# Bulova precisionist versus accutron 2



## bridgeman (Dec 9, 2008)

Non technical me wonders what the difference is in the movements of the precisionist range and the Accutron 2?

both have the sweeping second hands but as far as I understand the Accutron 2 is inferior to the precionist in time keeping, if only by a second or two a month/year albeit using the same base movement.

has anybody investigated or are both movements so new nobody has had a back off??


----------



## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

I have an example of each and did a bit of research before buying the Accutron II. Bulova/Citizen's goal was to make a smaller version of the Precisionist. The need for battery capacity made the Precisionists so large, and by reducing the frequency/accuracy of the new movements the power requirement was reduced. The Precisionists claimed accuracy of 10 seconds per year while Bulova does not seem to have made any precise claim as to the Accutron ii's accuracy. When I reset the time on my Snorkel II for summer time, I extrapolated the Accutrons II's accuracy to be closer to four seconds per month. 

Later,
William


----------



## bridgeman (Dec 9, 2008)

William_Wilson said:


> I have an example of each and did a bit of research before buying the Accutron II. Bulova/Citizen's goal was to make a smaller version of the Precisionist. The need for battery capacity made the Precisionists so large, and by reducing the frequency/accuracy of the new movements the power requirement was reduced. The Precisionists claimed accuracy of 10 seconds per year while Bulova does not seem to have made any precise claim as to the Accutron ii's accuracy. When I reset the time on my Snorkel II for summer time, I extrapolated the Accutrons II's accuracy to be closer to four seconds per month.
> 
> Later,
> William


 thanks for that ,what is theprecisionist frequency?


----------



## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

bridgeman said:


> thanks for that ,what is the precisionist frequency?


 According to t'internet (www.howstuffworks.com): The Precisionist uses a pair of tech tricks to overcome the quartz mechanism's weak points. First, its crystal is unique: most quartz watches use crystals shaped into two-pronged tuning forks, but the Precisionist literally goes one better with a three-pronged fork that the company claims can oscillate at 262.144 kilohertz (or 16 beats per second), about eight times faster than the 32.768 kilohertz (about 1 to 2 beats per second) that is the typical frequency for quartz oscillators.

So now you know...


----------



## bridgeman (Dec 9, 2008)

Davey P said:


> According to t'internet (www.howstuffworks.com): The Precisionist uses a pair of tech tricks to overcome the quartz mechanism's weak points. First, its crystal is unique: most quartz watches use crystals shaped into two-pronged tuning forks, but the Precisionist literally goes one better with a three-pronged fork that the company claims can oscillate at 262.144 kilohertz (or 16 beats per second), about eight times faster than the 32.768 kilohertz (about 1 to 2 beats per second) that is the typical frequency for quartz oscillators.
> 
> So now you know...


 But but but the Accutron has 262 printed on the dials? So perhaps it's the special shape of the crystal that's the difference?


----------



## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

bridgeman said:


> But but but the Accutron has 262 printed on the dials? So perhaps it's the special shape of the crystal that's the difference?


 Their UHF range has also got 262 on the dial, so maybe Precisionist, Accutron, and UHF are all......... the same inside? :swoon:

Who cares though, they are all brilliant :thumbsup:


----------



## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

I wasn't particularly straightforward in what I said about frequency. It is the frequency of the stepper motor.

I can not really get a suitable one second time exposure of the Precisionist second hoping along, but...










Now, this exposure shows the Acctron II's second hand moving eight times per second:










Later,
William


----------

