Men's Archive Series Lunar Pilot 6-Hand Chronograph High Performance Quartz Stainless Steel and Black Nylon Strap Watch Set, Sapphire Crystal Style: 96B251

It's hard to imagine a better deal than that offered by Bulova for this watch. Often what sets a watch apart from countless other similar watches is the "story" behind the watch. Whether it's the Rolex worn by Sean Connery, the Tag Heuer worn by Steve McQueen, or the Cartier worn by JFK. The most sought after watches have a story. Indeed, one of the most sought after watches is an Omega Speedmaster Professional. This is the watch worn by the American Astronauts for the Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions, and until recently, were the only watches ever to make it to the moon. However, owning a "speedy" will set you back several thousand dollars, but that's what you need to spend to get a "moon watch". Up until now. The story goes that David Scott, commander of Apollo 15 was given a Bulova prototype to "test" while on mission. While he did not plan on actually "testing" the watch, he did put it in with the rest of his stuff as backup. As luck would have it, it was needed as his Speedmaster failed when the crystal popped out, and Scott wore the Bulova on the moon for EVA 3 and on the return trip. That watch recently sold for 1.6 MILLION dollars in auction and is the only privately owned watch that has been on the moon. Bulova has taken that story and created an homage to that prototype. The Lunar Pilot is the result. Even without the space pedigree, this is one special watch. It's quartz movement beats at 8 times the normal frequency giving the watch an accuracy of approximately 10 to 15 seconds a YEAR vice the normal 10 to 15 second a month variance on normal quartz watches. This movement also features a second hand that ticks every half second and a sweeping chronograph hand that is normally found only on mechanical watches. Encased in it's bead blasted stainless steel case, the watch is 45mm wide which makes it a large watch. The watch is capped by a thick sapphire crystal, and the back is engraved with the mission information from the Apollo mission. The face detail is exquisite. Instead of a "flat face" like on many watches, the seconds marker track is recessed, and the face is raised. The 5 min lume markers are raised further on the base and the subdials are slightly recessed into the dial. This type of detail is rarely found on a watch of this price point. A date window between the 4 and 5 position discreetly gives the day of the month. The subdial at 3 o'clock is used for measuring 1/20th seconds in chronograph mode while the 9 o'clock subdial shows minutes elapsed. The 6 o'clock subdial shows running seconds for timekeeping and remains moving whether or not the chronograph is in operation or not. The watch is very clean and legible as would be expected for a watch designed for space travel. In fact the face is much like an Omega Speedmaster, not due to any copyright infringement, but rather due to the necessity of maintaining the NASA specifications already laid forward. The case design, however is very distinctive with recessed pusher bars that pivot for the chronograph functions. It's easy to see that these pusher bars were designed specifically to be operated by a large gloved hand. The watch itself is water resistant to 50 meters, but really isn't designed for water sports. This version of the watch comes with two straps, a leather strap and a fabric strap that is reminiscent of the NASA strap used by the astronauts. A strap removal tool is also included along with a certificate of authenticity and booklet describing the history of the watch. This watch also comes with a stainless steel bracelet version, but they are not interchangeable as the lug holes are in different locations for both watches. Even without it's interesting inspiration, this watch would be a bargain. The accuracy of 10 sec a year makes this one of the most accurate watches you can reasonably own. The attention to detail of this watch rivals that of much more expensive watches. The fact that it comes with such an interesting back story makes it a must for anyone who values unique and collectible time pieces. And you don't have to plop down several thousand dollars to do so.

This watch has been reviewed on Amazon many times already, so I will try to not repeat too much of what has already been said, and if I do repeat, I'll try to condense my words to what you might really be interested to know. First: This watch has some historical significance, as a replica of the only other watch known to be worn on the Moon besides the Omega Speedmaster (which I also once owned). Bulova produced just a few of these back in the early 70's (through their Swiss subsidiary Universal Geneve), submitted some to NASA for testing, and gifted one to David Scott, who took it along as "backup" during the Apollo 15 mission. He ended up wearing it on the lunar surface while piloting the Lunar Rover. That particular watch sold at auction in 2015 for $1,600,000. Second: Even without the historical significance, it's a technically interesting watch with unique features. The watch uses Bulova's UHF quartz movement, in which the crystal vibrates 8 times faster than conventional quartz watches. This provides extreme accuracy of approximately 10 seconds/year as well as very smooth motion of the central chronograph seconds hand. The running seconds hand located on the subdial at six o'clock ticks every half-second, not every second like most quartz watches. Third: The styling is unique among modern Bulova watches, which are often very highly polished, glittery and sometimes "blingy". This watch is more of a "tool" or instrument, with a mostly bead blasted texture, and a little bit of a brushed finish on the bezel. The crystal is a thick flat slab of sapphire, and actually protrudes a millimeter or so above the edge of the bezel, just like the original plexiglass crystal did. The pushers to activate the chronograph functions are levers which operate in slots milled in the case. The dial is very precisely detailed, and has the subdials and the track for seconds recessed slightly below the level of the main dial, while the tachymeter track is raised above the main dial, giving a pleasing three-dimensional effect. The white lumed hands and markers offer high contrast with the black dial, and very good legibility. Basically, the watch looks like something designed to do a particular job, rather than something designed simply to look pretty. Fourth: The watch is physically large. The original was 43.3 mm diameter, and because the UHF movement used requires slightly more space, the case has been slightly enlarged to 45 mm, with an overall length of 53 from lug-to-lug and about 13 mm thickness. For most people, this isn't really a problem as large watches are fashionable, and it's not stupidly large like some other examples I could name. My wrists are almost exactly 7 inches, and I already owned other watches with similar size, so from my perspective it looks large, but not TOO large. If your wrists are less than 7 inches circumference, the watch MAY look big on you, depending on your personal preferences. Fifth: The build quality is excellent. I could find no defects at all, everything worked properly out of the box. I've heard of some buyers needing to reset the chronograph hands to zero (an easy adjustment), mine were fine from the start. The back is nicely detailed with information about the Apollo 15 mission and the famous Bulova tuning fork logo. The presentation box includes an extra velcro strap similar to those actually used by NASA, as well as a tool to remove the spring bars when changing straps. The leather strap which is attached to the watch is very nice, with a texture which resembles either carbon fiber or a basketweave (take your pick). Either way, it is kind of stiff to begin with, but in a day or so, conforms very well to my wrist. I find it comfortable enough to wear while sleeping, and although the watch is somewhat heavy, after a while it is easy to forget I'm wearing it. I wouldn't choose this watch to wear during very active sports such as mountain biking, as the weight on my wrist might be noticeable then. Also, I've got other watches which are lighter and better suited for that kind of use. However, for everyday wear, the Lunar Pilot is perfectly comfortable. Bottom line (see what I did there?) is that this watch is unique, comfortable, accurate and historically significant, and a LOT of watch for the money.

Qualite vraiment top pour une montre de ce prix Finitions agreable, mouvement du chrono superbe Le coté historique Deux bracelets dont unNATO tres sympa Bref cette bulova lunar est une réussite

Superb provenance, beautiful design, great price.

Loved the watch you can really feel the quality and pedigree. The background story is very cool but unfortunately too big for my wrist had to return it.

Consegnato esattamente nei tempi previsti, corrispondente alla descrizione, nuovo di magazzino con pellicole e protezioni al loro posto; la scatola era ancora sigillata. Come indicato, nella bella confezione era presente il secondo cinturino EVA, l'accessorio per il montaggio e anche l'opuscolo che racconta la storia in lingua inglese. I materiali e le caratteristiche costruttive sono di alto livello, questo unito al calibro ad alta frequenza ne fanno un oggetto di pregio. Non mi dilungo sulla sua storia legata alle missioni lunari, già descritta con cura e dovizia di particolari in altre recensioni presenti, ma riassumendo per me è sicuramente un orologio di qualità e con una grande storia, penso che valga tutti i soldi spesi e anche di più. Molto consigliato.

Nachdem ich über Uhrenforen und einschlägige YouTube-Kanäle auf die Uhr aufmerksam geworden bin, war ich zunächst sehr gehyped. Ich bin großer Fan der Omega Speedmaster, muss mir aber leider eingestehen, dass diese außerhalb meines Budget liegt. Zumindest wäre mir sehr unwohl dabei mit einer so teuren Uhr am Handgelenk durch die Gegen zu laufen. Als ich also von der Luna Pilot hörte war mir klar, dass ich das gute Stück unbedingt mal in natura begutachten muss. Ich war erst skeptisch, ob mir die doch etwas größer ausfallende Uhr an mir gefallen würde, doch ich wurde zum Glück positiv überrascht. Ich habe einen Handgelenksumfang von ca. 17-18 cm und bin mit dem Look zufrieden. Ich trage die Uhr aktuell an dem mitgelieferten Nylonband, die Stahlbandversion wäre mir vermutlich dann doch eine Nummer zu mächtig und schwer. Die Uhr trägt sich angenehm und macht eine soliden Eindruck, ich konnte an meinem Exemplar keine wirklichen Macken feststellen. Lediglich die Präsentation hat bei mir etwas gelitten, da die Uhrenbox , in der das gute Stück ankam, leider etwas ramponiert gewirkt hat, eventuell handelt es sich um einen Rückläufer. Dies war für mich allerdings bei diesem Preis (UVP ist 499,00 €) kein Grund für eine Retour. Alles in allem eine tolle Toolwatch mit spannender Historie und zeitlosem Look. Sehr zu empfehlen!