Post by John Lind on Sept 29, 2020 20:56:18 GMT
I kept seeing +/-10 sec/yr being touted and parroted as the Bulova Precisionist accuracy specs on the Internet, when they quietly disappeared years ago and are nowhere to be found on Bulova's web site. Those specs dating back a decade ago to 2010 are a Freddie Kruger zombie that refuses to die. Inquired directly with Bulova what their current specs are for all five of the Precisionist movements (P102, P123, 8136, 8137 and 8138).
This is the message I sent Bulova Consumer Support:
This was the response I received earlier this month [drum roll please]:
That's +/-60 sec./yr., not the +/-10 sec/yr. they advertised when the Precisionist and Accutron II were released. Why? The WUS High Accuracy Quartz geeks took them to task over it when their measurements were showing beat rate and the resulting accuracy drift over time shortly after Bulova's initial Precisionist watches hit the streets in 2010. Some of them measuring as much as 40 sec/yr (don't remember gain or loss). One of them cycled his watch through Bulova with a warranty claim for out of spec accuracy three times. A few others were discussing FTC complaints about false advertising; never followed up to see if they did complain.
Overwhelmingly, the most likely culprit is the quartz crystal, the frequency of which drifts with age, a well-known phenomenon. This drift isn't linear. It gradually decreases until the frequency plateaus. Standard best practices age quartz crystals before cutting for use. An alternative is cutting them to a frequency that allows for early aging to drift them into the desired frequency, albeit with less precision than aging before cutting as there is some variation in the total drift. Other possible, second order effects could be insufficient analyses of tolerance stackups of the other electronic parts and that effect on accuracy. Drift over time, however, is all but 100% conclusive evidence of component aging.
My conclusion is Bulova's design team that created the 262kHz movement and its three-tine crystal were over-optimistic about the precision it would achieve in mass production, and it wasn't discovered until it was already out the door with the Marketing Department proclaiming it from the hilltops and mountain peaks. Blindly enthusiastic design performance optimism is a behavior I've observed occasionally within engineering design organizations. Following are three ads from circa 2010 when the Precisionist and Accutron II were first released. How they got that quote from Bill Bennett and permission to use his image is a mystery. He was the Secretary of Education under Reagan, and the Drug Czar under G.H.W. Bush, before becoming a political pundit. No record I could find of him having been a Bulova spokesman. There is another, completely different William Bennett. Max Hetzel and that Bennett created the first working "Accutron 214" prototype in 1959; mass production ensued in 1960. Did they get the two confused? Who knows. Bulova should know they cannot hide their past product claims. The Internet lives forever.
This is the message I sent Bulova Consumer Support:
jalind to Bulova:
I have been scouring your web site looking for the accuracy specifications on your Precisionist watch movements, notably the following: P102 P123 8136 8137 8138. I cannot find any accuracy specifications anywhere. What are the guaranteed accuracy specs for those movements? Seiko, Citizen, and every Swatch Group brand provides guaranteed accuracy specifications for their watches. Bulova does not? Does that mean whatever accuracy it has brand new out of the box is what I must live with, even if it's losing or gaining over a minute per day? What ARE your precise, exact accuracy specifications for these 262kHz movements?
I have been scouring your web site looking for the accuracy specifications on your Precisionist watch movements, notably the following: P102 P123 8136 8137 8138. I cannot find any accuracy specifications anywhere. What are the guaranteed accuracy specs for those movements? Seiko, Citizen, and every Swatch Group brand provides guaranteed accuracy specifications for their watches. Bulova does not? Does that mean whatever accuracy it has brand new out of the box is what I must live with, even if it's losing or gaining over a minute per day? What ARE your precise, exact accuracy specifications for these 262kHz movements?
This was the response I received earlier this month [drum roll please]:
Kimberly H (Bulova Consumer Support):
Kimberly H (Bulova Consumer Support)
Sep 17, 2020, 2:17 PM PDT
Hello John,
Thank you for your inquiry.
The Precisionist movements have an accuracy of +/- 5 seconds a month.
We hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely,
Kimberly
Customer Care
Kimberly H (Bulova Consumer Support)
Sep 17, 2020, 2:17 PM PDT
Hello John,
Thank you for your inquiry.
The Precisionist movements have an accuracy of +/- 5 seconds a month.
We hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely,
Kimberly
Customer Care
That's +/-60 sec./yr., not the +/-10 sec/yr. they advertised when the Precisionist and Accutron II were released. Why? The WUS High Accuracy Quartz geeks took them to task over it when their measurements were showing beat rate and the resulting accuracy drift over time shortly after Bulova's initial Precisionist watches hit the streets in 2010. Some of them measuring as much as 40 sec/yr (don't remember gain or loss). One of them cycled his watch through Bulova with a warranty claim for out of spec accuracy three times. A few others were discussing FTC complaints about false advertising; never followed up to see if they did complain.
Overwhelmingly, the most likely culprit is the quartz crystal, the frequency of which drifts with age, a well-known phenomenon. This drift isn't linear. It gradually decreases until the frequency plateaus. Standard best practices age quartz crystals before cutting for use. An alternative is cutting them to a frequency that allows for early aging to drift them into the desired frequency, albeit with less precision than aging before cutting as there is some variation in the total drift. Other possible, second order effects could be insufficient analyses of tolerance stackups of the other electronic parts and that effect on accuracy. Drift over time, however, is all but 100% conclusive evidence of component aging.
My conclusion is Bulova's design team that created the 262kHz movement and its three-tine crystal were over-optimistic about the precision it would achieve in mass production, and it wasn't discovered until it was already out the door with the Marketing Department proclaiming it from the hilltops and mountain peaks. Blindly enthusiastic design performance optimism is a behavior I've observed occasionally within engineering design organizations. Following are three ads from circa 2010 when the Precisionist and Accutron II were first released. How they got that quote from Bill Bennett and permission to use his image is a mystery. He was the Secretary of Education under Reagan, and the Drug Czar under G.H.W. Bush, before becoming a political pundit. No record I could find of him having been a Bulova spokesman. There is another, completely different William Bennett. Max Hetzel and that Bennett created the first working "Accutron 214" prototype in 1959; mass production ensued in 1960. Did they get the two confused? Who knows. Bulova should know they cannot hide their past product claims. The Internet lives forever.
