Bulova 1974 Accutron Calendar

Submitted by el-ooose on February 15, 2011 - 1:55pm
Manufacture Year
1974
Movement Model
2181
Movement Jewels
15
Case Serial No.
-
Case shape
Round
Case color
Yellow
Case Manufacturer
Bulova
Gender
Mens
Watch Description

Here is a very nice 218, electroplate case is excellent and the dial is mint. Difficult to find with the date above the six. There is another model with day date, day  below twelve and date above six but they are fairly difficult to find especially in good condition. This configuration always sells at a premium.

Bulova watch
Bulova watch
Bulova watch
William Smith
Posted March 17, 2012 - 2:46pm

two stars for this ID....as it's gotta be a subset thereof?  When subset series name or matching model name ad/doc surfaces, it's ID'ed further.  Is this logical?  I'd like to hear from folks who would not at least rate as "not confirmed" one star.  It had zero stars until today.

William Smith
Posted June 11, 2012 - 10:31pm

To be consistent, I've changed my vote to confirmed....

even though I just checked nine 218's in the watch DB, and not a one of them had a jewel count....

NOVA
Posted June 11, 2012 - 10:59pm

In reply to by William Smith

Jewel counts aren't something you should expect to see on a 214 or 218.  I have just two Accutrons with a tuning fork and jewels, and they are ladies' models--the 2301 and 2302 movements.  I have ten other distinct Accutron tuning fork movements, and, if they have jewels, they don't list them on the movement.

UPDATE:  I was just reading on the NAWCC site that early Accutron tuning fork movements had jewels, but later ones were made without them.  I need to do more research on this topic.  For example, do the Accutrons with jewels state the jewel count on the movement, or was that information routinely omitted?

YET ANOTHER UPDATE:  Further reading revealed a correction to the assertion that some Accutron tuning forks were not jeweled.  Apparently, they all were, just with fewer jewels as time went by and Bulova tried to cut costs/prices.  (There is an ad touting a cheaper Accutron in the very late 1970s).  So, apparently, they had jewels, but typically did not list the jewel count on the movements.

William Smith
Posted June 11, 2012 - 11:04pm

In reply to by NOVA

THanks Lisa   I only checked Dr Ranfft's site for 218 family, and was too lazy to open up the couple 218's I have laying around.   

NOVA
Posted June 11, 2012 - 11:08pm

In reply to by William Smith

I don't know exactly how many Accutrons I have, but it's a bunch, and only the two ladies' models mentioned above state the jewel count on the movement.  I'm not saying that it didn't happen at some point in time, only that I have only seen it in those two examples.  That may explain why it's not included in the database listings for Accutrons here on myBulova.

William Smith
Posted June 11, 2012 - 11:14pm

In reply to by NOVA

That may explain why we don't see jewel count listed.  Now I gotta dig out my ladies Accutron and take the effort to open her up!

oliverb
Posted June 11, 2012 - 11:15pm

All 6 calibers of the Accutron tuning fork movement were jeweled - during all years of production. Each caliber sported it's specific number of jewels. I have to do a little research as I can't remember the actual count for each caliber. I have several examples of all 6 calibers Bulova produced between 1960 - 1977 and will check them. I do know that all 218s had 13 jewels. The 219s and 224s were based on the 218 movement. I think the jewel count for 214s was 17. I won't say that Bulova actually tried to reduce the number of jewels to reduce production costs although, there is some truth to that  in the 219 caliber. The smaller calibers of 221 and 230 have fewer jewels because they were designed to be smaller and with fewer moving parts to fit in Ladies cases. I guess that also saved on production costs.

William Smith
Posted June 11, 2012 - 11:17pm

In reply to by oliverb

Thanks again oliverb.  It's great to hear this info, as I'v just not had enough interest in Accutrons to even open mine (other than to remove the batteries for storage).  Now I really gotta take the effort to open up my small caliber ladies Accutron.....

NOVA
Posted June 11, 2012 - 11:56pm

Ranftt lists the 219 series as having only 8 jewels, so that would be a significant reduction from earlier Accutron tuning forks.  That would go along with the single-coil design of the 219 and support the idea of a lower cost Accutron--lower cost to make and lower cost to buy.

oliverb
Posted June 11, 2012 - 11:57pm

Correction: (memory plays tricks) 17 jewels for 214 caliber, 15 jewels for 218 caliber and 13 jewels for 230 caliber. Still working on 219, 221 and 224 calibers. AFAIK, all sub calibers of each main caliber contained the same number of jewels.