Bulova clothes up the lunar pilot with a meteorite dial

One thing like an alternate “moon” watch, which Bulova Moon pilot was launched eight years in the past as a remake of American astronaut David Scott’s watch. It retains all of the distinctive options of the unique however is reasonably priced due to a quartz motion. However now it is gotten a bit of extra luxurious, with a meteorite dial in a scaled-down case.

First ideas

As an area watch fanatic, I discover the Lunar Pilot extra fascinating than its extra well-liked counterparts because of the distinctive but up to date design, significantly the fashionable typography on the chronograph registers.

After its debut, the Lunar Pilot was made extra transportable with a smaller 43.5mm diameter case. Not a lot has occurred since then, both by way of dial selection or different improvements, limiting their attraction past a distinct segment viewers. The model with a meteorite dial is subsequently a welcome improvement, particularly because the materials remains to be uncommon on this value section.

Nonetheless, the Meteorite version is dear for the Lunar Pilot. Worth is $1,495, a $600 improve over the usual dial mannequin. This value improve might be justified as such dials are often, however not all the time, discovered on dearer timepieces. Though it’s a restricted version, it’s a print run of 5,000 copies, which is not precisely “restricted”; A smaller version would have made it extra interesting.

An area rock dial

David Scott’s personal Bulova Chronograph Ref. 88510/01, worn through the Apollo 15 mission in 1971. Picture – Bulova

That is the most recent addition to the space-inspired chronograph mannequin launched in 2016, which is a re-edition of the reference. 88510/01, the mannequin worn by NASA astronaut David Scott through the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. Of word, the watch Mr. Scott wore was his personal and one in every of two Bulovas he took with him on the mission; the opposite was a stopwatch. Mr. Scott subsequently offered the precise chronograph worn on the mission watch at Boston-based RR Public sale in 2015 for $1.6 million.

The 2016 Lunar Pilot had a black dial with the fashionable Bulova emblem and a big 45mm case. Bulova subsequently launched a smaller 43.5mm mannequin with related dimensions to the classic unique, which was additionally out there in a wide range of dial colours. The newest model is an identical in design to the usual 43.5mm mannequin, however differs in supplies: the case is made out of a mix of titanium and metal, whereas the usual fashions are made solely of metal.

And naturally, the dial is a bit of the Muonionalusta, which is taken into account the oldest identified meteorite on Earth however is widespread sufficient to be typically utilized in watches. Like all dials of this sort, the Meteorite is first subjected to an acid etching course of to focus on the Widmanstätten sample – the random linear motif created by the fabric’s crystalline construction – earlier than being polished and painted.

The Meteorite Lunar Pilot retains the usual mannequin’s high-precision NP20 (HPQ) quartz motion. The chronograph runs at an ultra-high frequency of 262.144 kHz and may file elapsed instances of as much as 1/20 of a second. Like most Bulova actions, it’s made in Japan by Citizen, Bulova’s mother or father firm.

Key information and value

Bulova Lunar Pilot Meteorite Restricted Version
Ref. 96A312