is cheaper and the beautiful coils are hidden.
The most curious thing in the video: where did you get the awesome bracelet?
As long as you are not running out of time... Very good video, thanks Dave.
I wonder how it turns that minute vibration into the rotation needed (seems like whatever gear is handling it, would wear out quickly.
Great review, thank you! The super-slo-mo @14:10 is amazing!
Beautiful. How long was battery life of these?
I would guess this particular watch is not an "original" Spaceview, but instead a frankenwatch made by removing the dial from a "normal" Accutron and replacing the crystal. I say this mainly because it is missing the "chapter ring" that should have lumed indexes along the outside of the dial, and instead has an aftermarket "Accutron" indexed crystal. That's fine though - these are much cheaper than "original" Spaceviews and still show off the mechanism of the tuning fork very nicely. I have one myself.
I inherited one of these (tuning fork but not the see through model.) They eat batteries compared to a quartz, need to replace them 3-4 times a year, and Bulova has now orphaned them so when they break you are out of luck. No spare parts available. Mine had a gear inside which apparently has 300+ teeth on it wear out. But Bulova did give me credit = the original purchase price of the watch ($300) towards the purchase of any new watch I wanted (from any maker, not just from them) which I thought was fair.
1904 - Frederick Speidel Starts Speidel USA, Jewelry Chain Manufacturer in Providence, Rhode Island. I was born in Providence and lived within 10 miles of it most of my life.
That ticking sound is the sound of inefficiency. It comes from the escapement that tries to add back in the energy lost from the balance wheel through friction. no escapement required with a precision oscillator in place of the balance wheel.
I have a couple of different Bulova watches and they are well made. I love mine.
Still use one on regular Basis, works like a charm after all that years.
I was wearing one every day untill I got my smart watch
06:58 The crowd goes wild: µRuler... µRuler...
Oh yeah, I should make more of those...
Revolucion en la Historia relojera.Thanks you.
I love how there's an ordinary (1/2 Watt?) resistor in there and a regular size transistor. The people at Bulova must have just thought: Okay this is the circuit and these are the parts we can get, let's design some mechanics! If they would have been bothered, they might have designed their own integrated circuit (or let someone else do it for them) or invented SMD electronics in the process of designing the watch, but no. They just started off with those parts and said: Mechanics is what we're good at, we'll just deal with the electronics.
I have a Bulova 100 kc crystal from some old military equipment and im pretty sure it was older the the 60s
1:38 - I think you meant to say that they switched over to a "silicon transistor," which happened to be of an NPN polarity.
Pronounced Bull - o - va,,, fyi since you own one.
Yes, and the emphasis is on the first syllable.
Dave does this quite often when encountering words he's not seen or heard before, particularly place names, and doesn't read what's there. It's almost as if he's slightly dyslexic. (Edited to insert missing 'often'.)
it is an OZ thing, IMHO
What do you expect from a guy who is standing upside down compared to the Northern hemisphere ;) Words come out funny.
+David Kupferman Do you think that might explain the Oz upward inflection, AKA high-rising terminal?
I want to buy these kind of watches just for their sound ,can I buy them?
Accent in Bulova is on the first syllable, like BULL-ovuh. Accent in Speidel is 2nd syllable, like spy-DELL.
falling in love by this watch
A very interesting concept. I first remember coming across it on the excellent BBC series "The Secret Life of Machines" by Tim Hunkin and Rex Garrod.
I don't know, some quartz watches still seem to go out sync for many seconds a day.
"Sweep" is a horological term meaning the second hand is not located in a sub dial. The "smooth" moving second hand is referred to as. "Continuous".
The same reason we call 60fps continuous
Sweep is a much better word, I'm sticking with that.
+EEVblog Its OK Dave, you are an engineer, not a horologist! Love your channel!
It's a near-perfect watch, but as a downside, Bulova removed the crown from the early tuning fork watches. Their reasoning was that their watches were so accurate that they didn't need to be adjusted, which they admitted was a mistake, so later watches got an adjustable crown again.
Don't put it on, tear it apart...
now I want one. or something similar. looks so nice and retro. tips for similar ones without the risk of buying a fake is welcome.
A fake space view is still a real Acutron it's just been refit with different hands face and Crystal
Is the vibration visible under a microscope using a high speed camera?
Premature posting. Cool high speed!