# New Accutron Spaceview 2020



## NardinNut (Sep 22, 2008)

Did a search and didn't find a thread about the new Spaceview 2020 and DNA watches. Thought there should definitely be one!

I'm not typically a fan of quartz but these are seriously cool. The original Accutron Spaceview was an important watch and I'm glad to see a new Spaceview design with advancements.









Introducing: The Accutron Spaceview 2020 And Accutron Spaceview DNA (Live Pics & Pricing)


A name from the past becomes a symbol of the future.




www.hodinkee.com


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## Captain Bluebeard (Jan 21, 2018)

Unfortunately this is another own goal ... it's way too big and way too expensive !!! 43.5mm diameter and 15.9mm thick for the Spaceview 2020, and the DNA models are even bigger. First comment in the Hodinkee article: "Everything about this has gone terribly wrong... Diameter, pricing, aesthetics, all of it." I'd sadly have to agree ...

There is however also a new "Legacy" range which has some automatic versions of some classic designs, which look well executed to me ...









Legacy


The sophisticated Accutron Legacy Collection revives some of the most memorable Accutron watches. Originally created during the heady 1960s, they took inspiration from the design-centric, fashion-forward attitudes of that time.




www.accutronwatch.com





In particular this one : 2SW6C001


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## joedigital (Aug 23, 2014)

They should really make the coils and the electronics higher quality and more "viewable" on this watch (maybe throw in a resistor just for show.. haha)... I think that's the whole point of the space view. just looking at that junky standard looking small quartz coil makes me think of something you'd get at the dollar store


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## odd_and_vintage_fan (Dec 4, 2014)

What killed my interest was that a Spring Drive can be had new for slightly less. Bulova is aiming way out of their league on this one. For $1k, maybe. For $4k, forget about it.

I was looking forward to the new Accutron. :-(


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## NardinNut (Sep 22, 2008)

odd_and_vintage_fan said:


> What killed my interest was that a Spring Drive can be had new for slightly less. Bulova is aiming way out of their league on this one. For $1k, maybe. For $4k, forget about it.
> 
> I was looking forward to the new Accutron. :-(


Totally agree the price is far too high. At 1500~ it would be easier to get excited about it. The size is relative to what someone likes, but for me, the DNA version is a flat no just from size alone. The 2020 non DNA is big but dimensions alone are deceiving. My Memovox is a hair over 15mm thick but doesn't wear a that way. It's very comfortable and I typically dislike anything thicker than 14mm


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## minuteman62 (Jul 18, 2015)

These are pre-orders and show shipping Oct/Nov 2020. No way would I ever buy one of these. Prices are.... Well you fill in the blank______


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## 357-Mag (Jul 24, 2020)

Beautiful watches, all of them. The electrostatic movement is a first for a watch and it's exciting to see something new for a change... At $1,200 I would place an order today, but I agree $3,000 seems a bit much.

The Legacy watches though...wow. Those captured my interest more than the Spaceview 2020. The sizes are perfect and designs are exactly what I want to see more of. I don't understand why they're branding them Accutron though. Hasn't that always meant accuracy + electronics? These should've been labeled 2nd gen Bulova Accu-Swiss instead.


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## weebergy (Feb 23, 2020)

What a terrible missed opportunity. I love my Bulova 292 and recently I'm thinking to get one of those curv watches as the price dropped to a realistic level. 

When the prototype come out last year I was excited and thinking to save up for one when it's released. But they messed it up. The price is less of an issue, as orders don't come in they will drop it Invicta style I think. 
But the SIZE!!!! How the hell they end up with these sizes, especially the thickness... even if the price drops it would be out of my reach as I refuse to wear anything over 13mm...


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## ReallyBored (Dec 19, 2018)

The new Spaceviews are a hard pass for me. Too big and too expensive. But I'm glad they made it. I'll probably never see one out in the wild, but, hey, you never know.

The Legacy watches are definitely more interesting to me. The pricing might be a bit high, but maybe the in-store prices will be lower? I noticed that the dealer list for the Accutrons is only 19 names long, and pretty heavy on jewelers. I wonder if they're planning to skip the typical Citizen distribution channels (Macy's, etc...).


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## odd_and_vintage_fan (Dec 4, 2014)

I was speaking with the Mrs. about my disappointment in this and she hit me with some hard truth. I'm not the target market. 

I was born after the originals were out of production, so I don't have the nostalgia regardless of size and I don't have the years of raises to be earning a salary where the price is disposable income.

I'm also not the Hodinkee 20-something with disposable family money.

To those that buy it, enjoy.


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## minuteman62 (Jul 18, 2015)

I am old school and prefer the originals when they were first introduced and not new stuff. It will attract a certain crowd but that is not my cup of tea and no matter what, they are way too expensive, at least the listing price. These are my preferred Spaceviews. (partial Collection)


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## tayloreuph (Mar 9, 2015)

The idea of market is an interesting one. What could you buy, vintage Accutron wise for $3-4K? White gold Astro? Original Spaceview? Swiss Astro w/day-night bezel? Serviced, natch. 
The size... meh. 
I get it though, Bulova has done alright with larger watches for Precisionist. I agree things are moving smaller, and they got the memo for the new Devil Divers. 
I DONT like the reissues. I don’t like crowns being where they shouldn’t. I don’t like a reissue of a RR approved watch that won’t meet RR standard. I HATE the crown on the Alpha case, the symmetry is what makes that case style work. 
And besides, you can get the original of most of those for less than they’re asking for a reissue. Isn’t that a problem? 


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## odd_and_vintage_fan (Dec 4, 2014)

tayloreuph, I didn't even see the legacy collection. That's what the Accutron II collection should have been, with the same sweeping quartz movement.


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## tmathes (Jan 11, 2013)

The Legacy selection to my surprise are just automatics; love some of the classic Accutron designs but automatics? I'd rather have a standard quartz movement in there just to be more accurate than a mechanical watch like the originals were (and cost about 1/2 to 1/3 the price of a mechanical). Maybe stuff the 262kHz movements from the old Accutron II in there instead like Odd and Vintage Fan alluded.

I said in the other Accutron thread, this line has Timex's "TX" line's fate written all over it. The Legacy line in particular just seems wrong for what this new brand represents.


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## ReallyBored (Dec 19, 2018)

For the purists, Accutron will always mean the tuning fork movement. But Bulova has never been shy about using that name for other movement types as well. From the Accutron quartz's from the late '70s onward to the Accutron II's with the 262kHz quartz. They even used the Accutron name in the late 2000s in their Swiss mechanical line, which they later re-named Accu-Swiss. (I'm wearing one of mine today!).

As someone pointed out in one of the other threads, the Legacy line is basically a continuation of the Accu-Swiss line. The difference being that the Legacy's use truer case designs and smaller sizes. I agree that it's a bit jarring to see some of these iconic tuning fork cases with mechanical movements inside, but I don't hold it against them. It's just a modern way to enjoy an old design. Hamilton has actually been doing it for years with their Ventura watch, which now has either a quartz movement or an automatic, rather than the original's electric balance-wheel movement.

Of course, if the Legacy line is a flop, then I'll just buy them up on ebay at liquidation prices (which is basically how I bought my Accu-Swiss watches).


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## jhdscript (Apr 4, 2017)

Accutron is an amazing timepiece !


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## odd_and_vintage_fan (Dec 4, 2014)

ReallyBored said:


> For the purists, Accutron will always mean the tuning fork movement. But Bulova has never been shy about using that name for other movement types as well. From the Accutron quartz's from the late '70s onward to the Accutron II's with the 262kHz quartz. They even used the Accutron name in the late 2000s in their Swiss mechanical line, which they later re-named Accu-Swiss. (I'm wearing one of mine today!).


I'll admit I was born almost a decade after they moved to the quartz movements. Still, I liked that Bulova's marketing came up with Accutron by smashing together "Accuracy" and "Electronics". In my mind, any watch that increases accuracy by its use of electronics is worthy of that mantle. The original quartz movements, and later the Precisionist and 262 kHz movements lived up to this.

Slapping an off-the-shelf automatic movement into watch and putting a tuning fork on the dial does not an Accutron make.

It's not like Hamilton is putting "Electric" on the dial of the new Venturas.


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## tayloreuph (Mar 9, 2015)

It is a Swiss movement. 








So the idea that these are a continuation of the Accu-Swiss line holds up, but... why?
How successful was Accu-Swiss? The watches are nice, I'd love to have one, but I don't think they sold gangbusters or we'd still have them around. 
I can appreciate the idea of throwback watches, like the 41mm Devil Divers, or the Automatic Surfboard, which hew to vintage sizes as well as design, but I just can't get past the Alpha. Or the 203. It's just wrong.

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## ReallyBored (Dec 19, 2018)

I think the short answer to "why" is that Citizen simply wanted to give it another shot.

As for the long answer... the original Swiss Accutron / Accu-Swiss project ran from about 2004-2015 (give or take). Citizen bought Bulova in 2007, so the project had already begun by that time. But it's not like they quickly killed it and liquidated the inventory. Instead they let it run for another 7-8 years. Some of the more popular models such as the Murren actually came towards the end of the Accu-Swiss project. My interpretation of this is that Citizen had high hopes that the Accu-Swiss project would succeed, and they must have been pretty disappointed that they had to eventually kill it.

In the meantime, Citizen bought Swiss movement maker La Joux-Perret in 2012, and, not long after killing the Accu-Swiss project, turned around and bought Frederique Constant / Alpina in 2016. So they were obviously bullish on Swiss made watches, and it was just a question of how they were going to enter that market.

To me it seems natural that they would at least try to circle around and try it again with Bulova. And it's not like they didn't carefully dip their toes in the water first. A couple of years ago when they brought out the new Oceanographers, they also included a smaller, Swiss-made, limited edition version. Then they followed that up with a Swiss-made limited edition Surfboard, and also the limited edition Joseph Bulova line. I'm sure they're marketing folks took a thorough look at how those watches were received, before they decided to relaunch these new Legacy watches.

And in the end, if the Legacy line is a flop, then they'll all eventually show up on ebay where folks can buy them at bargain prices (I sort of like the stainless steel Football).


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## Stu47 (Jun 22, 2020)

Interesting... I missed the "Legacy" models.....but they missed the boat on those too (IMHO). The beauty of the Accutron was that it never needed winding or to be worn. I battery/year and you were GTG. They do not understand their customers/fan-base. Granted, a LE watch (ie 600 units) with a quartz movement might be tough sell at $1400 MSRP. I am just not that interested in any automatic watch at that price. They should offer those legacy watches with 262kHz movements (if they can make it fit in those case) or make a smaller version of the 262kHz movement.


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## tayloreuph (Mar 9, 2015)

The Sinatra line has a quartz and the new Frank Lloyd Wright collection has 2 quartz models I think. But not the Joseph Bulova collection. 
Interesting


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## wolfhead (May 20, 2018)

Accutron engineer: We have the answer to Spring Drive!
Citizen: Awesome! let's price our watches at GS level.
Marketing:
























(images from Accutron Watches | Official Site)


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## ZIPPER79 (Jan 23, 2008)

Those new "space view" watches have a distracting dial.....


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## Jauto (Feb 27, 2018)

wolfhead said:


> Accutron engineer: We have the answer to Spring Drive!
> Citizen: Awesome! let's price our watches at GS level.
> Marketing:
> View attachment 15417066
> ...


You'd think that with the MSRPs being so high, the marketing budget would have stretched to hire the real deal instead of having to use impersonators:


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## Tsujigiri (Nov 28, 2008)

Does anyone know where these are made? Can't find any info anywhere on that, weird for a watch costing that much.


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## CCR1983 (Sep 14, 2020)

Seconded, I would love to have a little more info on the provenance


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## 357-Mag (Jul 24, 2020)

Since Accutron belongs to Citizen/Bulova it would most likely be Hong Kong or Japan. Pretty sure the movement is made in Japan.


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## tayloreuph (Mar 9, 2015)

Tsujigiri said:


> Does anyone know where these are made? Can't find any info anywhere on that, weird for a watch costing that much.


Japanese movement

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## Tzolkintime (Jan 3, 2020)

odd_and_vintage_fan said:


> I was speaking with the Mrs. about my disappointment in this and she hit me with some hard truth. I'm not the target market.
> 
> I was born after the originals were out of production, so I don't have the nostalgia regardless of size and I don't have the years of raises to be earning a salary where the price is disposable income.
> 
> ...


Mrs. *odd_and_vintage_fan absolutely nailed that one. Of course, all the accumulated wealth in a certain percentage of the population, once a much smaller sized slice of the overall sales pie, has grown significantly in recent years. *


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## FROG (Nov 17, 2009)

I just saw some YouTube videos of the watch in action and I am actually kind of blown away. It has something that only the spring drive and zenith defy lab have managed to create in recent years: A totally novel and unique watch movement. 

Not only that, but the motion on the dial is mesmerizing. Quite frankly, the price doesn’t bother me at all - compared to all the Swiss watches out there rocking ETA and Valjoux movements, this is competitively priced. I want one!


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## Viper98912 (Feb 27, 2018)

I like it, except that the electrostatic drive is only for the seconds hand. The minute and hour hands are regular stepper motors. If the entire geartrain was ran off the electrostatic drive, that would've been excellent.


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## mozo (Aug 17, 2018)

I have a vintage Accutron that I love. I love this new one too, the electrostatic movement is awesomely cool.

But I don't love it $3K-$4K. Price it at $1200 and i'd be all over it. Can't see paying more than that.


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## tayloreuph (Mar 9, 2015)

I’m going to wait. I think those will float down the price chain after a while. But it might not be until 2023, and who know what new hotness will come down the line by then 


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## Rocket1991 (Mar 15, 2018)

Looks interesting!!!


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## adviser (Oct 12, 2020)

They do look nice!


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## Motorcycle Man (Feb 7, 2018)

I did a brief search as to how you activate the new movement when run down. Anybody have a clue? Shake it?...


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