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I finally feel like I have the confidence, tools, and fine motor control to tackle these tuning fork movements. I've got my 700 test meter here (in beautiful shape with the original box, I might add!) and it seems to work as it's supposed to, at least with one of those 1.35v diode batteries in it. I'm planning to phase the watches for silver oxide cell voltage at 1.65v, so what I'd like to do is use my low voltage power supply to supply the test meter, and so I don't have to keep buying cells. I feel like I saw a thread where someone made a dummy 343/344 cell with power leads on it. Anyone have pictures or a link to that?

Thought I'd share a picture or two, since I was cleaning up today in preparation for finally getting to work on all these Accutron 218 movements I have waiting for love. Hence the power supply over there.

That is an Accutron tuning fork watch. I wouldn't advise a newbie to attempt this. The repair would require a microscope, an Accutron tester, a multimeter, a variable power supply and specialized tools. There are a lot of articles and videos on the web explaining the inner workings of an Accutron. Absorb everything you can and then decide if you are ready for it. If you are looking for a battery watch to dabble with, perhaps a modern quartz watch would be a good starting point. Or an electromechanical watch like a Timex Electric, Hamilton Electric, Dynatron, Cosmotron.

Last week, I bought a bunch of stuff from an NAWCC member. Lots of junk quartz watches, but a few accutron tuning fork watches and some accutron quartz watches. I think whoever worked on this accutron quartz accidentally switched out a solid gold back where a gold filled one probably was. I have seen lots of accutrons where the wording on the back says "gold filled" whereas this one just says "gold." I think it is 14K solid gold. Opinion?

Whats the other crown for? I cannot tell by looking at the movement. @JohnR725

I just got this non-working Bulova Quartz this week. It houses a Bulova 2426.10 movement. When power was applied, the motor just twitches. My Bulova meter showed that the pcb appears to be functioning. A resistance check of the motor was around 640 ohms. When 1.5V was applied directly across the motor contacts, the rotor only twitches. This is something that another member, @PastorChris, experienced a couple of months earlier. I decided to cut open the motor to investigate. The pivot of the pinion was so brittle that it snapped off the moment I pulled on it. The spot weld of the top cover was so weak that my razor blade cut through it with one tap and went straight into the coils, thus cutting it. The lower cover took a bit of bashing to remove it. I discovered a couple of metal filings across the leaves of the magnet. That was probably shorting out the magnetic field and the cause of the twitching. This is a really brilliant design but probably very expensive to produce. I'll be on the lookout for another similar movement.

Any chance someone has technical information on this Bulova 2453.10 conversion? It replaced the 218 that was originally in a 1965 Accutron. If no one has a technical manual (I checked the internet for it, Cousins, etc. with no luck), does anyone know the seconds hand size? I'm replacing the hands with something closer to the original and was able to measure the hour and minute (1.2 and .7 respectively) but can't get an accurate measurement of the seconds hand. The original seconds on the 218 is .18mm and I think the conversion is smaller, but I'm not sure. Here is a photo of the conversion: Thanks!

I normally just use a little rodico and leave them alone but these are almost covered in oil. What is a safe way to clean? I have a watchermaster ultrasonic for parts and a regular ultrasonic for cases and bands also lighter fluid and onedip.

I think most of us use a 0.5 barlow lens, giving a magnification of 3.5 - 22.5 X. The 0.5 barlow lens halves the magnification but doubles the working distance. When I want higher magnification, I use a 20X eyepiece. This gives a magnification of 14 - 90 X, but at a more useful working distance. The only time I wished I had higher magnification is when working on Accutron watches. The teeth on an Accutron index wheel are so small, that even at 90X magnification, they are still hardly visible. But higher magnifications with optical microscopes become impractical because of the shorter working distance and shallow depth of field. I'm still trying to convince myself to get an industrial digital microscope with a magnification of 200X.

When I first started being interested in watches, mom passed on her dad's Accutron to me. He died back in 2004 and was a huge part of my life growing up, so this is a treasure to me. So I put it in a drawer and didn't touch it until I felt ready. I bought several other 218 movements to practice on, as well as the Accu-cell 1.35v battery. I've got the Model 700 test kit, the service manual, and watched all of Henry Frystack's videos, so I feel like I'm ready to dive in. Today I thought maybe start with putting a fresh battery in--looks like an old mercury cell is still in there--and see what happens. Then I put it under the microscope and found clouds of gunk on the index wheel and pawls and decided against it. Guess it's time for a cleaning!

Howdy, y'all, from sunny South Carolina! I'm just starting my horological adventure, inspired by a 50-year-old Accutron (218D) purchased for my 50th birthday last April. There was a sentimental consideration when selecting a family present for a my semi-centennial celebration: What's more appropriate than a historically significant timepiece that has been ticking as long as my own ticker? (OK, before my fellow Accutron brothers and sisters speak up, it hums not ticks.) Before that, my interest in watches was strictly practical and job-specific. As an outdoorsman and Scout leader, my "collection" consisted of G-Shocks, Suuntos and Garmins, with a smattering of analogs from Fossil (yes, I know). Since that fateful birthday, my interest in "real" timepieces has exploded. Who knew one could spend hours window-shopping online for watches on eBay, or watching repair videos on YouTube?! I purchased a second, non-functioning Accutron (N3-218D) with the goal of learning how to repair it. Then came from Amazon shipments of tweezers, loupes, movement holders and all of the accoutrements necessary for the task, as well as the skeptical looks from my lovely wife... I found a source for the appropriate coil that seems to be the most common culprit and stripped the movement down to individual parts. And then ... Without a 20+ power microscope, I'm stuck; thus, the wait continues as I source an affordable microscope that won't draw more severe looks from the love of my life. I've started a small, thought-out and affordable collection of watches, including a new Seiko 5 sport (4R36) and a Tissot Chemin Des Tourelles (Powermatic 80) dress watch. And just this week, I received two vintage (can't believe I'm saying vintage) 80s- to 90s-era Seiko 5s from eBay: a functioning 7009-876A and a non-functioning 7S26C (from which the balance cock screw is currently hiding in the berber carpet of my home office). Along the way, I dragged my teenaged son into this new world. One of his 15th birthday presents was a simple Orient Bambino, and on his own volition and using his neighborhood lawn-mowing earnings, he purchased a beautiful Seiko Presage dress watch for church. I suspect I will be tapping into the vast experience of this forum often as I semi-ignorantly dive head first into this new adventure, and in advance, I thank you for your patience and guidance! -Mattutron (North Augusta, SC)

After repairing 2 Accutrons recently, I've developed a facination for them. So far I have a 218, 219 and 224. I have some questions concerning Accutrons. I sometimes see on ebay a suffix like N2, N3, N4.... What does the "N" number signify? Is it a model number? Why is the price range so huge? I see some for below $100 and some for $3000. I know that the 214 was the first model produced. What was the last? I've seen some Accutrons that were not tuning fork movements. Did Bulova continue using the name Accutron for quartz watches? And lastly, do we have any Accutron experts among our distinguished members?

Greetings all, I've been working on a few Accutrons of late. It started with one that was gift to me. I find them very interesting, and marvel at their engineering. Who wouldn't, right? Of the two that are on my bench right now, one needs an index wheel, the other needed the index and pawl jewels cleaned better than a dip in One-Dip. Of course I didn't realize that until I put it (A 2242 Accuquartz) back together and it wasn't staying running and I looked at the jewels under higher magnification. Despite some advising against putting the fork/index finger/jewel and pawl-bridge/finger/jewel in the ultrasonic, I was told by an Accutron expert that it would be OK, so I did so. I definitely cleaned off the gunk. I used fresh cleaner and ran a rare earth magnet through the cleaner before putting the parts basket in. The issue I'm dealing with now is that the pawl finger got bent. It must have been sitting too low, or the upper fork screw was sitting too high. When I spun the finger around to avoid damaging it, it hung up on that screw. Then it somehow got lifted over the hack pin as I was trying to get the index wheel in position without high enough magnification to notice it happening. Anyway, I am now working to straighten the finger. It's not terrible, but I guess it needs to be rather perfect to work properly. First the jewel wasn't squaring with the index wheel. Then it was riding over the index wheel. Right now it will get the watch running slightly but it won't stay, at least at lower phasing voltages. It looks pretty square now, and isn't riding over the index wheel. The only obvious issue is that the stress limiter on the pawl finger is not engaged with the finger at all. Since the jewel was sitting so squarely with the index I decided it was worth at try, but the stress limiter may be more important than I hoped. These fingers are so fragile, and manipulation has to be done under pretty high magnification, I just want to know if I should give it up and buy a replacement or keep trying. Any help is appreciated. Thanks ahead of time. I'd include an image but I don't have a good way to do so with my microscope setup. Cheers.

I have a 2180 that hums and a 2181 that does not. I'm about to start these two projects. Besides lots of photos any advice?

I have a Bulova Accutron that I got in the late 70's. It looks similar to the one below (mine is silver with a gold bezel). I would like to try to remove the back cover and replace the battery. Would anybody know the battery I would need? I've heard these used some type of mercury battery that's no longer used. And, is there a gasket I should try to buy in advance or should I be treating the threads with some type of sealant? And, to remove the back, should I use something like the Harbor Freight Tool shown (it's at https://www.harborfreight.com/watch-case-opener-91550.html). Should I also buy a holder for the watch? I've never done this before and actually am looking forward to it. Not sure if it'll work or not but I figure I should try. Anything else I should check on the watch? Sorry for all the stupid questions but I am a novice.

I have both 2X Barlow and 20X eyepieces, but I don't use either for watchmaking. Accutron movements seems like a good application for the eyepieces, and I'm sure there are occasions when you really want (though probably not strictly need) to get as deep on a mechanical movement, but that seems like a wait until the need arises sort of thing. That scope looks like it's from the same factory as the AmScope, et. al., so I wouldn't worry about inexpensive eyepieces getting hard to find any time soon.

Try it out for yourself. Do you find 22.5x sufficient to oil a pallet jewel? Is 3.5x wide enough to see the whole watch? Like I said, the only time I need higher magnification is when working on Accutron watches. Possible upgrades that you might want to consider are a led ringlight for shadowless lighting and a tiltable microscope mount, so that you won't need a step ladder.

I recently aquired contents of an old watch repair shop that shut down in the late 70s (give or take 10 years) . This clip was with some tools. Can't say I've ever seen this. Maybe a holder for led screen or something. Any help appreciated.

I have an Accutron Railroad (218) somewhere that has two hour hands, like a Gmt. No way to adjust the difference aside from resetting them on their pipes. Always found that weird. Now here's one with two crowns and no GMT. Weird.

If you look carefully it's not your normal screw back as you're already noticed. Typically you see similar things on Accutron Bulova watches where there's an outer ring that screws on. But this ring doesn't look like it's screws it looks like its locked into tabs four of them on the case. The problem with outer rings are ideally you should have a special wrench. Another was it fits into the notches and then you can turn. In the case of Bulova they do have a special wrench. You can use your standard case wrench except. Normally with a standard case wrench to tighten it up and hold the back tightly when you rotate it you do not want to grab the back itself tightly as typically it's held in place with a tab or something in its physical location. So all you want to do is rotate the ring Only.

I thought that was the spare crown in case the primary crown fails you can use the spare crown? Interesting that it doesn't have the other hand or even a bezel to rotate? Then I'm attaching a supplement that covers the thing is that the other crown can do. Bulova-Accutron-2185-Manual.pdf

I've been servicing Accutrons for some time now. But yesterday I just had an AHA! moment. When phasing the 214, I had been using the power from my Accutron 700 test meter to supply voltage to the watch. I would clip one lead to the ground strap and used one hand to press the positive lead to the battery terminal. This leaves only one hand to adjust the pawl finger. I was thinking of a way to make a battery clip hold the battery in place to make this procedure easier. Then it hit me.... All I needed to do was to flip the ground strap upside-down and use it as a battery clip!

Hi i would be interested in this accutron spaceview but i have some doubt that it has not been converted. Could someone help me to understand if the glass, case, spheres and minute circle are contemporary with this spaceview? I have attached some photos Thank you in advance

Looking through my Dad's tools, I have multiple Accutron back wrenches. I also found three index wheels. Cannot tell which model they are for, however. I put an accutron on my Vibrograf B200A and I get squirrelly results. Frankly, I never understood how the vibrograf was supposed to be able to read an accutron--knowing the principle of the vibrograf operation. I never gave it much thought until today. But, the accutron is keeping good time...maybe 3-4 seconds a day. --------------------------*** AHAAA!! Push two buttons...the Accutron button plus one other. And just like that, my Vibrograf is useful again!!

I was asked to look at an Accutron 214 that could hum but doesn't move. I removed the safety bridge and immediately noticed that the index jewel was missing. I searched the movement and also the watch case but couldn't find the missing jewel. Has anyone tried replacing a missing index jewel before? What bonding agent would be good for bonding to a ruby surface. Or is replacing the entire tuning fork the best way to go. TIA