Accutron was introduced to the public in October of 1960. Conversion kits and display watches were made available to Bulova dealers worldwide to help them explain how the breakthrough technology worked.
The marketing group at Bulova correctly decided that top-of-the-line solid gold cases would convey a sense of enduring quality to the upstart Accutron technology. Bulova used two 14 kt. gold "Spaceviewed" models in an advertising campaign which was intended to accomplish two things. The idea was to differentiate and create excitement around Accutron's ordinary looking dial models by giving the public a glimpse at the technology inside, and to link the development program which created Accutron to the US space program. The advertising worked brilliantly.
The plan was to build enough of these unusual watches for distribution to dealers who didn't want to bother with converting one from their stock and it is widely believed that Bulova expected to sell at most, a few hundred of the new "Display Model" sales aids to their dealers. That was the plan but the public had other ideas.
Can I buy the one in the window?
Perhaps because of its' uniqueness, potential customers who thought that the watch in the jewelers window was a standard model started asking to buy one. Dealers who didn't want to lose a sale were happy to sell the "Display Model" and the strangely attractive watch started selling like hotcakes. Soon, due to popular demand, dealers everywhere clamored for quantities of the new best seller. In response to the unprecedented demand Bulova added the "Spaceview" model to the Accutron line. In 1961 Bulova scrambled to keep up with the demand for the expensive new toys and they were hard pressed to come up with enough of the 14kt. gold cases.
The marketing people at Bulova now knew that they had a hot commodity and that there was also a market for a less expensive Spaceview model so they decided to design one from scratch. Whereas the first Spaceview crystal was made to replace a dial, the new Spaceview would have a built-in metal minute scale (chapter ring) and the crystal would be imprinted with only the Accutron name and tuning fork logo. The first of these new models in gleaming stainless steel came out (I believe) at the end of 1962. By 1963 (M3) they flew out of Bulova factories and sales of the more expensive solid gold models decreased. Soon, other models of the chapter ring Spaceview were produced in both stainless steel and gold filled cases.
@ martin@ _accutron214_com
Know the watch, know his histoy superb piece..keep posting these.