Last year marked the long-awaited revival of the Accutron Astronaut, an iconic ‘60s-era model that fans had clamored for a comeback ever since Accutron itself was revived back in 2020. And now, it’s already getting a revamp.

A Brief History of the Accutron Astronaut

A decade before the Quartz Crisis of the 1970s, Bulova concocted its own electronic-powered timepiece, the Accutron Astronaut, which employed a tuning fork and achieved an impressive accuracy of within 2 seconds per day. The increased accuracy and resistance to hot temperatures and other various cockpit extremes made it a favorite of the CIA. They gave the Space Age GMT watch to the pilots of its super-fast, top-secret A-12 spy plane, as well as NASA astronauts flying the X-15 rocket.

Unfortunately, the Accutron Astronaut eventually waned in favor of the quartz watches a decade later, which were easier to service and more accessible. Upon purchasing Bulova, Citizen split up Bulova and Accutron into two separate brands, reserving the latter for retro-inspired releases and more experimental timepieces. 

The debut Astronaut piece from last year was not the same as this week’s reissue. Limited to just 300 pieces (yet still available somehow), it was a recreation of the “T” variant from 1968. Today, however, we get to see a more faithful rendition based on the standard version.

Accutron Astronaut 2024 Basics

The new release comes in four variants. Three have stainless steel cases — featuring red, green, and blue dials — and are based on the “T” version like last year’s release. This means a bi-colored bezel with the dial color against white. The green and red dials come adorned with stainless steel bracelets, while the blue/gold watch has a Cordura NATO-style strap. The case size on these three watches are the same 41mm across — larger than the 38mm of the ‘60s timepiece — but we at least get a new movement.

Despite looking almost identical to the 2023 release, all of the new watches are powered by a custom version of the Miyota 9058 automatic GMT, swapping out the more boilerplate Sellita SW330 from the 2023 limited edition. It’s visible through the exhibition caseback.

But Also, There’s a Titanium Version

Highlighting the new release, however, is the LTi edition in grade 5 titanium with an eggshell-colored dial. The color scheme here looks like it was taken directly from the ‘60s and I can’t get enough. Not only that, the bezel sports a 24-hour display rather than the 12-hour of the others. There’s a matching titanium bracelet affixed to the watch, but you get an additional gray Cordura NATO strap as well.

Along with having the same Miyota-base GMT automatic movement as the above models, this watch is also 41mm in diameter, much to the contention of fans and enthusiasts. Perhaps future models will right this wrong and get the size back down to the period-correct 38mm. 

Spec Sheet

Pricing & Availability

The new Astronaut and Astronaut LTi watches will be priced at $2,200 and $3,000 respectively, and will not be limited in edition size. Compare this to the $3,500 of the 2023 version. These will be available soon from Accutron’s website.

Accutron Astronaut LTi

Accutron made four new versions of the recently-revived Astronaut watch, including one with a titanium case.