It has been said by others that the Accutron watch was developed by the Bulova Watch Company as a response to a perceived requirement by the American Army for a better time standard. I don't know whether that is true or not.
Bulova Technical Documentation states quite clearly that the watch was developed entirely as a consumer item, with no funding from any outside source. Still, it might be fair enough to imagine that the potential military applications hadn't gone unnoticed by Bulova management. The CEO of Bulova at the time was Omar Bradley, 5 Star General, US Army, Retired. All research undertaken was performed by Bulova engineers in their own labs.
Although the tuning fork concept had been had been previously demonstrated in clocks, they were never mass produced, let alone miniaturized to watch-size. Work began on the development of a Tuning Fork watch in 1953 by the engineer Max Hetzel.
The first protype watches were produced in Switzerland in 1955. In 1959, Max Hetzel and William Bennett further developed the Bulova Accutron at the Bulova Headquarters in New York, based on Hetzel's previous research in Switzerland.
The first Bulova Accutrons were offered for sale to the public in November 1960. These were the Accutron Model 214.
Production of tuning fork Accutrons ceased in 1977, with Bulova directing their efforts to producing quartz watches. The name "Accutron" is still used by Bulova on some of their quartz watches. These watches bear no relationship at all to Tuning Fork watches.
To learn more about Max Hetzel, the inventor of the Bulova Accutron, and a more detailed history on the early development of the Accutron, I recommend you visit Barbara Young-Hetzel's site ACCUTRON - Max Hetzel, the Man behind the Invention.
To listen to an interview with Max Hetzel, Click Here to visit the page on this site.
Tom Mister of Dashto Horological Services has put together an excellent history of Accutron watches, depicted by their adverts over the years. Click Here to visit his site.
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Bulova Headquarters, Bulova Park, Long Island, New York |
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Woodside, New York |
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Sag Harbor, N.Y |
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Providence, R.I. |
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Toronto, Canada |
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Bienne, Switzerland |
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Neuchatel, Switzerland |