18K Bulova AccuQuartz, Sand-Dial Important Quartz-Tuningfork, 1972
Bulova AccuQuartz: Important Quartz under Sand-Dial in 18K
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WHY IS IT IN OUR MUSEUM? Because it is the first US-American quartz-wristwatch, introduced in Dec-1971.
Indeed, priced USD395 and thus just a quarter of the more sculpturous Beta21 and having a quartz vibrating at the now-standard rate of 32'768Hz it has to be named an important watch.
Very well defined and crisp case in solid 18K gold -- not the 14K variant -- with the beautiful sand-dial, accentuated with a small diamond on the tuningfork-logo. And indeed, the AccuQuartz uses a very similar principle as the Beta21 (developed by a joint venture C.E.H. by Bulova, IWC, JLC, Longines, Omega, Patek, Piaget, Rolex, Zenith etc): the quartz acts as the beatmaker for the tuningfork that makes the hands sweep constantly over the dial -- stepper-motor circumvented.
Yes, and although Bulova was part of the C.E.H-joint venture and sourced approx 100 Beta21-movements to create its super-heavy and uber-funky Alien-Head AccuQuartz (case by Favre & Perret SA and bracelet by Jean-Pierre Ecoffey, JPE), they developed their own and cheaper solution in parallel. This is not only a unmistakable sign how serious Bulova took the new technology, but also these efforts resulted in the reliable and much smaller cal224, which is offered here: Not a oversized Beta21 but a similar rare and important early quartz for daily wear.
