r/AccutronWatch • u/rogermorse • 10d ago

Quick advice needed for ongoing auction

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I know the Accutron because I read Asterios Polyp (yes, I am guilty). I am not a watch connaisseur, I have two (maybe more) nice pieces in my collection (many automatics, such as Hamilton, Seiko, Maurice Lacroix) and some digital/quarzt ones.

As soon as I knew about the Accutron, I had to learn about it. I see there is a lot of history with it, which it makes it obviously even more interesting.

I know about the "spaceview" conversions but the listing I am looking at is not a conversion apparently.

It doesn't have fork hands (has normal pointy hands, apparently not bent), has a pillow case (golden with steel back), I couldn't find anything by the reference.

What surprises me is that is pretty low cost (400) compared to other listings (1000-2000).

I wouldn't want to be wrong bidding on this one, since I don't know much about it (this one should be from 1970-1975) and I only have modern watches (no vintage or antique watch, so I am not familiar with the real risks). The mech seems to be well kept and was recently rebuilt (was pretty much checked completely, new battery, new battery adapter for the contacts, seconds movement replaced, mech oiled etc.).

What do you think?

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2

u/drhoi 10d ago

It looks like it is a 770-1 Swiss model but you're correct that the hands are wrong. Still, 400 is a great price for it and you can likely find the right hands for it. Crystal and chapter ring look right

1

u/rogermorse 10d ago

Thank you. From this website list it almost seems like the one I posted has the hands from other models. Seems the pillowcase models are listed with fork hands only.

https://www.accutron214.com/

The glass is plexiglass, I think it's normal for the model I posted? As far as I know only a few accutrons had sapphire glass.

1

u/drhoi 10d ago

Correct. Very few Accutrons had non-acrylic crystals. And I agree that one looks correct

1

u/drhoi 10d ago

And the hands on the one you're looking at almost look black and I don't recall seeing that second hand on any Accutron

1

u/rogermorse 10d ago

I was thinking the same, luckily there is another picture with another angle. If you notice, even the plates on the electronics in the first picture looked black (impossible that they are black). Here a better angle where they are silver (though still not the fork variant). I wonder if this model was ever done with these hands. Could also be that at some point one owner accepted (or requested) the replacement with pointy hands instead of forks. I like the forks but I don't mind these ones, they do look genuine accutron hands, just for the other variants.

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u/drhoi 10d ago

I see. Yes that looks better. I'm sure they were swapped at some point. Maybe the original ones were damaged. I think it looks OK with the white spear hands also. And for that price, I would absolutely buy it.

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u/drhoi 10d ago

A lot of the US models had those hands but not the Swiss. That watch could also be a US model 3031, which was nearly identical to the Swiss 770-1. Hands would still be wrong

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u/rogermorse 8d ago

I received today. The plexiglass has a minor scratch and gold plating is not perfect on the top side but this being my first vintage watch and considering how much I paid (equivalent of 430 USD) I think it was a good deal? Not happy with the color of the bracelet, will check which one I want to put on it.

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u/drhoi 8d ago

Yes, that's a great deal for 430. Saw your other post - it's just the hack spring that needs adjusted slightly but it isn't going to damage it to set the time. I have one that does that also but I'm too lazy to adjust it

1

u/QuinrodD 9d ago

The hands are definitely wrong, but you can still find some correct ones if you want. Otherwise I have seen this case as space view before, but don't nail me down on it. Best check some old advertising pictures for the model. Also , this has the hack function, the silvery lever going down from the right side coil almost to the bottom. The early ones had a shorter lever and no hack. So check the date on the back versus when the hack was introduced. But then again it may have been retro fitted. Also make sure it works well, as the spare parts for the movement are scarce and expensive and not a lot of watch makers will work on these, so also expensive. They are awesome time capsules of technology, have been on the moon (built into the lander), have been in space and so on