2018 Bulova Lunar Pilot Chronograph 45mm 96B251
It was on August 2nd 1971, when Bulova would be walking on the Moon. But you say I thought Omega Speedmaster was the only NASA Approved Watch', and you'd be right. Still, under NASA’s own rules and regulations, Bulova made many of the timing instruments. The 46 missions and Lunar landings all used them. Therefore, Bulova presented Commander Scott of Apollo 15 with a Bulova prototype that met all the NASA requirements and passed the g-force tests. But it was overshadowed by the Omega as the first choice of Time device; without telling anyone, he brought it aboard. “Houston, we have a problem.” As luck would have it, his Speedy crystal popped out, so he slipped on his Bulova, and he became the first man to use an unauthorised watch while driving the Moon Buggy on the lunar surface. He made history on this day! Commander Scott decided in 2015 to put up for auction his beloved prototype, which sold for an incredible record-breaking $1.3 million. In response to this, Bulova chose to make a special edition of the Lunar Pilot Chronograph. The Specifications were in keeping with the original case design, including the dial and chronograph pushers, but featured a modern movement. Here we have a curvaceous 2018 Bulova Lunar Pilot Chronograph 96B251 featuring its distinctive brushed 45mm Stainless Steel cushion case that sits comfortably on your wrist with tapered lugs. The lug-to-lug length of 53 mm and the case thickness of 13.5mm give the watch a comfortable cushion fit. Down the right side, we have the sloping chronograph pushers and a coin-edged crown sitting slightly recessed. The polished bezel holds the flat, thick, Anti-Reflective Sapphire crystal. A raised Tachymeter chapter ring sits above the black dial. Bulova has created a multidimensional dial, keeping the indices simple and the minute track easy to read, with a large, sweeping chronograph seconds hand. The sub-dials at 9 o’clock read the minutes up to 60 mins total, the 3 o’clock spins 10th of a second to save battery, this stops after 30 seconds, but when you press the top pusher, it will read the seconds as if it has been spinning, all the time, a date window sits at 4 o’clock and finishing the compliment off at 6 o’clock the 60 seconds hand ticks at two ticks per second. To reset the chronograph, you press the button pusher, and the hands sweep back into position. The pushers have a tactile click, which is very satisfying. Decided not to use the manual wind Universal Genève movement of the original but to use their highly accurate UHF 262 kHz quartz movement, which gives the chronograph hand its distinctive sweep at eight ticks per second, while the 60-sec sub-dial ticks at two ticks per second. Unlike the standard quartz movement, it operates at 32748 kHz and has an accuracy of a few seconds per month. The Bulova Quartz Calibre NP20 operates at 262 kHz, achieving an accuracy of a few seconds per year. Comes paired with a 20mm black Bulova strap and pin buckle, plus a special Bulova NATO, and comes with its Bulova presentation box, spring bar removal tool.
