Tianjin Dianzibiao - Accutron 214 Clone

[Uscjake87]

This is by far, the weirdest watch in my collection and counts as a "unique watch" since very few are known to exist or were made at all. The Accutron was an amazing advancement in technology in the 1960s. A few companies wanted to replicate the 214 tuning fork movement and only one did a true clone which was Slava Transistor. Tianjin must have wanted to piggy back on the success of the tuning fork movement, so they stole most of the design. The movement itself looks like a 214 at first, but it has a side exiting stem versus a back setting stem. This was probably done so they could mass produce the watches using existing Tianjin cases/casebacks on the production line. Reviving this watch has taken over 2.5 years. I sent it to Rob Berkavicious who did an amazing break down of the components of the watch to compare it to a normal 214 accutron. So much kudos to him for his time and efforts. Unfortunately, the coils were dead. I recently sent it to Chris Radek and he rigged up his coil repair machine. At last, it was running and humming again! I suspect there are about 10 of these watches left on the planet, so I feel lucky to have one of the only running ones. This project was documented on another forum I more frequently use, so for more details and to see the comparison of this watch to 214 caliber parts, please check it out here: Watch Talk Forums.

Some nice macro shots by Rob Berkavicious.



A picture of the movement and new stem.

Chris Radek putting it on life support to figure out the electronics (which were all dead and needed replacement).


Freshly rewound coil. Chris Radek does 214/218 coils.

 

[Uscjake87]

Further break down of the movement and comparison to the Accutron 214 gear train and tuning fork.

 

[Borosilikat]

Very interesting piece ! I have a spaceview 214 myself so this is very cool to see.

 

[ElectricWM]

Meet my Chinese hummer !

 

[ElectricWM]

You want strange ?

here’s another Chinese tuning fork watch.

I don’t have a name or movement number for it.
It does run after a quick service and some harvesting of parts.

 

[UncleBuck]

ElectricWM

I don’t have a name or movement number for it.

Dian Zi Biao translates to "something anti-west"

Anyway, that's what my friend said.


Edited to comply with the correctness this forum deserves.
We are not a high school locker room as a friend recently pointed out.

Edited: Oct 14, 2022

 

[byunjoe]

Fascinating read! I learn something new everyday! How easy (or hard) is it to repair these watches? The electronics side seem simple enough to do with hand soldering... I assume parts are not easy to come by?

 

[Uscjake87]

Parts are non-existent. The Accutron 214 style are not clones like the Slava transistor. So there isn't any way to exchange some parts like you can on the Slava. My watchmaker had a few clever solutions to fix the electronics and rewound a coil.

 

[ElectricWM]

Chinese hummer on my wrist today.

 

[Canuck]

Citizen Watch Co. now owns Bulova. To honour an anniversary of the Accutron 214 model Spaceview, Citizen produced a clone of the original Bulova movement. I recently had a look at one, and it looks very much like the Bulova version of the 214 model. But nothing interchanges between the two. The Citizen version of the 214 Spaceview has to go to Japan for repair, I am told. Local distributors of Citizen will not (can not?) service them.

 

[ElectricWM]

many parts are interchangeable with the 214. Not the coils.