On October 25, 1960, Bulova released the first ever advanced electric watch the world has ever seen: the Accutron. It was made from 14 karat gold and had no crown as the watch was so accurate the adjustment mechanism was moved to the back, away from view. People loved the window model so much it was introduced as the Accutron Spaceview a year later and led to the conversion of existing watch dials to a movement-view design. The “tuning fork models” of the Accutron sold millions worldwide.
Accutron technology even helped us in space, with the Accutron Astronaut created to aid in space travel. Several moon missions would not have been possible without Accutron technology, including the Apollo Missions and Gordon Cooper’s Faith 7 mission. The Accutron Spaceview inspired creations back on earth as well, such as the Centre Pompidou in 1977, a building with its inner workings placed on its exposed exterior. The world’s best sneakers were also inspired by the strong, attractive design of the Accutron Spaceview.
Tinker Hartfeld created the Air Max 1 with the sneakers’ inner workings exposed through a transparent air bubble element in a window-like design similar to the Accutron Spaceview. The Air Max 1 shares a similar success story to Accutron in that its transparent design left a lasting impact on our culture, having resonated with the sneaker community as a culturally iconic piece and continuing to inspire aesthetics in our world today.
