Picked up a 1967 Bulova Accutron with Provenance

CBM1590 · Wed. 9:12pm

Ran into an 81 year old neighbor who works leather who at a city council meeting last night. I asked him if he did watch straps and he said “no, but are you interested in an Accutron”. The answer was obviously yes. We met tonight at his place. Turns out he was a UHF VHF radio operator on the USS Decatur, USS Topeka, and USS Boston (with a stint on the USS Bang submarine) the mid 60s to 1970 in the Vietnam era. He bought this Accutron on the USS Decatur because he needed the accuracy in his job. He wore and used it is every day. He has no one to leave it to and he wanted me to have it. He tried to give it to me and I refused. All I had in my pocket was $100. He smiled and said “just love and care for it”. Helluva find…and 10k gold case was the icing. We are getting back together to look at his war and carrier pictures and records. I’m stoked as much by the story behind the watch as I am the watch. Now I’ve got to find a battery. This one has been serviced at some point by Bulova according to him. I’ll get pictures. Great evening with a guy who could tell stories all night.

Dan S · Wed. 9:42pm

Great story and a nice watch to boot. If you haven't already, I'd suggest removing the old battery.

Vinz Clortho · Wed. 9:46pm

Love when you get the stories about a particular watch as it adds a human aspect to it.

Every watch has a history and story to tell about the things it's experienced, historical events seen, and everyday life. Most of these stories get lost to time as watches get sold and traded through different hands.

CBM1590 · Wed. 9:53pm

Dan S
Great story and a nice watch to boot. If you haven't already, I'd suggest removing the old battery.

I’ll remove it tomorrow. I’ll have to fetch my very small screw drive set. As I understand it, the screw has to be loosened and the arm will pivot out of the way for the removal. Is that correct?

Vinz Clortho · Wed. 10:25pm

Yes, this screw needs to be loosened, then the retention arm can be moved. It's probably one of two batteries, depending if it was converted over (forget offhand what the original ones were, think the converted ones were 1.35)

They're not tough to replace, just need to be mindful. Also, once you replace the battery, you'll might need to move the watch back and forth holding it palm up to get the pawls to re-engage and start the second hand moving again.

Been a while since I replaced a battery on one so going from memory on this. Good luck and look forward to the update.

Waltesefalcon · Thurs. 6:51am

That's a great watch. I don't have a 218 anymore, but the batteries were easy to come by back when I had mine.

Rob Berkavicius in Thailand is the guy for servicing these.

CBM1590 · Thurs. 7:29am

Light polish and polywatch complete. New battery today (and the difficult choice on a watch strap, always complicated by trying to figure color and texture from the internet)

jshopper1 · Thurs. 7:31am

Great story and a great watch. Congrats!

As Vinz Clortho correctly showed the 344 battery goes positive side down.

But (and I don’t mean to be a Debby Downer) … if the watch has not had a service recently (last 3-5 years) I STRONGLY recommend that it be serviced before running it for more than a few test minutes.

These movements have the ability to eat themselves alive. The Accutron motor is stronger than a mechanical watch movement.

A mechanical watch will run until its lubricants dry and gum up. The watch will (probably) stop before any mechanical damage is done to the movement.

Not so with the Accutron. The motor has enough torque to push the train past the point of dry gummy lubricants to excessive bearing surface wear/failure. Restoration then becomes expensive.

As Waltesefalcon recommends, check with RobB for service.

Great watch, great story. Best of luck.

Canuck · Thurs. 3:34pm

Accutron motor? First I ever knew! The ”motor” is a vibrating tuning fork. Moving the hands is a delicate gear system motivated by the tuning fork through two microscopic beryllium springs and two tiny jewels that are 4 thousandths of an inch wide, and 10 thousandths of an inch long. I have numerous Accutrons that are 50 to 60 years old which show no wear, and are as robust as day one (if skillfully maintained)! Watchmakers who work on these are scarce.

jshopper1 · Thurs. 3:52pm

Canuck
Accutron motor? First I ever knew! The ”motor” is a vibrating tuning fork. Moving the hands is a delicate gear system motivated by the tuning fork through two microscopic beryllium springs and two tiny jewels that are 4 thousandths of an inch wide, and 10 thousandths of an inch long. I have numerous Accutrons that are 50 to 60 years old which show no wear, and are as robust as day one (if skillfully maintained)! Watchmakers who work on these are scarce.

Thanks for the comment.

I use the term motor in a general sense, not to imply a rotating machine. Maybe I should have put quotation marks around it.

A motor, in its most general sense, is a device that transforms one form of energy into motion.

I have seen the term “motor” used to describe the Accutron movement in other Accutron forums elsewhere, although I cannot pinpoint where.

After mulling it over I kinda like it and use it myself.

Hope I explained it adequately.

jshopper1 · Thurs. 6:28pm

Another thing. Looking at the photo of the case back beneath the serial number, what two digits are stamped there? Looks like M8?

M8 is Bulova’s code for 1968, M for 1960s, 8 for 1968.

If the case, movement and case back are all original then your watch was manufactured in 1968, not 1964 as the thread title indicates.

Not that it makes any difference to you. Still a great watch and a great story.

CBM1590 · Thurs. 6:55pm

Local older jeweler had the battery. Not a shop I have frequented as he sends off watches to be serviced and his prices tend to be on the higher end. The watch is humming well. He was very impressed both inside and out of the watch. He, too, was a Vietnam vet and he also is supportive of police officers (I was in uniform coming off work). He had some nice watch bands as well. I picked up this Hadley Roma Tegu Lizard strap. Priced at $155.00. He looked at me and said that’s not your price. The man charged me $50 for the battery and the strap. I told him it wasn’t enough but he wouldn’t hear of it. He was way too nice. Anyway, here is the watch on that lizard strap.

The date code on the back of the watch doesn’t match the story, but I know the story is accurate. He had way too many details and stories around his use of the watch. He did send it in to Bulova at some point for a service after his stint in the service. From what I can research, Bulova would make changes if needed. It may have been recased or had a different back installed. He said he bought it in 1967. My original quick research had it at 1964. Nonetheless, it’s a great watch with provenance and we are getting together to look at his pics and service record. I’ll see if he has any pics of him wearing the watch on board one of the Destroyers or submarine. Again, the story is what intrigues me. I keep it updated as more info comes in.

CBM1590 · Thurs. 9:02pm

This watch has admittedly sent me down a rabbit hole. The owner purchased in 1967. That is the first year of the 218 (2181) movement. Notable is the crown at the 4 o’clock position, date at 3 and “Accutron” at the 9 o’clock position. Most Accutrons have the name at the 12 or 6. So, best I can tell , this is an early 218 Accutron with transitional asymmetrical dial….and my research says that these dial variants were Vietnam-era dials available in PXs for purchase.

Interesting, indeed.

Vinz Clortho · Thurs. 11:23pm

Here's a great video on YouTube which explains the movement, then magnifies and slows everything down so you can actually see what's happening. It's a fascinating piece of technology.

CBM1590 · 2026-04-10T04:48:13-0500

Vinz Clortho
Here's a great video on YouTube which explains the movement, then magnifies and slows everything down so you can actually see what's happening. It's a fascinating piece of technology.

Thanks, Vinz!

Walrus · 2026-04-10T06:06:10-0500

These watches amaze me and the story on this one makes it killer. Nice watch to look after.

CBM1590 · 2026-04-10T19:03:24-0500

Visited with gentleman that I bought the watch from for about an hour this evening. He let me photograph him holding the now running again Accutron. He got a little sentimental when he put it up to his ear and listened to it.

He has an amazing leather shop that he’s been working since 1972. He had a few items of interest from his service years hanging in the shop.I blacked out his name, but you can see the pics of the USS Boston and the handwritten note for his coms work on the submarine, USS Bang.

He’s said he’d teach me a bit about leather and help me build a strap. Looking forward to learning and listening to his old stories.

Vinz Clortho · 2026-04-10T19:33:43-0500

CBM1590
Visited with gentleman that I bought the watch from for about an hour this evening. He let me photograph him holding the now running again Accutron. He got a little sentimental when he put it up to his ear and listened to it.

He has an amazing leather shop that he’s been working since 1972. He had a few items of interest from his service years hanging in the shop.I blacked out his name, but you can see the pics of the USS Boston and the handwritten note for his coms work on the submarine, USS Bang.

He’s said he’d teach me a bit about leather and help me build a strap. Looking forward to learning and listening to his old stories.

Very cool getting his reaction and being able to get some great stories. Definitely adds to the overall history of the watch and bet the custom strap is going to look great.

Side note, one of the guys in my Marksman/Shooting club was on the USS Clagmore (SS 343), not sure if it's the exact same sub layout but they were serving together around the same time.

Picked up a 1967 Bulova Accutron with Provenance

CBM1590

Dan S

Vinz Clortho

CBM1590

Vinz Clortho

Waltesefalcon

CBM1590

jshopper1

Canuck

jshopper1

jshopper1

CBM1590

CBM1590

Vinz Clortho

CBM1590

Walrus

CBM1590

Vinz Clortho

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