ACCUTRON
The Worlds' First Electronic Timepiece
Accutron Makes History:
The new technology was inherently accurate and made the use of escapements and balance wheels unnecessary. Even more incredible is the fact that there are only 12 moving parts in an Accutron 214 movement. The very finest of today's chronometers can have hundreds of moving parts and yet, their balance wheels still can't break a second into more than 8 parts.
A Symbol of its Era:
In
any serious discussion of 20th century technology, Accutron 214
timepieces are acknowledged as an American icon. The
214 project was Introduced by Bulova at a time when America felt
threatened by Russian advances in Spaceflight technology. At the helm was retired
4 star general Omar N.
Bradley.
The "Astronaut" model was worn by pilots of
our experimental X-15
Rocket planes, and Accutron played a vital part
in every US Space mission during the 60's and70's.
Accutron 214 timing devices were essential to the operation of scientific instruments left on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility. The first was carried there in 1969 by the crew of Apollo 11.
The Accutron 214 was declared an American "Gift of State" by President Lyndon Johnson and for over a decade they were given to hundreds of visiting dignitaries.
The 214 was made into panel mount clocks that were installed in ships and on aircraft including Air Force One.
The 214 can reasonably be considered as the prototype for all modern quartz watches.
No other timepiece has had a greater impact on the way that we keep time today.
Many
of us remember 1969 for the pride and the apprehension
that we felt as that manned capsule, mounted atop a huge projectile was
launched into space. For that event TVs were set up in store windows and
at workplaces everywhere so that people could go about their business
without missing the launch and we crowded around those early sets to
witness the historic event at Cape Canaveral. On
that July day
in 1969 at 9:32am
E.S.T, men from Earth began the first journey to set foot on the Moon.
America's "Moon Landing Program" actually
began about eight months after Accutron first appeared in stores.
President John
F. Kennedy delivered a speech before
a joint session of Congress in which he said that America would be the
first nation to land a man on the Moon. That announcement opened an
amazing period in American history. It lead to the creation of N.A.S.A. (National
Aeronautics & Space Administration) and gave birth to the Astronaut
Corps which was comprised of America's best comercial
and military test pilots. That was more than a half century ago.
.
Epilog:
I
have no doubt that all of the Accutron timer-controlled hardware that
Apollo Astronauts left on the Moon will eventually
be collected and brought back to Earth. I only hope that we get to them
first. If so, they will surely be displayed in a moon artifact exhibit
at the Smithsonian
National Air & Space Museum.
For those of you
who have an Accutron 214 that belonged to a loved one, I hope that these
paragraphs have shed some light on the reasons why many in our
generation kept them in drawers long after Bulova stopped repairing
them.