As some of you know, the Accutron Spaceview is an interesting Bulova Model. They are both a nice part of a collection if you are into Spaceviews but they are also a 'minefield' when searching for one to add to a collection. Most aren't worth buying. But that's a whole other conversation for another time and place. So I thought I would show two of my latest Spaceview restorations. I search for early 60's accutrons that appear to not have been 'reworked' by some ebay hack and if they appear to have the majority of the factory correct parts on them and look like they may have been sitting on a shelf or drawer for awhile I will look into restoring one. Occasionally I will buy one and restore it if it looks like it is worth it. Below are two of my latest examples. This 1961 14kt Yellow Gold Spaceview (Case 2319) aka a 'Spiral Lug' or 'Scalloped Lug' or even a 'Fancy Lug' was up for sale and I bought it. The case was in rough shape as you can see but it had potential so I went to work. I had the case restored by Replateit in Montreal. I had the movement restored by Rob B. and I restored the hands and lume myself and replaced the crystal with a NOS one. The Case (Before & After) The 1961 14kt Gold Spaceview Before and After Restoration *************************************************************************************************** Below is the second recent Spaceview project. Its a 1961 14kt White Gold 'Alpha' Spaceview (Case 2304). It was also in rough shape when I bought it but had most of the correct parts that made it worthy of a full restoration. The White Gold case was also sent to Replateit for restoration and the movement was also restored by Rob B. I also restored the hands and lume on this Alpha as well as replacing the worn out crystal with a NOS one. I consolidated the pics into one just to make it easy. The top two pics are what it looked like when I bought it. The pics below that was what it looked like when it was restored. Both of these restorations have the correct M1 date coded pillar plate.
This is cool! To me the alpha spaceview has the design together, with space age case matching the space age interior. The first one is also interesting, trying to match more "calatrava" design with the super modern electronics flashing. I imagine walking around with one of these pieces in 1961 and feeling like a king.
These two 214 Accutrons are also the two latest Dialed Accutron watches I have had restored. They weren't in as rough shape as the two Spaceviews in the beginning of this thread. But finding a good accutron with a dial that isn't moisture damaged or badly spotted or swapped out is also another trick to finding worthy accutrons. Sending a Dial out for redial is not part of my restoration. It just takes too long and can be 'extremely' aggravating. This is a 1961 18kt Yellow Gold Accutron Model 602 Style (26003). The case # is 2324. I have seen a couple of these in a Tiffany dial configuration. The M1 movement in this one was sent out to Rob B. for restoration and the case went to Replateit for restoration. This Accutron turned out very nice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And this 1963 14kt Yellow Gold Accutron Model 559 Case 2409 Style#25054. It does have a somewhat plain numerical dial but its the correct one for this particular model and that is what I try to stay will. The correct movement has already been restored by Rob B and the case is currently out to Replateit for restoration. Someone got abit overly aggressive when trying to remove the caseback locking ring and so I am hoping Replateit can restore some of the scratches as best they can. This case should be back home in a month or so. Enjoy!!!