Let’s jump back to the 1960s: the space race is in full swing, John F. Kennedy delivers his infamous “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,” and Bulova introduces its Accutron movement technology. Defined as “the first genuinely revolutionary timekeeping technology since the invention of the balance spring”, the Accutron utilized an electronically driven tuning fork that oscillated much faster than any balance spring could, resulting in precise and accurate timekeeping. Throughout this time, Bulova and its Accutron technology would go on to deliver “about 2,000 Accutron timers and timing packages” to NASA, having a direct role in over 40 missions, with one Bulova Accutron clock remaining on the moon thanks to Buzz Aldrin.
Jumping forward to 1971, the Apollo 15 mission was preparing to launch, and Bulova saw a unique opportunity: they gifted a one-of-a-kind, hand-wound chronograph to mission commander Colonel Dave Scott. This watch featured a manual wind chronograph housed in a 43.5mm case, and large, rounded pushers designed to be operated while inside a full spacesuit. As the ninth crewed mission and fourth to land on the moon, the Apollo 15 crew planned to become the first to drive on the moon’s surface in the all-new lunar rover. At some point during the mission, after EVA-2, the crystal on Scott’s Speedmaster “popped off”, and Scott utilized that special Bulova for his EVA-3 moon walk and first-ever cruise along the lunar surface. This lunar excursion would make it one of a handful of privately owned watches to ever visit the surface of the moon. Forty-five years later, Scott’s Bulova Chronograph would come up for auction, fetching an unbelievable 1.59 million dollars.
With that condensed history lesson out of the way, let’s take a look at some of our favorite Lunar Pilot variants that have come out over the last ten years.
2016: The (re)release of the Lunar Pilot
Following the historic sale of Dave Scott’s chronograph in 2016, Bulova introduced the “Bulova Special Edition Moon Watch Chronograph,” which later evolved into the Lunar Pilot as we know it today. Best described as a faithful reinterpretation of the original chronograph, the new Lunar Pilot retains a similar case shape and large, rounded pushers, while featuring a slightly larger 45mm case and a modern quartz movement. Powered by the NP20 Caliber, this proprietary Ultra High Frequency (UHF) movement beats at 262 kHz or 262,144 times per second, making it extremely accurate (∓ 5 seconds per month). The watch featured three distinct subdials, a smooth sweeping seconds and chronograph hand, and a date window at 4:30. With this release, the Lunar Pilot was available in two configurations, on a metal bracelet and on a textured rubber strap that also came with a secondary nylon hook and loop strap.
Over the next few years, Bulova would release several iterations of the Lunar Pilot, keeping with the 45mm case but experimenting with various case finishes, strap options, and even a few models that saw the removal of the date complication.
2021: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 15
Five years after the initial release, Bulova seized an opportunity to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 15 and that prototype chronograph mentioned above. Rather than just engraving a caseback or swapping in a new color, this anniversary edition brought in an entirely new case material: grade 5 titanium. Alongside the matte grey titanium case, gold colored accents have been added to the bezel, pushers, and several additional elements. An updated caseback denotes the 50th anniversary of EVA-3, and the unique serial number of the specific watch. Limited to 5000 pieces, the anniversary lunar pilot was shipped in a commemorative box and on a grey leather single-pass strap.
2023: The Lunar Pilot Collection Expands (and shrinks)
Since its initial release, one of the most common gripes, at least online, was the case size of the watch. While a 45mm case isn’t small by any means, the chief complaint was that it wasn’t faithful to the original prototype case at 43.5mm. Even though many people praised the lunar pilot for how it wore, despite its size, there are likely many people who disregarded the watch entirely because of its case size, never even giving it a chance. For this release, Bulova shrank the case back down to the original 43.5mm size, a decision that many enthusiasts had been wishing for since the 2016 release. In addition to the smaller case size, this release came without the date complication, making it the most faithful recreation of the model that visited the lunar surface, sans mechanical movement, of course. Each of the two colorways in this release came on the “standard” 3-link steel bracelet, but also came with a color-matched leather strap.
2023: The Lunar Pilot Collection Expands (and shrinks)
While it wasn’t a standard anniversary year for the 1971 Apollo 15 mission, 2024 shaped up to be a rather exciting year for the Lunar Pilot. Bulova kicked off the new year with a limited edition focused on a very special new dial. Well, maybe we should say an old dial, as it was made from a slice of a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite. Cut from the Muonionalusta, a meteorite that crashed into Earth in northern Scandinavia, each of the 5,000-piece limited edition watches had a distinct Widmanstätten pattern on the dial. In addition to the meteorite dial, this limited edition also featured a steel and titanium hybrid case, which added visual flair and reduced the weight of the watch.
Not content with just a limited edition release for the year, Bulova also went on to release the Lunar Pilot “Blood Moon”. Inspired by a total lunar eclipse, also known as a “blood moon” due to its red appearance, this “standard” edition featured a bold red main dial with silver subdials. This Blood Moon edition was one of the boldest dial colors that Bulova has released, and it came paired with the standard 3-link bracelet and a leather strap with matching red stitching. Following the trend from 2023, both of these releases were housed in the smaller 43.5mm case.
2025: New Dial Material and an Interesting Collaboration
In the nine years since its release, the Lunar Pilot has experimented with several different dial colors and a few case materials, but only once has it used a different material for the dial. That is, until 2025, when they released the Lunar Pilot Timascus in celebration of Bulova’s 150th anniversary. Not only is there a new material for the dial, but this is also the first collaborative edition of the Lunar Pilot. Bulova teamed up with Thiago Rosinhole, a Brazilian artist known for fusing street art and pop culture to create unique-looking “Budii” figurines. Limited to 5,500 pieces, this limited edition features a vibrant timascus dial, a fusion of various titanium alloys that have been forged into a unique damascus pattern. As part of the collaboration with Rosinhole, each of the limited edition watches features an engraved caseback featuring the Buddi figure and serial number. Additionally, each watch comes with a 6” Budii figure and storybook, both designed exclusively for this collaboration.
Whether you’ve been meaning to check out one in person, or the time has come to add a watch with real space exploration heritage to your collection, we’re happy to report that a few of our favorite models are still in orbit around the shop. As always, our team here at the Windup Watch Shop welcomes you to stop by our Brooklyn showroom to see these watches in person, or check them out online at WindupWatchStop.com. With so many variations of the Lunar Pilot over the years, we can’t help but wonder what Bulova might have up its sleeves for future releases. Outer space remains a vast frontier that’s largely unexplored, so we’re sure there’s plenty of opportunities for new and exciting releases within the Lunar Pilot model.
Windup Watch Shop
2026-04-24 17:00:00