Accutron, the world’s first fully electronic watch, marks its 60th anniversary in 2020. Reconstituted as an independent brand separate from Bulova, its original parent company, it is ushering in the new era with 21st century technology and a healthy dose of mid-20th-century nostalgia, starting with the retro-inspired Spaceview 2020.

Accutron Spaceview 2020

Introduced in 1960, the original Bulova Accutron incorporated a revolutionary new technology that utilized a tuning fork, powered by a one-transistor electronic oscillator, to drive the timekeeping functions rather than a traditional balance wheel. Its name stood for ?Accuracy through Electronic.? The brainchild of Bulova engineer Max Hetzel, this technology ensured an oscillation rate of 360 hertz ? nearly 150 times faster than that of a mechanical, balance-wheel-driven timepiece ? and guaranteed an accuracy to just one minute per month. The now-legendary first Accutron model, called the Spaceview 214 (the numerical designation derived from the movement, Caliber 214), was like no other watch previously seen, or heard, on the market ? distinguished audibly by the telltale humming generated by the tuning fork rather than the traditional ticking of its mechanical brethren. Its high-tech movement, with its circuit-board-green elements in full view behind an open dial, deviated from traditional wristwatch design with its lack of setting stem and crown on the side of the watch; these elements we...