# Bulova 262 kHz vs Seiko Spring Drive?



## mystic nerd

Today I did a brief study of the Seiko Spring Drive movement vs the Bulova 262 kHz design.
The smooth second hand operation of these movements is what led me to examine both, for a comparison. So far as I know, these are the only movements currently made with smooth second hands and quartz time measurement.

Granted, it's not a fair comparison, with Seiko's Spring Drive watches priced well into the thousands of dollars, vs Bulova's priced in the low to mid hundreds.
Seiko boasts superb levels of finish in all visible areas of the watch, and equally superb attention to detail in internal construction. While I've been more than pleased with the appearance of my Bulovas, I fully expect that a Grand Seiko would outshine them in appearance when examined closely.

*Accuracy:*
Seiko: Seiko advertises +/- 1 second per day for their Spring Drive. Owners reporting +/- 15 seconds per month is not uncommon. The movement action is controlled by a quartz oscillator crystal.
- Depending on the user's demand for precision, I estimate the watch could run 4-10 weeks before a reset.
Bulova: Bulova claimed an accuracy of +/- 10 seconds per year when the series was first introduced. However that claim isn't still being made.
- I expect to not need to reset my Bulovas between daylight savings changeovers. I set both of mine on Nov 5 and six weeks later, they're still within a second of my radio/atomic Casio which updates itself every night. That's a variation of under one second per month. I suspect these watches fully achieve the originally claimed +/- 10 seconds per year, in nearly all cases.

*Power Reserve:*
The Seiko is powered by a mainspring, which is wound as a typical automatic watch is wound. Power reserve is 2-8 days depending on model.
The Bulova is battery powered. Battery life estimate is in the neighborhood of two years, less if a chronograph version is frequently used as a chronograph. Most quartz watches have a longer battery life, but the smooth second hand movement requires more power.

*Smooth Second Hand:*
Here is where both these movements shine.
Seiko's Spring Drive boasts a smooth gliding second hand. Can't beat that.
Bulova's 262 kHz movement watches have the second hand moving at 16 ticks per second. [EDIT] Reportedly, some run at eight ticks per second. [/EDIT]. That's enough to give a near-perfect illusion of a smoothly running hand.
I videoed one of mine in slow motion and counted the ticks, sixteen per second.
However, this is not the case for Bulova'[s chronograph versions. Those designs have a small subdial second hand, which ticks twice per second.

I have a lot of respect for the Grand Seiko Spring Drive movement. If price were truly no object for me, I probably would want to have one. Even in that situation though, I think I'd keep some Bulova 262 kHz watches.


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## topol2

mystic nerd said:


> *Accuracy:*
> Seiko: Seiko advertises +/- 1 second per day for their Spring Drive. Owners reporting +/- 15 seconds per month is not uncommon. The movement action is controlled by a quartz oscillator crystal.
> - Depending on the user's demand for precision, I estimate the watch could run 4-10 weeks before a reset.
> Bulova: Bulova claimed an accuracy of +/- 10 seconds per year when the series was first introduced. However that claim isn't still being made.
> - I expect to not need to reset my Bulovas between daylight savings changeovers. I set both of mine on Nov 5 and six weeks later, they're still within a second of my radio/atomic Casio which updates itself every night. That's a variation of under one second per month. I suspect these watches fully achieve the originally claimed +/- 10 seconds per year, in nearly all cases.
> 
> .


I have several Bulova 262 watches and from DST set to un-set (aproximately 8 months) one of them lost 5 seconds and one gained 5 seconds so I concur on accuracy.


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## odd_and_vintage_fan

Split the difference and go for a tuning fork Accuquartz?


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## mystic nerd

odd_and_vintage_fan said:


> Split the difference and go for a tuning fork Accuquartz?


[Edited]

I found this:
http://electric-watches.co.uk/movement-types/quartz-control-with-tuning-fork/

At +/- maybe 10 sec per month (I don't know if this is right), the Accuquartz would be quite accurate, with sweep second hand, at maybe 1-2x the price of a Precisionist or Accutron II. Is that about right?

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## DaveK12

The three hander 262 movements are all 16 Hz. The precisionist chrono is, too. The Accutron II/Lunar Pilot movement is 2 Hz on the subdial, 8 Hz on the chrono. I think the Curv is 2 Hz on both functions. Watching this, I actually think that the 1/10 dial only makes 1/5 movements.


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## odd_and_vintage_fan

mystic nerd said:


> [Edited]
> 
> I found this:
> Quartz Control with Tuning Fork - Electric Watches
> 
> At +/- maybe 10 sec per month (I don't know if this is right), the Accuquartz would be quite accurate, with sweep second hand, at maybe 1-2x the price of a Precisionist or Accutron II. Is that about right?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yup, that's the one. Current auctions listings in the $150 to $200 range for acceptable condition and running, so on par with the street price for the Accutron II Surveyor. Service costs would be on top of that.

I like my battery-powered oddities. I like Bulova's stop-gap idea of using the existing tuning fork as a stepper motor instead of as the timekeeper and slaving it to the quartz module until they could build a more standard quartz movement.

The 218 movement may not have the quartz module, but you can keep it matching a reference time by storing it upright with either 12 (to slow) or 6 (to speed up) at the top. At 360 "ticks" per second, it all blurs together into one smooth motion.

Spring Drive is definitely on the "some day" list. I like that it's the exact opposite to my Landeron 4750. One is a rotor winding a mainspring, generating power for a quartz timekeeper and the other is a battery being used to oscillate a balance wheel. With both in the collection, I'd have all the parts to make one automatic watch and one quartz watch. :-D


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## yankeexpress

Down the road, the Spring Drive will require an expensive trip to Japan for Seiko-only maintenance.

The Bulova will only require batteries.


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## mystic nerd

These Accuquartz watches are tempting. Thanks for this - I did not know about them.

So, questions:

Should I expect accuracy on par with a typical quartz watch?

eBay listings usually don't mention case diameter. What size cases will I find for these? 34-35 mm looks so small these days.

Are they hackable?

If a seller says its running, can I figure a 90% likelihood that it's OK mechanically?

I saw an eBay listing for one, stating that one should set the date only between 9-11 pm, with some unusual procedure. True?

odd and vintage, I also have a battery powered watch with a balance wheel. A Sheffield "Transistorized", with movement by ATO. It keeps good time; I keep it in line by resting it in various positions as you described for a 218.


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## appleb

The Bulova Precisionists are great value for what you get. I own a 96B229 and it gains +0.5sec per month.


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## journeyforce

Hello,


The Accutron 214, 218 and Acuquartz 224 should all give quartz like accuracy. When these arrived in 1960, they were considered very futuristic. They had no visible crown (the Accutron 214 had a setting lever hidden in the back of the watch), had a sweep second hand(like an electric clock) and hummed.


You should try to get one from a seller that can prove it was serviced. Just because a seller puts a battery in the watches does not mean it is working all the way. They need servicing also.


Accutrons and Accuquartz watches have the battery installed differently then a quartz watch. On a Accutron/Accuquartz the positive side(the side with the writing on it) is installed down.


They are fun watches to own. Here is a few pics of the latest Accutron I own. I bought it from a friend that services them and it looks great. These are his pics


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