[uscjake87]

I happened to hit the jackpot with a 100% original example of a pre-astronaut watch. I have been studying these watches for the last few years and have photographs of 6 watches including this one in a specific serial number sequence. 3 watches say "Accutron" and 3 say "Accutron Bulova". My 1st M2 astro says "Accutron Bulova" on the dial with no dots and has a serial of E15318. The watch pictured below only says "Accutron", no dots on the dial, and the serial is E15513. The other M2 watches in this very limited serial number sequence of 563 serial numbers seem to go back and forth from saying "Accutron Bulova" to "Accutron" so I can state a fact that they assembled watches without regard to the 1 or 2 line dial layout for this range of serials. More data and observed examples can help try to pin down a more precise production number of these pre-astro dial watches but a good production estimate is 563 to 1200 watches if we assume that all watches in the serial range were Astronauts and didn't include other models. It is worth noting that the "Astronaut" text dials have been observed on watches in this serial range, so who knows for sure if this pre-astro dial serial range is anything more than anecdotal evidence. I certainly hope it encourages people who have these early M2 watches to show us more pictures and serial numbers.

The watch I purchased happens to have another interesting quirk to it. It has a canadian kreisler coffin band. The watch was shipped from Canada, so perhaps this band came with the watch when it was purchased or it was added later. Both of my early astro casebacks have no ink stamps inside, and this seems to be a common occurence with a lot of early stainless steel Accutrons. The movement had a hack plug in it, but it flung out and I got it in a baggie.

 

[uscjake87]

 

[uscjake87]

 

[uscjake87]

The 3 musketeers from 1962:

 

[watchabit]

They look rough Jake, prob more to restore than they're worth, I'll buy them off you cheap and save you the trouble... :thumbup1: :drool: Especially with the Forstner bands

 

[Tomasomoro]

Hello everyone. I am an Italian who loves Accutron Astronaut. This is an old thread but I decided to post photographs of my M2.
This watch has a complex, almost incredible history. It was given to me 20 years ago by a USAF pilot ... unfortunately I don't speak English well and it's hard to tell the story. I hope the photographs help you get more information about the first M2. Thank you

 

[Spaceview M2]

Very interesting watch. Maybe in the future, you will be able to find the correct early version Coffin Link Bracelet with the Applied Logo clasp. Also the Gold Toned Non 214HN pillar plate would need to be corrected and replaced with a correct M2 214HN plate and the hands do not appear to be Astronaut watch hands. I wonder who slapped this watch together and when? I do like the early dial design.

 

[rollerberg2000]

Nice looking Astro, as SM2 pointed out, it would take some effort to get it "period correct", but it would be well worth it to restore it! I have one of these early design dials as well.

 

[Tomasomoro]

Very interesting watch. Maybe in the future, you will be able to find the correct early version Coffin Link Bracelet with the Applied Logo clasp. Also the Gold Toned Non 214HN pillar plate would need to be corrected and replaced with a correct M2 214HN plate and the hands do not appear to be Astronaut watch hands. I wonder who slapped this watch together and when? I do like the early dial design.

Grazie per il commento. Non sono esperto ma dalle informazioni sul forum

Very interesting watch. Maybe in the future, you will be able to find the correct early version Coffin Link Bracelet with the Applied Logo clasp. Also the Gold Toned Non 214HN pillar plate would need to be corrected and replaced with a correct M2 214HN plate and the hands do not appear to be Astronaut watch hands. I wonder who slapped this watch together and when? I do like the early dial design.

Thanks for the comment. I am not an expert, but from the information taken in the forum it seems that only the seconds hand is incorrect for this dial series. Even the bracelet without the applied logo looks correct for models made late 1962. Unfortunately, the movement was replaced in 1969 by the Bulova house which directly did maintenance for USAF pilot. Perhaps the seconds hand was also replaced on that occasion. According to formations taken online by “experts” the stamps on the caseback would be proof of Bulova’s direct maintenance. This watch has a complicated and fascinating story that I will tell one day with my terrible English ( getting help from Google translator 😁). Honestly, I don't intend to try to change it by adding pieces that don't belong to his story. It doesn't matter if it's not perfect, because it preserves the soul of its previous owner... and now mine too 🥰

 

[Tomasomoro]

[
Again me 🤪. Mmmm ... even if I wanted to fix it by replacing the movement with a correct 214HN I would be very difficult living in Italy. There aren't many astronauts here and honestly my m2 is the first I've seen in 20 years in Europe 😃 I don't know where to look for the correct movement ... maybe in the USA I could find it but I don't know where to look for it ... and not even evaluate if it's correct and how much the right price can be. Thanks again for the comments, you are all great and reading your posts I will learn a lot

 

[Tomasomoro]

Oops ... you're right 🙁 the hands aren't correct ... damn I knew I didn't subscribe to this forum, you're dragging me on an adventure 😂😂

 

[Tomasomoro]

Ciao.
Could these hands be corrected? At least those of the minutes and hours.Thank you

 

[Spaceview M2]

Ciao.
Could these hands be corrected? At least those of the minutes and hours.Thank you

I am not sure what you mean by corrected, but if you are referring to fixing the Lume within the minute/hour hand, that is as simple as buying a cheap lume kit online and applying new lume to the hands. Nothing more than removing the old lume, cleaning up that area and applying new lume with a small toothpick. Takes about 5 minutes.

 

[Tomasomoro]

Thanks for the information. It's not easy for me to explain. Someone had reported that the hands now mounted on my M2 astronaut were incorrect. I meant if these kinds of hands were correct for my M2 astronaut.

 

[Spaceview M2]

Thanks for the information. It's not easy for me to explain. Someone had reported that the hands now mounted on my M2 astronaut were incorrect. I meant if these kinds of hands were correct for my M2 astronaut.

Yes, those pointed Astronaut hour/minute hands would be one of the correct early version hands seen on those Astro's, as mentioned in the past posts on this thread.

 

[watchabit]

In Tomasomoro's pic, that 24hr hand is the bent version for swiss dialed Astros. And I would be happy to swap him a correct version for the swiss hand as I'm missing one.

 

[uscjake87]

I am a little late to the replies @Tomasomoro. You are a very lucky guy. Your watch falls in the very specific range of serials for the early "pre-astro" dials. I know because I've kept a database of all the ones I have seen on ebay and sales listings. Yours is one of 8 that are confirmed with the dial and the caseback. Of those 8, only a few had the original pillar plates. Unfortunately, movement swaps seem to be common. As far as the strange handset, would you believe I have seen these before? At least I think these look very similar. Note how this one was housed in a swiss case mish mash of parts. Right now the serials range about 563 digits (E15XXX), but it's possible other watches were assembled in that serial range and the production could be even lower.

Don't worry gents. The watch below was in my possession at one point and got the full makeover it deserved. It is with another WTF member.

 

[uscjake87]

@Spaceview M2 - Did you take a closer look at the ink stamps? I am curious if you have seen those numbers anywhere in your records. It is the first (and only) early M2 with clear stamps.

 

[Tomasomoro]

Hello everybody. Today on the net I found in this example ... another watch with an M2 E series back ... I don't know if the movement is correct ... owner writes that it's a 214H - m2 ...??? I am not an expert but it seems to me that the 214H movement cannot run a clock on 24 hours ...

I think this movement that is not HN is a proof that in the serious E15.... Non-astronaut movements are also included

 

[uscjake87]

I actually have this timer saved in my photo library. It was sold as a set of 3 timers in close serial range to eachother. The E15774 was the earliest. The others are E16xxx. The serial range for Bulova isnt a model specific serialization. It was whatever needed a caseback that matched the case material (stainless steel). So it means the early pre astro dial watches numbers are hard to pinpoint total production. Id say its between 250 to 500, but you would need to know everything made during that timeframe.