New Guy

[kegrace]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to stop by and share my latest obsession: Accutrons! :cool:

I bought my first watch nicer than a Fossil last year when i fell in love with a Citizen Eco-Drive Nighthawk. Since then i've also added a Tag Heuer Formula 1, but after some real research, i've found that my Mechanical Engineering background can't resist the tuning fork movement.

Does anyone have any advice for me as i search for a 214 to add to my beginner's collection? I don't have the dough to go out and buy a rebuilt one for $1000+. Thanks and its good to be around other watch nuts!

Kevin

[skypilot]

Welcome kegrace! I'm not an expert but some hang out her and will probably be along. However, I can tell you that you can have several nice 214's for $1000. You may have been told that they are fragile and expensive to maintain but that has not been my experience at all. Watches that old are naturally going to require a bit more care than a new one but I have several 214's and many of them have been running trouble free for a long time. The point is that, if you buy one that is running, there is a darn good chance that it will keep running and you can buy running ones under $200. Some of mine came from pawn shops and some from e-bay. It has been my experience that it is cheaper to buy a pretty good runnng one than it is to buy a one that needs work and then get it fixed. Good luck and show us what you get. WARNING Tuning fork watches are addictive.

[alton1]

Welcome to the Bulova & Accutron Forum, kegrace! I see a lot of nice Spaceviews being offered on Ebay, going for around the $400 range. But like, skypilot, I'm not an expert on pointing out the sneaky modifications some sellers make on Spaceviews in order to dupe unwitting buyers! It takes someone with an expansive knowledge of what to look for, to make a wise choice in which ones are the real thing. Stick around, and check back. We have a member here who is really up on Spaceviews and other vintage Accutrons who goes by the screenname of hp2114b who can probably give you some guidance. He'll probably weigh in when he sees your post.

Probably your best bet is that, if you happen to see one you're interested in, you post the link to it here and let us see what it looks like before you commit to bidding on it. Make sure you do it a day or two before the sale ends to allow time for someone to get a good gander at it! Hopefully, with a little help from your friends here, you'll be able to make a wise choice.

Good luck, and happy hunting! And, once again, Welcome! :D

[hp2114b]

eBay is the only place that has a wide selection of vintage Accutrons, so you'll probably want to look there first. A good running 214 can be had for $200-300 or less. Get one that's already running, and have it looked over by a qualified technician even if the seller say it's "recently serviced". Pay close attention to the condition of the dial and hands, as they will readily exhibit the care or lack thereof which the watch has been given over its lifetime. Look for uneven color, crazing, missing indices, poor re-luming and soforth. Be cautious of any auction which does not include a photo of the movement. If there's a photo of the movement, look for scratches around the screws and jewel shock mounts which could indicate rough or otherwise amateur servicing. Look for intact brushed grain on the case back - a smooth case back is a sign of overpolishing that you can easily spot without having to know the finish nuances of every single case style. There's a couple of particularly dominant sellers on eBay right now who sell large numbers of overworked Accutrons for inflated prices. I won't name names, but if they're from Oklahoma or Washington state, and use lots of large colorful fonts in their auction description, they should be avoided at all costs. You will find the best deals in live auctions where the seller is not an Accutron specialist.

Most Spaceviews are conversions, especially in the lower price ranges. The quick-and-dirty way of getting an authentic Spaceview is to shop for one with a chapter ring. Most (but not all) Spaceviews have white hands from the factory. Most dialed 214s are authentic. If it's a railroad approved model, it should have a hack mechanism.

If you're not looking for a Spaceview, you might want to have a look at some 218-based Accutrons. The 218 is of similar construction to the 214, and is available in a wider range of case styles and complications. The 218 also tends to be less finnicky than the 214, and replacement parts are more affordable.

Collecting Accutrons can be an expensive maintenance nightmare if you're not careful and/or lucky. The best way to insure the operability of your Accutron is to start with a working watch, have it serviced regularly, and don't abuse it. If you decide you want to collect many Accutrons, the best way to keep the costs down in the long run is to invest in the tools and documentation required to repair them yourself.

[kegrace]

thanks for the information guys! i went to my jeweler at a local pawn shop and was really surprised to see a M5 Spaceview in his case today. It ran great, was a 10K filled bezel, no chapter ring. this is the first time i've seen a spaceview in person, and i loved it!

I want to be very thorough and search for exactly what i want, so i can definitely afford to be patient before i make a purchase. I'll be lurking around the forums and searching for deals, so i'll post up what i find and see what you guys think. Again, its nice to be around other watch fans who share my obsession!

[skypilot]

hp2114b, I was a little surprised by your comment that the quick and dirty way of getting an authentic Spaceview is to shop for one with a chapter ring. Is that pretty fool proof or or are there some fake chapter rings out there. I got this one at a pawn shop for a good price running well and always assumed that it was a conversion but now you have me wondering.

[oracle]

If the chapter ring is convex then is good (there is one exception IIRC) if the ring is concave then faux... (this is not hard evidence just my understanding bu reading about those watches)

[hp2114b]

Your Spaceview looks factory original. It looks like a Spaceview 'S'. The hands, dial, chapter ring and case all appear correct. What's the date code? It should be no earlier than 1970, else the movement has been replaced at some point.

There are a range of conversion situations which occur. Before Bulova stopped producing the various Spaceview models, you could get your non-Spaceview 214 officially converted at a Bulova service center. Such watches should be indistinguishable from a factory-issued Spaceview. There are also some chapter ring Spaceviews which are conversions...the most commonly seen are 'knockout' dials, where the center of a factory 214 dial with a raised chapter ring is milled out, leaving nothing but the chapter ring. Such watches are easily spotted because the chapter ring is convex, rather than concave like it should be. The type of dial I'm talking about is the kind used in the watch shown in this recent thread. You simply grind out the middle part with a Dremel or a round file. The majority of conversions these days are done with no chapter ring, using replica printed crystals manufactured by Clark Watch Parts. The replica crystals can be spotted by the fact that their print quality is actually better than the original, with more crisply defined lettering and tuning fork logo.

[hp2114b]

If the chapter ring is convex then is good (there is one exception IIRC) if the ring is concave then faux... (this is not hard evidence just my understanding bu reading about those watches)

You got it backwards, the concave chapter rings are correct, the convex ones are not.

[skypilot]

Thank you hp2114b even though the news is not all good, mine is a 1972. Oh well, I'll wear and enjoy. Right now I'm just accumulating various models to wear. Maybe later I'll try to collect some to nicer ones to just own and look at. I sure enjoy your posts.