Last night marked the start of an ongoing Accutron exhibition that we’ll be hosting at our Analog:Shift headquarters in NYC – and the watch community came out in full force.
We were graced by the presence of the entire Accutron team including Michael Benavente, managing director of the brand and an experienced Accutron collector and historian, as well the brand’s sales manager, Richard Callamaras. It was a night dedicated to learning more about a storied company that has been forging their own path since the debut of the revolutionary Spaceview in the 1960’s. More importantly, it was a night dedicated to Accutron’s next chapter.
The Accutron Spaceview’s revolutionary tuning fork regulator and its dial-less design disrupted the entire watch industry upon its release, putting the spotlight entirely on its futuristic heart, hiding nothing, and showing everything. The Spaceview was representative of a new age, bucking the old guard and embracing the new.
Fast forward to 2020, and solely under the Accutron name – it was once a product of Bulova – the brand released the next wave of high-tech movements with their Accutron Electrostatic caliber. This innovative movement, which was on full display at the ‘Tipping Point’ exhibition, is a marvel of micromechanical engineering. But how does it work exactly?
Recalling a scene from middle school science class, an animated Callamaras showed us exactly how the movement works – albeit on a much larger scale via the use of a Wimshurst Generator. Through the principle of induction, this machine generates visible sparks between two moveable electrodes. Accutron was able to utilize this principle idea within the Spaceview 2020 with their proprietary Electrostatic caliber, which utilizes a pair of turbines powered by the inertia generated by the wearer’s movement – much like a traditional rotor weight. Through an ongoing interaction between the turbines and a pair of mounted electrodes, an electrical charge is stored into an “accumulator,” which then distributes the energy to the two motors responsible for hour, minute and seconds hands. As is the case with its predecessor, every component is in view, and we must say – it’s something you must experience in person.
We pride ourselves on curating vintage timepieces with great stories. The more provenance, the better. Last night, Accutron truly outdid themselves in this department by presenting something special and cool – Elvis Presely’s personal Accutron 521. With its ‘TV’ shaped profile and matching gold woven bracelet inspired by crocodile straps, for one night at Analog:Shift, the King’s watch was in the building.
Accutron’s “The Tipping Point” exhibition will be on display at Analog:Shift headquarters for the next two months and includes an array of vintage fixtures, brand artifacts and, of course, archival watches – all of which you can check out in our Photo Recap below. Enjoy!
