BULOVA 226 ACCUQUARTZ LCD 1975
This LCD version of the Bulova Accuquartz is impossible to come by. The calibre is 226 so the engineering process must have started prior to the Bulova 228 BigBlock LED from 1974 yet I have ever seen 2 of these. The reason for this rarity is probably the technical side of the module. Considering the year of production (N5) this concept looks quite clean but the build is overengineered as of those LCD's made in 1973-74. There are two command buttons on the case that short large contacts on the module. Both buttons are used to display date and seconds as well as for setting when depressed simultaneously. They are not very user-friendly due to their tiny size and your fingers will hurt after a full setting cycle. The field effect display is constant with a cool "blinking star" collon.
The module has the typical yellow plastic found on most Bulova LED watches of the same period. The large yellow piece in the very middle of the substrate is however a mystery as it does not contain any electronics. In my opinion this is a quick factory workaround! It does not appear to have any practical function yet one part of the plastic is cracked what means that pressure was applied. The raised "wings" of this gizmo are pushed towards the front of the module when the caseback is closed providing better connectivity on the display. This display was clearly missing segments that did appear when additional (moderate) pressure was applied. One solution might be to clean all traces on the display and improve connectivity with silver paint and the display might become reliable again. Either way hardly any 226's can be found!
Keywords: bulova lcd, bulova accuquartz
Market value: 100-250$ (version, condition, box)