Big Block: Bulova quartz solid state

[simone]

Hi friends....yesterday i have found a NOS Bulova in an old bulova watch store near Milan.
Very Massive watch with a powerful light(by pressing left button),date and seconds by pressing the right button.In the case back there's the date: 10 76,so October 1976.The module seems to be an ESA if i don't wrong (Swiss Made)
I never seen this model...just chunky an heavy with a beautiful blue dial
In the case back also: water resistant,swiss made and 919 287

So enjoy.....This is my first bulova and i would ask you what do you think about this module and LCD made by bulova: high quality or just a good brand with a big name?

IMG_1339.JPG

IMG_1340.JPG

[azimuth_pl]

That's a nice ESA in a Bulova case.
Bulova stopped watch production with their Accutron later outsourced to Citizen in Japan.
So they never made electronic digital watches and simply ordered many watches with their brand to fill the gap in their portfolio.

[simone]

So this one is an accutron?i`m not a bulova expert....

[767Geoff]

No, not an accutron per se. That is, not a tuning fork movement. The accutron tuning fork module saved the Bulova company from downsizing and cheapening ( text on Bulova history).

The original accutron was so successful that it saved Bulova's reputation for being a cheap product in the late 50's to being a contender and innovator in the 60's. The first 'Accutron' was the Alpha model in 18kt released in 1960. It is the holy grail for accutron collectors, similar but not as rare as the P1 for collectibility.. The reputation was so bad at one time that many retailers asked Bulova not to place the company name on the dial of the newly invented accutrons. That is why many early tuning fork accutrons simply state accutron on the dial with Bulova on the case back.

The success became a brand label and has been applied to all Bulova's since the 70's. in fact, all NASA Apollo LEMs and command modules had accutron clocks due to there superb accuracy as did many satellite systems until the quartz technology could be proven in the harsh environments of space.

Accutron means "ACCUracy through elecTRONics.

Citizen was sub licensed under the patent to produce accutrons for their cases, not as an outsource but as a wholly independent producer under patent laws. Omega, Longines, Universal and a few others used the Bulova movements under patent law in their movements. Omega and ESA actually improved on the movement once the patent expired.

Later, with the quartz boom, the spare Accutron movements had a quartz crystal added to the circuit which regulated the tuning fork for increased accuracy. These were know as ACCUQUARTZ models and were subsequently replaced with pure quartz models. Therefore I would label yours an ACCUQUARTZ befor I called it an Accutron. Convoluted are the ways of marketing.

Your watch is a nice example of a reconstituted Bulova company near the apex of their reputation. On the back of the case you will see a letter followed by a number probably close to N4. The 'N' is 1970, the 4 is 1974.

So yes and no, it is and isn't an Accutron.



Geoff

[simone]

Well i check the case back but no N is present
Thete`s only this: quartz solid state water resistant swiss made and two serial number,919 287 and 126551
Over the case back there also a sticker with 10 76

[767Geoff]

Interesting, maybe case back interior, but who knows and not important as it is typical mid 70's in appearance.

Cheers, Geoff

[Kasper]

nice one Simone,

and thanks Geoff for the history lessons...just love it

[peachykeen]

That's a nice ESA in a Bulova case

Are you sure? Judging from the display position and the shape of the segments, it could well be an MSA module like the one used for example in the Braun DW20 and some Roamer LCD watches. Not a shabby thing either. Even though the MSA modules were said to be rather unreliable, if it survived until today, it will most definitely run strong for another 35 years.

[azimuth_pl]

It's an ESA 9315 or 9312, they had slightly different displays depending on the period.

ESA9312:


ESA9315:


on the outsourcing to Citizen, it's all a matter of speech.
you can outsource and grant a license or outsource but still keep the rights.
Citizen and Bulova created a joint-venture for this purpose so the license was somehow still in both hands.
the last Accutrons in late 70's were only made in Japan and nowadays also the revived 40th Anniversary Spaceview was made in Japan while Citizen bought Bulova in 2007.

[Seiko&Casio Lcd's]

A beautiful watch ,simone
Congratulations with this great find.

[peachykeen]

It's an ESA 9315 or 9312, they had slightly different displays depending on the period.

ESA9312:


ESA9315:

I would rule out the 9315, its display has a clearly visible vertical offset whereas the one of the Bulova seems to be exactly(?) centered.
That Ibico is nice, I have a very similar one, but with a MSA 8051 movement, which again is not exactly 100% symmetric. The display on that one is vertically set off by just one millimeter towards the top.

[azimuth_pl]

well, Simone will have to open his watch to tell us which calibre it is exactly :)

[simone]

well, Simone will have to open his watch to tell us which calibre it is exactly :)

Oh yes....this is the only solution...next week i'll open the watch...MSA or ESA?

[simone]

Mmmm,i found on the net this web site:

http://www.braunlcdwatches.com/DW_20.html

So similar with my Bulova,probably the same module.

here the pic....

DW20-1 GALLERY_edited-1.jpg

[Phasar66]

nice one Simone,

and thanks Geoff for the history lessons...just love it

Agree, very informative. The Accutron is said to be the first electronic wristwatch. still able to keep amazing time. Mine can go days without loosing a second. that's remarkcable.

[azimuth_pl]

"...is said to be..." literally yes although technically it would be the Lip Electric R27 which had a diode to reduce sparking.
a diode is an electronic component ;) http://www.crazywatches.pl/lip-r27-electric-1958

[Phasar66]

Thanks for sharing that P Science article, very ilustrated and the best explanation of how this new tecnology worked. I imagine it was a big deal back in the 60s just the name electronic, transistor, capacitor was mind blowing. and on top of that you can wear it on your wrist. not to name the price of this new gadgets.

[767Geoff]

Moved so not to hijack posting.

http://www.newdwf.com/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=6347

Cheers, Geoff

[simone]

Here the module's pic....esa o msa?in my opinion the second....

IMG_1342.JPG

[azimuth_pl]

looks identical to the MSA, so my bad.
it appears to be a Hong Kong module...the Braun module shown above says Swiss assembled what means that circuitry was made elsewhere.
I have an ESA LED 9380 module with Hughes chip but the overall module is Swiss assembled.
the same refers to the Zenith Futur LED...the chip substrate has AMI Korea printed but the watch is signed Swiss made ;)

[peachykeen]

Here the module's pic....esa o msa?in my opinion the second....

Clearly a MSA module or a clone. I've seen these unbranded ones a lot, even in "swiss made" LCDs, particularly in Nepro watches. Whether these modules were made by MSA or whether they sourced out or licensed production to some Hong Kong based company I don't know. I wonder if someone of the 7 people who are still left in the company knows something about it, but I doubt so. They've long gone out of the LCD business: http://www.soc-metrologie-msa.ch/

[simone]

In fact in the front plastic is write: 87 swiss made