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Accutron Astronaut Variant Guide  
Written by Accutron on 2010-01-09  

For more photographs and information about Accutron industrial timers and the Accutron Astronaut, please refer to the Bulova Accutron Military Timepieces entry in our electronics museum.

For historical information about the Bulova Accutron product line, please refer to our article, The Bulova Accutron Chronometric Micro-Powerplant.

Bulova released numerous cosmetic variants of the Accutron Astronaut, and it seems that each variant is designated with a single letter. Historically, collectors have struggled to fit their strange-looking Astronaut into the confusing and woefully incomplete reference provided by the Complete Price Guide to Watches, the most well-known watch guide in the world. The guide lists three letter designations: Astronaut A, B and C, and list multiple cosmetic variations under each designation. This is dramatically different from the designation scheme seen in actual Bulova ads, which confirm the existence of an Astronaut C, H, L, N, O and T, all of which are cosmetically unique. In the case of the Astronaut O and T, the only difference between the two variants is dial color. No other letter designations have yet been confirmed by official Bulova documentation.

Assembled here is a complete list of all known factory Astronaut variants, based on 12 years of research. Instead of adhering to Bulova's fragmented system, we present here an alternate classification, based on bezel and dial types. The goal of creating this classification system is to provide a means for collectors to authenticate their Astronaut, as well as provide a language by which collectors can easily describe their Astronaut.

Under this classification system, all Astronaut variants fall under one of four families, hence referred to as Type 1, 2, 3 and 4. Type 1 includes all standard Astronaut variants, with standard painted dial and standard bare-metal bezel. Type 2 includes all Astronaut variants with an enhanced (applied markers) dial and standard bezel. Type 3 includes the models with a day/night bezel, and Type 4 includes the Swiss models with black bezel.

There is a good bit of mix-and-match among Type 1 Astronaut variants. It is possible that other factory-produced dial/hand combinations exist within the range of known Type 1 variants. However, variants of Type 2, 3 and 4 are completely monolithic. If you have an Astronaut with any unspecified mix of features, such as a Type 3 bezel and a Type 4 dial, or Type 3 Astronaut with arrow-style hands or a luminous seconds hand, the watch is not factory original.

Take special note that hand color and applied marker color must always match case color.

Bezel Variations

Standard: Bare metal with engraved black numerals and half-hour indices; available in stainless steel, solid 14K gold and solid 18K gold.
Day/Night: Fully enameled bezel face with 12 hours of white and 12 hours of black; stainless steel only; used only on Type 3 variants.
Swiss: Fully enameled black bezel face; stainless steel only; used only on Type 4 variants.

Case Variations

Stainless Steel (SS): Standard lugs, used with all stainless steel Astronaut variants.
14K Gold Filled (14KF): Covered lugs, used with most gold Astronaut variants.
14K Solid Gold (14K): Covered lugs, used only with the Solid Enhanced variant.
18K Solid Gold (18K): Standard lugs, used only with the Ultra Enhanced variant.

Dial Variations

Standard: Triangular luminous painted hour markers, luminous painted dots at the half-hour markers; available in black and silver; may say 'ACCUTRON', 'BULOVA ACCUTRON' or 'ACCUTRON BULOVA' (rare).
Simple: Nearly identical to the standard dial, but with no luminous dots at the half-hour markers; available in silver, factory black variation unconfirmed.
Enhanced: Applied trapezoidal markers at 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11; available in black, silver and gold; applied markers match case color.
Ultra: Applied diamond-shaped markers at 3, 6, 9; available in gold only, used only on Ultra Enhanced variant.
Day/Night: Applied arrow markers at all hour positions, applied Accutron lettering; available in black and silver; used only on Type 3 variants.
Swiss: Painted Accutron logo at 12, applied rectangular hour markers at all other positions; available in black and cream; used only on Type 4 variants.

Hand Variations

Arrow: Luminous hour and minute hands are non-tapering, with an arrow tip; used only on certain Type 1 variants.
Taper: Luminous hour and minute hands are wide and tapered, with an arrow tip; used on some Type 1 variants, and all Type 2 and 3 variants.
Rectangular: Luminous hour and minute hands are wide and non-tapering, with a flat tip. Rectangular hands are only available on Type 4 variants.
Luminous Seconds (LS): Certain variants of Type 1 and Type 3 Astronaut include a luminous seconds hand. Luminous seconds is not available on Type 2 or 4 variants.
Broadhead Hour (BH): Certain variants of Type 1 Astronaut with arrow hands include a rare broadhead arrow hour hand. Broadhead hour is not available on Type 2, 3 or 4 variants.

Bracelet Variations

Only two bracelet styles are confirmed to have been used on the Astronaut: the Kreisler 'coffin-link' bracelet and the Champion 'bullet' bracelet. Bracelet must match case material and have a signed clasp with the Accutron logo. If the clasp is unsigned or signed 'BULOVA', it is not original.

Table of Known Variants

The table below lists all known factory variants of Accutron Astronaut, separated by Type family. Authenticating an Astronaut variant is more a statistical analysis than anything else. The variants included in this table are only those models which are either confirmed to be a factory variant, or are evidently a factory variant, based on examination of hundreds of Astronaut watches and photographs. If your Astronaut does not look exactly like a variant described here, it is likely that it is not completely original. Bulova did occasionally issue odd cosmetic variants of some watches, but such variants are rare and difficult to authenticate.

If you have reason to believe the table is incorrect or incomplete, please contact us.

Type 1 Variant Bulova Type Bezel Case Dial Hands Bracelet
Black Arrow Astronaut A SS SS Black Arrow Kreisler Coffin SS
Black Arrow LS   SS SS Black Arrow w/ LS Kreisler Coffin SS
Simple Silver Arrow   SS SS Simple Silver Arrow  
Simple Silver Arrow BH   SS SS Simple Silver Arrow w/ BH  
Silver Arrow LS   SS SS Silver Arrow w/ LS  
Gold Arrow Astronaut H 14K 14KF Black Arrow  
Gold Arrow BH   14K 14KF Black Arrow w/ BH  
Black Taper   SS SS Black Taper  
Black Taper LS Astronaut N SS SS Black Taper w/ LS Champion Bullet SS
Simple Silver Taper   SS SS Simple Silver Taper  
Silver Taper   SS SS Silver Taper  

Type 2 Variant Bulova Type Bezel Case Dial Hands Bracelet
Silver Enhanced Astronaut L SS SS Silver Taper  
Duo Enhanced   14K 14KF Silver Taper  
Gold Enhanced   14K 14KF Gold Taper  
Solid Enhanced   14K 14K Black Taper  
Ultra Enhanced Astronaut C 18K 18K Ultra Gold Taper  

Type 3 Variant Bulova Type Bezel Case Dial Hands Bracelet
Black Day/Night Astronaut T Day/Night SS SS Black Taper Champion Bullet SS
Black Day/Night LS   Day/Night SS SS Black Taper w/LS Champion Bullet SS
Silver Day/Night Astronaut O Day/Night SS SS Silver Taper Champion Bullet SS

Type 4 Variant Bulova Type Bezel Case Dial Hands Bracelet
Black Swiss   Swiss SS SS Black Rectangular Champion Bullet SS
Cream Swiss   Swiss SS SS Cream Rectangular Champion Bullet SS

Examples


Astronaut 'Simple Silver Arrow BH': standard SS bezel, SS case, simple silver dial, arrow hands with broadhead hour and standard seconds.


Astronaut 'Black Taper LS': standard SS bezel, SS case, standard black dial, taper hands with luminous seconds hand.


Astronaut 'Solid Enhanced': standard 14K bezel, 14K case, enhanced black dial, taper hands with standard seconds.


Astronaut 'Ultra Enhanced': standard 18K bezel, 18K case, ultra enhanced dial, taper hands with standard seconds.


Astronaut 'Black Day/Night': day/night SS bezel, SS case, black day/night dial, taper hands with standard seconds.


Astronaut 'Black Swiss': Swiss SS bezel, SS case, black Swiss dial, rectangular hands with standard seconds.

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