25 October 2015 | Bulova , 30 minutes on the wrist

If you are familiar with the “About” section of this site, you should know already that my passion for watches started with a Bulova Accutron and that, unfortunately, I have no idea of the whereabouts of that particular watch. Curiously enough, if you browse the site's section devoted to the different watch brands, you won't find any article about the American brand and it might sound a bit strange considering that it is Bulova and its technology that have taken me where I am now. Accutron 2 is the modern version of a specific technology type that dominated the market from the 60s onward and that culminated in the so-called “quartz revolution”.
Some of the pictures accompanying my articles were taken when I visited important European watch events and fairs or were the result of my collaboration relationships with specific brands but some other pictures simply portray watches that are part of my personal collection and let me stress the fact that once I have purchased a timepiece, there is no way I am going to resell it. I had carefully planned the purchase of a Bulova watch and I was looking for something that could satisfy both my passion for the brand's innovative technology and my personal taste. The Bulova Accutron 2 Surveyor Chronograph has been launched quite recently, until last March (at least in Italy) the Accutron 2 collection consisted of numerous three-hand watches only, the most famous of which is the Accutron 2 Alpha one. Never before had chronograph versions belonged to this specific collection and it is quite strange that this launch hasn't taken place during a watch fair. In Bulova's eyes, Baselworld 2016 is probably not taking place soon enough to fulfill the market's needs or maybe the brand is planning a launch that has never be seen before.

Not everyone is aware that Bulova is currently trying to re-brand itself, it has been part of the Citizen Watch group for a while now (I am not aware how long it has been though) and that means that the brand has full access to a whole world of technologies and investment opportunities and that it is solidly backed up by a group that is a market leader in the field of quartz technologies (together with Seiko and Casio of course.) Bulova adopts the UHF technology (Ultra High Frequency) and that is probably the main reason why you should purchase a Bulova watch in the first place, the brand is worldwide known for this type of technology; a quartz technology introduced in 1960 that features a 262kHZ frequency rather than the typical 32kHZ one. The main characteristics of this type of technology is that the seconds hand runs more smoothly if compared to that of a classical mechanical watch and that the precision rate can't be matched, not even by a 32kHZ quartz watch.

In my opinion, if you are going to buy your first Bulova watch, you should opt for an Accutron Alpha and if you manage to secure one of the 1000 existing specimen of the Bulova Accutron Limited Edition Spaceview (retailing now at 3,500 euros) you should definitely go for it. When I decided to purchase a Bulova watch, I was looking for a timepiece featuring the brand's innovative technology but since I knew that I was going to buy a watch to use on a daily basis, I decided to go for something that wouldn't bore me after a while (I was scared something like that would have happened had I opted for an Alpha). According to non-official sources, the Bulova Accutron 2 Surveyor Chronograph is the re-edition of a former Bulova watch (I couldn't find online which one exactly) and, in my opinion, it perfectly puts together the UHF technology and the classic three-counter-architecture. The case measures 41mm and it's pretty standard for Bulova but the idea of coupling it with a purple red dial that is soft at the edges, makes this timepiece one of Bulova's most interesting watches currently available on the market and possibly the company's best chronograph belonging to the Accutron II collection.
 One of the three counters (the one positioned at 6 o' clock) is used for the small seconds and it is not continuous in this type of architecture, the 1/10 second counter is placed at 3, while the counter placed at 9 o 'clock is the chronograph minutes counter that can count up to 60 minutes. The resetting of the central chronograph hand is not instantaneous but it is actually carried out through a slow and continuous movement that goes up to 12 o' clock, while the chrono buttons are very soft. One pro and one con about this timepiece; the oversized turning fork-shaped-logo at 12 o' clock that is used as a the chronograph central seconds hand's tip too, I find that it is the perfect logo if you are planning to use it as applied index and it also has an extra use. I found out that on my timepiece (that was bought online from the US) the chronograph seconds hand is not exactly centered, I probably purchased what you call a “second choice” watch. This is not the con I was talking about before though; for a price of about 600 euros (at the current rate of exchange), I would expect my watch to feature a sapphire crystal rather than a mineral one, the final result is completely different.

The Bulova Accutron 2 Surveyor Chronograph is a timepiece that I would purchase again (this time I would opt for an authorized dealer though), it is not your usual watch featuring a classic style and movement; the three characteristics that badly affected more than one Swiss watch manufacturer in the recent past. You don't need to be an expert or an engineer who constantly looks into every single feature of a watch before buying this chronograph, the simple fact that it adopts an exclusive technology already makes this watch unique and very personal and when style, proportions and colours are also matching with this perfection (the attached pics are self-explanatory, aren't they?) you will find that special exclusiveness become even bigger. Again, given the accessible but not exactly inexpensive price of this timepiece, I would expect the Bulova Accutron 2 Surveyor Chronograph to feature a sapphire crystal.

Gaetano C. @Horbiter
TWITTER @Gaetano Cimmino

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