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Show 'EM your Accutron Astronaut (s)

keepsonticking
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I just happened on my first AA, so what better time to start this thread? I did check for old threads and found two that seemed to be dedicated to AAs, but one was more about space flight and the other might be seen as just one guy's thread about his AA.

These are some fairly significant watches, in my estimation. Their history is proud, and they are known to be reliable and tough....and accurate. One interesting aspect is the seemingly endless combination of dials, bezels, hands, bracelets, straps. Here's the well-used piece that is supposed to arrive here tomorrow. [Think I should leave that crust around the bezel/crystal? wabi sabi? patina? character? My main fear would be tetanus.]
astro1.jpg
 
keepsonticking
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IMG_7201.jpeg
Maybe this will just be my own special thread. All mine. But I have a question for any astronaut enthusiast. I got my watch cleaned up and swapped out the abused crystal. And I am looking at the bezel. In many photos I see of the day/night bezels, they appear black and white. Mine is absolutely original, and it seems to be bare steel and black. Not white and black. Also, most of these bezels look very new. Oh, and some sources say they are enamel, but I’m not seeing that. Anyone know anything about this?
 
Waltesefalcon
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What year is yours? I'm a bit surprised to see that it has no white on the day half of the bezel. I've never seen that before. Everything else about it looks pretty normal. I like the silver dials and sometimes think about finding one to compliment my standard black dialed one. Here is mine, it is an M3.

20210622_143953.jpg
Edited:
 
keepsonticking
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Waltesefalcon Waltesefalcon
What year is yours? I'm a bit surprised to see that it has no white on the day half of the bezel. I've never seen that before. Everything else about it looks pretty normal. I like the silver dials and sometimes think about finding one to compliment my standard black dialed one. Here is mine, it is an M3.

20210622_143953.jpg
It's a 68. I'm wondering if the black and white are just paint, and maybe the paint has worn off. I can't believe it was enamel. If it is just paint, I would expect that it would be worn on most watches. It would likely have scratches, etc. I also wonder if the bright white and clean black examples I see are re painted. It's not a common bezel. Maybe many are not original finish. Mine is worn.
 
keepsonticking
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I found a photo of one almost identical to mine. It's type O. It's a 67, and the only difference I see is it has a non luminous sweep hand. But it does appear to be black/bare steel, vs black/white bezel. I will say, I wore it some yesterday...not running, and it is very comfortable on the wrist. Here is a photo of the 67 that is NOT mine.
astro type O sold copy.jpg
Edited:
 
V
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Here's my 18K solid gold M1 "Royal Astronaut" on 14K gold rolled Kreisler bracelet. Afaik less then 30 ever made.

unnamed (2).jpg
 
V
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keepsonticking keepsonticking
I found a photo of one almost identical to mine. It's type O. It's a 67, and the only difference I see is it has a non luminous sweep hand. But it does appear to be black/bare steel, vs black/white bezel. I will say, I wore it some yesterday...not running, and it is very comfortable on the wrist. Here is a photo of the 67 that is NOT mine.
astro type O sold copy.jpg

I'm owner of this one, got it while back from Ebay 😀
 
keepsonticking
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I'm about to go at mine with a multi meter to find why it's not running. Never thought I'd say that about fixing a watch. Apparently the two copper coils use INCREDIBLY fine wire, and it tends to break. I wonder if there's room for a wire nut in there.::facepalm1::
 
drose224
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I have a bezel on a 1966 astronaut that needs to be refurbished, repainted or replaced. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thank you. David
 
Waltesefalcon
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drose224 drose224
I have a bezel on a 1966 astronaut that needs to be refurbished, repainted or replaced. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thank you. David
Which bezel is it?
 
drose224
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426346287_352866314374926_3721181572706080064_n.jpg
 
Timecollector
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keepsonticking keepsonticking
IMG_7201.jpeg
Maybe this will just be my own special thread. All mine. But I have a question for any astronaut enthusiast. I got my watch cleaned up and swapped out the abused crystal. And I am looking at the bezel. In many photos I see of the day/night bezels, they appear black and white. Mine is absolutely original, and it seems to be bare steel and black. Not white and black. Also, most of these bezels look very new. Oh, and some sources say they are enamel, but I’m not seeing that. Anyone know anything about this?


Your's is an Astronaut "O" Day/Night. The Astronaut "T" Day/Night is identical except the "T" has a black dial, and the O has a silver dial.


Those day-night bezels are nearly impossible to find nowadays. I bought an OEM unused one many years ago when there were a few for sale on eBay. I haven't seen one in years.
FUJIFILM FinePix6800 ZOOM 651x1125_025485.jpg


The bezel is not that Black enamel like the Black Bezel Swiss Astro's. I can only describe the Day/Night bezel as a kind of frosted silver paint. Very fragile and prone to scratching. Here is a close-up.
P2130026.jpg


Here is my Black Dial Astro 'T'. They did not originally come with a Luminous Sweep secondhand.
astro-day-nightb_49975423551_o.jpg
 
keepsonticking
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Timecollector Timecollector
Your's is an Astronaut "O" Day/Night. The Astronaut "T" Day/Night is identical except the "T" has a black dial, and the O has a silver dial.


Those day-night bezels are nearly impossible to find nowadays. I bought an OEM unused one many years ago when there were a few for sale on eBay. I haven't seen one in years.
FUJIFILM FinePix6800 ZOOM 651x1125_025485.jpg


The bezel is not that Black enamel like the Black Bezel Swiss Astro's. I can only describe the Day/Night bezel as a kind of frosted silver paint. Very fragile and prone to scratching. Here is a close-up.
P2130026.jpg


Here is my Black Dial Astro 'T'. They did not originally come with a Luminous Sweep secondhand.
astro-day-nightb_49975423551_o.jpg
This helps make sense of why the "white" on my day night bezel looks more like bare metal. Apparently the fragile paint nearly all wore off over time. The black dial in the ad shows the correct dial with the small triangles midway between the hour indices. My guess is drose's watch with black dial does not have the small triangles and may have parts from two or more Astronauts, including a Swiss market enamel bezel. I regularly read that all the day night bezels were enamel, but that is clearly not the case. I see no signs of enamel on my US bezel, and I am 100 percent sure the bezel is original on mine, shown at the top of this thread. In fact, looking at my before and after photos, I can see that much of the paint was there before I carefully cleaned it with just water and Q tip. In the after photos, it's clear I removed the white/silver paint.
Edited:
 
Timecollector
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keepsonticking keepsonticking
I should note that the black dial above with day night bezel that was referred to as a "t" does not have the correct bezel. The black dial in the ad shows the correct dial with the small triangles midway between the hour indices. My guess is drose's watch may have parts from two or more Astronauts, including a Swiss market enamel bezel.

Correct. That is a nice but mismatched Astronaut. And the TexOmega watch is a silver dial Astronaut "L".

The black enamel Swiss Type 4 Astro bezels are also unique as the numbers are Lume.
creamdial78_35754073371_o (2).jpg


I own both the Cream and Black Dial Swiss Astro's.
OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. TG-3 678x708_000874.jpg
 
keepsonticking
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Timecollector Timecollector
Correct. That is a nice but mismatched Astronaut. And the TexOmega watch is a silver dial Astronaut "L".

The black enamel Swiss Type 4 Astro bezels are also unique as the numbers are Lume.
creamdial78_35754073371_o (2).jpg


I own both the Cream and Black Dial Swiss Astro's.
OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. TG-3 678x708_000874.jpg
Sharp. I really like the look of the black dial/black bezel.
 
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