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Pianotuna
·This is not completetley wrong but it`s not completetley right also.
Mainly you have mechanical and electrical movements. The tuning fork movements are electrical and a technic of its own `cause there is no escapement driven by a battery.
So electro-mechanical movements are as an exampel ESA Dynotron or Citizen Cosmotron X8.
For those to whom tuning-fork watches are new I recommend electric-watches.co as a great reference site and normally a go-to place for repairs if you’re in the UK or Europe but, someone above referred to Paul (the owner) taking a sabbatical so that might not be an option.
It also sounds like Danish watch fans are getting screwed if you can’t send your own watch off-shore to have it professionally (and knowledgeably) serviced or restored. For the rest of us throughout the world Berkavicius is based in Thailand and his rates are very reasonable. He also gives advice on labelling and posting the watches to him. A quick search for ‘The Accutron page’ will bring up his very informative no frills website. An hour there is Time well spent. And there’s a resident OF guy who apparently can forget more than the rest of us know but I can’t recall his name.
In Berkavicius’ own words to me he said the Omegas and Longines were the best quality of the genre even though technically all but the Bulova and Citizen use the same ESA 9162 movement. My understanding was that those two stood out for the general quality of everything else in the watch and overall build.
I agree totally about Spaceviews. Rare indeed to find a factory original but this was complicated by Bulova themselves offering after market conversion kits in the 60’s. I’ve had two really nice examples and RB told me neither came out of the factory as a ‘Spaceview’. They’d be the exception to the rule though in the tuning-fork watch world.
Speaking only for my personal experience, I’ve had about 30 tf watches with a date wheel and three only have been inoperable. So, 10-15%. In time the plastic date-wheels will break though, it’s inevitable.
Bottom line, I think they’re great watches, representing a time when the industry was more imaginative and breaking new ground. And they’re affordable.
