I believe this to be a very rare gold Accutron Calendar "Spaceview". 1972. Came from the son of a very competent Bulova collector - I have just bought 30 of his Bulovas. This is one of the rarer models for sure. 18K Heavy Gold electroplated bezel, 10K rolled gold back. Thoughts appreciated.
Whilst there is such a thing as a Bulova Accutron Spaceview Calendar, this watch is unfortunately not one of them.
We have another example of this watch here: https://mybulova.com/watches/1977-accutron-calendar-13863.
From that discussion we believe that these watches have been converted by removing the center dial piece or that the dial has been replaced with the outer chapter ring from this watch: https://mybulova.com/watches/1974-accutron-date-day-10697
So standard Accutron Calendar + chapter ring from above mentioned Date & Day and you could technically create such a watch.
I've searched though the linebooks and also Darold Hanson's Accutron Watch guide and not found any referenced match for this watch.
For me personally I can't see Bolova releasing such a model with the date wheel numbers showiing in the manner that they are.
With that said, I cannot say with 100% certainty that this is not just another spaceview variant, but my gut is telling me it's not.
While I trust your expertise, I think the Bulova collector I bought this from (and I the other watch that was posted a while ago that you link to - https://mybulova.com/watches/1977-accutron-calendar-13863 was from his collection) knew what he was doing and over several years of collecting Bulova in there 1990s and 2000 a had got pretty deep into rarities and obscurities. So I believe this to be a unique but properly / factory produced watch rather than a franken. It has the correct insert that the skeleton / Spaceview calendar watches have, it's not just an opened watch. Also, the attention to detail is a manufacturers attention, not just a chancy watch maker - as I say the central plate is the one that only appears on the Spaceview calendar and the unique printed crystal seems correct for the design too - in fact it is different from the all the other standard Spaceview printed crystals, which is another reason I think this is a unique factory piece. I think because you cannot say with 100% certainty means to me that both watches may we have been factory experiments. I just dolt think they are made up. He wouldn't have fallen for such a thing.
We agree that we cannot confirm this is a factory piece which does not indicate it is not a factory piece. Our policy is to match watches based on confirmed documentation so that we can build a clean and accurate model listing of Bulova watches. The only Spaceview Calendar we can confirm is this one... https://mybulova.com/watches/1969-accutron-calendar-spaceview-11181 which is a different case and we have an actual Bulova linebook listing confirming the watch. Based on your watch photos we default to the best match we have which is the case and outer dial ring which puts this in the modified Accutron Calendar category. We have to be especially vigilant with Spaceviews as it was extremely common for jewelers to modify regular models and this still is going on to this day. We actively review and update watches as new ads come in so if an add comes in that confirms this a factory model we will be certain to update the watch.
I have been back to this one a few times. The fact that the date window doesn't quite line up (number not centered in opening), along with the date wheel exposure 360 degrees leads me to believe this is a watchmaker/jeweler modified Accutron Day/Date Calendar. Based on linebooks, the only Spaceview calendar I find was produced in 1969. Yours, like your first submission looks to be a Day/Date model with the center dial removed as well as the day wheel.
But can you explain the unique Bulova printed crystal on this watch and the other similar one I posted (https://mybulova.com/watches/1977-accutron-calendar-13863)? It is not found (to my knowledge) on any other Bulova, there are similar ones on Spaceviews but nothing identical - the Spaceview version that is similar has the logo and the Accutron name in the same central place BUT also has minute markers - this has no minute markers. It's unlikely a watchmaker / jeweller would make their own factory perfect unique crystal. Which is why I still believe this and the other are factory manufactured, but not necessarily for commercial sale.
Mr Trunk, as I stated in your other watches, you are free to believe what you choose regarding your watches. We are unable to confirm either your originality or rarity claims. We will post your watch as an Accutron Calendar but there is no other validation we can attach to your claim. Thank you for sharing it.
Digging deeper, I find that the 2182 movement was used in the Date & Day models and not the Calendar models (they used the 2181).
I'm more and more inclined to say that this is a well constructed custom arrangement, using parts from various models, including the skeleton plate from a real Accutron Spaceview Calendar.
I believe this is the base watch:
Remove the center dial piece so just the outter chapter ring remains.
Remove the day indicator wheel and retainer disc and assembly.
Swap the date indicator wheel for a black version.
Add the Spaceview Calendar skeleton retainer
Swap hands for an Spaceview set.
Add a custom Spaceview crystal. (I've not found this style available, but am curious if taking the standard dot version and removing them is feasable)
NOTE: This is just my opinion and undersatnding how it might be possible to create a watch like this. If there are any ccutron experts out there that can advise one way or another if the what I've said above is techically possible, please let us know.
Mr Trunk, I note that the other example of this is also owned by you and was added back in April this year. Were you able to obtain any proof of authenticity from the previous owner?