For Accutron (or Bulova, if that’s how your memory works; that said, the brands are distinct now) the Spaceview of the 1960s was a revelation. It shouldn’t be any surprise that the re-launched Accutron brand would go back to that design for inspiration. What IS a surprise is the movement that’s taking up home in the Bulova Spaceview 2020 and DNA.
Is the movement a mechanical? Well, no, not really. However, it does borrow a trick from your favorite automatic watch. By that, I mean that it’s got two rotors that spin as a result of your movement. Rather than winding a mainspring, though, those rotors spin past electrodes, generating energy that’s stored in an accumulator. That energy then goes out to twin motors – one that powers the sweeping seconds hand, and another that powers the step motor driving the hour and minute hands. These two motors are synchronized, and are intended to provide accuracy at +/- 5 seconds per month.
The first watch that the new movement is housed in is the Accutron Spaceview 2020. Just the 1960s version, the Accutron Spaceview 2020 has a bright green dial, plenty openworked to show off the movement held in. While the original was showing off the tuning fork, here, we’ve got that electrostatic movement taking pride of place. For this, you’ve got two versions – the standard (with a grey chapter ring) coming in at $3,450 and the 300-piece limited edition ($4,000) with a green chapter ring.
If, on the other hand, you’d prefer to see that design updated and reimagined a bit more, that’s where the Accutron DNA comes to bear. While the dial itself is still open-worked, the way they’ve used color here actually softens the impact a bit – in my book – and does freshen up the design. The case is a bit larger (see the specs below), but pricing has dropped a bit, coming down to $3,300 for the four versions in this collection.
So, there you have it. Accutron announced itself to the world the other week with their new podcast (covered here), and now they’ve made a giant electrostatic splash with these new watches. We’ve linked to the individual collections up above, but you can also just head on over to accutronwatch.com and get your fix that way as well. The tuning fork is dead – long live the… electrostatic stepper motor?
Tech Specs from Accutron
- MOVEMENT
- Accutron’s Proprietary Electrostatic Movement.
- The electrostatic energy is created by twin turbines that rotate as a result of human motion at incredible speeds between two electrodes affixed to the movement. The energy, stored in an accumulator, powers two motors; a world?s first electrostatic motor fueling the fluid second hand and a step motor powering the hour and minute hands.
- DIAL
- Spaceview 2020: Smoke grey open-work dial with signature Accutron green accents and transparent outer ring. White hour and minute hands and orange second hand.
- DNA: Silver-grey accent on the outer hour/minute ring. Blue open-work dial and silver-tone hands
- CASE
- Spaceview 2020
- Stainless steel case and bezel with stamped Accutron logo and turbine design on the case back.
- Diameter: 43.5mm
- Thickness: 15.9mm
- Water resistant to 50M
- DNA
- Diameter: 45.1mm
- Thickness: 15.6mm
- Water resistant to 50M
- Spaceview 2020
- BAND
- Spaceview 2020: Black leather strap with double-press deployant closure.
- DNA: Sporty grey integrated rubber strap with double-press deployant closure
