Bulova Accutron 261 'Original' Cushion TV

“Are you ready? Because I want you to pay attention. This is the beginning of something.”

So opens Season 7 of Mad Men, as copywriter Freddie Rumsen pitches the Bulova Accutron. “Accutron,” he declares, “isn’t a timepiece — it’s a conversation piece.” It’s a fitting introduction for a watch that truly changed watchmaking.

To appreciate its impact, we rewind to 1875, when Joseph Bulova opened a small jewelry shop in Queens. By 1912, Bulova had established a movement manufacture in Biel, Switzerland, adopting American-style industrial production. The company soon became one of the most influential watchmakers in the United States.

By the 1950s, the race for electronic timekeeping was underway — but in 1960, the Accutron leapt ahead. Its revolutionary tuning-fork movement, engineered by Max Hetzel, hummed at 360 Hz, delivering unprecedented precision and a smooth, sweeping seconds hand. Powered by a battery and electromagnetic coil, it looked to the future while nodding to the past, drawing inspiration from a 19th-century tuning-fork clock created by Abraham-Louis Breguet’s grandson.

The Accutron — especially in its now-iconic Spaceview form — became the watch of test pilots, astronauts, and forward-looking civilians. Though quartz would eventually eclipse the technology, the Accutron’s legacy endured. In 2020, the name was reborn as its own brand, dedicated to preserving this milestone in horological innovation.

The Accutron 261, introduced in 1971, embraced the space-age aesthetic of its era with a television-style cushion case that remains effortlessly wearable today. Measuring 38.5mm in stainless steel, this example features a mix of satin and polished surfaces, a domed sapphire crystal, and a tuning-fork-signed crown.

Its matte blue-grey dial offers applied wedge indices, a date at 3 o’clock, a precise minute track, and the unmistakable tuning-fork logo at 6. Powered by its self-winding movement and paired with the original bracelet, it’s a design that balances utility, charm, and retro-futuristic flair.

A standout expression of Accutron’s ingenuity, the 261 is stylish, historically meaningful, and versatile enough for daily wear — a true conversation piece, just as Mad Men promised.

ACCUTRON FACTORY CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED

Analog:Shift is proud to be partnered with Accutron as the exclusive retailer for Factory Certified Pre-Owned timepieces. Our longstanding relationship and shared passion for horological history and design have culminated in this unique offering.

Each Accutron timepiece undergoes rigorous inspection and certification by expert watchmakers and is backed by the manufacture, ensuring unparalleled authenticity and quality.

Joseph Bulova, a Czech immigrant to the United States, founded his eponymous company in Queens in 1875, opening a factory in Biel, Switzerland in 1912 to mass-produce timepieces under the American production model. An early designer of men’s wristwatches following their widespread adoption in the wake of the First World War, the firm developed simple dress watches, dive watches, and chronographs through the first half of the 20th century.

As the decades wore on, however, the limitations of the traditional oscillating balance wheel — both with respect to accuracy and robustness — were becoming apparent. Electric watches from the likes of Hamilton and Lip experimented with a moving coil motor in place of a mainspring, but their reliance on conventional balance wheels meant they were little more accurate than their entirely mechanical counterparts. A Swiss engineer at Bulova named Max Hetzel would soon change all that.

A born tinkerer and a brilliant mind, Hetzel adopted an old clock design from the 19th century — incidentally invented by the grandson of Abraham-Louis Breguet — that used a tuning fork as its oscillator. Powered by a dry-cell battery and driven by an electromagnetic coil, its frequency of 360 Hz ensured a highly accurate system that powered a sweep hand around the dial. Significantly more accurate than a mechanical design, it was patented in 1953, and after some years of work, the Bulova Accutron debuted to the public in 1960.

The watch was a revelation — literally. A 1961 model with a transparent dial meant to show authorized dealers its inner workings became so popular that Bulova put it into regular production, calling it the Spaceview. Meanwhile, the audible 360-Hz hum produced by the movement was a novel selling point, featuring in period advertisements in which a man was seen holding the watch up to his ear.

When the U.S. government sought to replace the U-2 spy plane with an aircraft that could outmaneuver anti-aircraft systems, Lockheed Martin’s secretive Skunkworks division offered the perfect solution in the form of the sleek A-12, which could reach speeds of Mach III (~2,310 mph). Bulova Accutron wristwatches accompanied the pilots of this advanced piece of engineering, as they did on the wrists of public-facing X-15 flights, which reached speeds of 4,500 mph. The Accutron was even worn by astronauts during the Mercury Seven program during training; in 1963 during Project Mercury; and in Project Gemini missions up until 1983, long after the tuning fork technology had been replaced by more contemporary quartz-powered tech.

In 2020, Accutron was spun off by parent company Bulova — owned by the Citizen Group of Japan — into its own brand, where it continues to produce modern versions of one of the world’s downright coolest watches.

Our Pledge

Analog:Shift stands behind the authenticity of our products in perpetuity.

Condition

Since our pieces are vintage or pre-owned, please expect wear & patina from usage and age. Please read each item description and examine all product images.

Warranty

We back each Analog:Shift vintage timepiece with a two-year mechanical warranty from the date of purchase.

International Buyers

Please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.

All of our watches include complementary insured shipping within the 50 states.

Most of our products are on hand and will ship directly from our headquarters in New York City. In some cases, watches will be shipped directly from one of our authorized partners.

We generally ship our products via FedEx, fully insured, within 5 business days of purchase. An adult signature is required for receipt of all packages for insurance purposes. Expedited shipping is available at an additional cost. We are also happy to hand deliver your purchase in Manhattan or you may pick it up at our showroom.

Returns must be sent overnight or by priority international delivery, fully insured and paid for by the customer. A restocking fee may apply. Watches must be returned in the same condition as initially shipped.

We welcome international buyers, please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.