The Accutron uses a tuning fork for an oscillator.
Bulova Watch Co. introduced the Accutron in 1960. It uses a
tuning fork as the vibrating unit instead of a hairspring and
balance wheel. Power supplied from a battery causes the tuning
fork to vibrate at 360 cycles per second. Gears convert the vibrating
motion of the tuning fork to rotary motion to turn the hands on
the analog dial. And Bulova ads pointed out watch buyers could
actually hear the sounds of innovation: the Accutron doesn't
tick...it hums.
The original designer for the Accutron was Max Hetzel, who worked
for Bulova in Bienne, Switzerland, and constructed a prototype
in 1955.
When Bulova's New York office took up the idea, chief
engineer William Bennett, Egbert Van Haaften and William Mutter
worked for four years to produce a commercially viable product.
The Accutron was the most accurate wristwatch available before the
quartz revolution.
Bulova claimed the Accutron to be accurate to within one minute
per month, to only a few seconds per day. Accutron timepieces
were used in early U.S. space satellites as signal cut-off timers.
Arctic explorer, David Humphreys, was able to use the Accutron along with
a sextant to calculate that Greenland is 3,000 square miles larger than
previously thought.
Bulova Watch Co. introduced the Accutron in 1960. It uses a
tuning fork as the vibrating unit instead of a hairspring and
balance wheel. Power supplied from a battery causes the tuning
fork to vibrate at 360 cycles per second. Gears convert the vibrating
motion of the tuning fork to rotary motion to turn the hands on
the analog dial. And Bulova ads pointed out watch buyers could
actually hear the sounds of innovation: the Accutron doesn't
tick...it hums.
The original designer for the Accutron was Max Hetzel, who worked
for Bulova in Bienne, Switzerland, and constructed a prototype
in 1955.
When Bulova's New York office took up the idea, chief
engineer William Bennett, Egbert Van Haaften and William Mutter
worked for four years to produce a commercially viable product.
Bulova claimed the Accutron to be accurate to within one minute
per month, to only a few seconds per day. Accutron timepieces
were used in early U.S. space satellites as signal cut-off timers.
Arctic explorer, David Humphreys, was able to use the Accutron along with
a sextant to calculate that Greenland is 3,000 square miles larger than
previously thought.
