Bulova Accutron Watch Mechanics
One of the greatest achievements of the Bulova Watch corporation was the introduction of the Bulova Accutron watch.
This watch is special as it qualifies as the first Electronic watch and was used in the NASA mission to the moon in the 1960s.
The watch uses a tuning fork as a means of regulating the time keeping function. The tuning fork is powered by a one-transistor electronic oscillator circuit making this an electronic watch. The tuning fork in turn drives a mechanical gear train to turn the hands.
This watch was the most accurate watch during the time due to the resonating 360 hertz tuning fork
The inventor, Max Hetzel, was born in Basel, Switzerland, and joined the Bulova Watch Company of Bienne, Switzerland, in 1948. More than 4 million were sold until production stopped in 1977.
During the 1960s Moon Landing mission all instrument panel clocks and time keeping mechanisms in the spacecraft were Bulova Accutrons with tuning fork movements. NASA was unsure how well a mechanical movement would work in low gravity conditions.
The Bulova company currently manufactures a limited edition "Astronaut" model under its Accutron line of watches. The back of the watch case is autographed by Buzz Aldrin. The tuning fork movement has been discontinued by Bulova, and the current Astronaut model features automatic ETA SA movement, making it similar to the rival Omega.