Singer Vasco Rossi spotted wearing a Bulova

Vasco Rossi has been spotted more than once on the radar of watch enthusiasts, but this sighting raises the bar. On his wrist sits a Bulova Accutron Spaceview reference 770, a vintage American timepiece from approximately 1966 — making the watch and its owner near-contemporaries, with the Spaceview now approaching 60 years old and Rossi himself recently turning 70.

The Accutron Spaceview is not simply a vintage curiosity. When Bulova launched the Accutron in 1960, it represented a genuine technological rupture. The movement — caliber 214 in most Spaceview examples — replaces the traditional balance wheel with a miniature tuning fork vibrating at 360Hz, driven by a transistor circuit and a single battery. The result was a timekeeping accuracy of ±1 minute per month, a specification that shamed mechanical watches of the era. NASA used Accutron movements in onboard instruments for the Gemini and Apollo programs, a pedigree that no Swiss competitor could match at the time.

The Spaceview variant was arguably an accident of genius. Bulova originally produced open-dial Accutrons as display pieces for retailers, allowing salespeople to demonstrate the movement to customers. Consumer demand forced the company to put them into regular production. The ref. 770 features the characteristic gold-tone movement plate, bifurcated tuning fork in full view, and a simple chapter ring replacing a conventional dial — a design that would look at home in a 2024 avant-garde catalogue.

For collectors, the Accutron Spaceview occupies a singular position: it is affordable enough to be accessible yet historically significant enough to deserve serious attention. Condition is everything — corroded index circuits and damaged tuning forks are common pitfalls — but a well-preserved ref. 770 in running order is a legitimate piece of horological history.

Vasco Rossi's watch choices consistently lean toward character over convention, and the Spaceview fits that profile precisely. Wearing a six-decade-old American tuning fork watch rather than a contemporary Swiss trophy piece says something deliberate about the man. For once, the watch and the wearer are telling exactly the same story.