Rice's discriminating ear for artful musicianship had led to an easy and ongoing friendship with Hartford, and after a short time catching up conversation turned to John's new watch. Returning home, Hartford crossed paths with Rice backstage at a show, who was at that time unknowingly on the verge of becoming 'the man' in bluegrass. A few years out from winning four Grammys for his song 'Gentle on my Mind' and deep into his 'newgrass' experimentation, Hartford was in England in 1973 when he purchased an Accutron Spaceview 214, a Swiss-made chapter ring model.
One person captivated by the Spaceview was folk and bluegrass legend John Hartford. The Spaceview flew off the shelves, selling over 250,000 watches over the next two years. The company pivoted to steel cases (some with a thick gold cap) and a chapter ring with a simplified crystal, releasing this more affordable option in 1963. Afraid of losing sales, jewelers started selling these display models in droves and Bulova raced to keep up. But customers mistakenly thought that the Spaceview was a normal model. These Spaceview watches, cased in 14K gold, were meant as window displays to draw in customers for the otherwise 'normal-looking' watches with traditional dials.