How do you enhance the connection that a watch shares with outer space beyond just evoking its history of having been flown to the moon? You replicate the look of the original, but replace its dial with a space rock.
Bulova is celebrating its long history with NASA and the U.S. space program by releasing its new Meteorite Lunar Pilot timepiece. The $1,495 limited edition wristwatch, part of Bulova's growing Archive Series, is the latest reproduction of a prototype chronograph that was secretly flown to the moon.
In 1971, Bulova arranged for one of its chronographs (and a stopwatch) to fly to the moon with the Apollo 15 crew. Though it was never supposed to see the lunar surface, an accident with one of NASA's official timepieces led to the commander of the mission wearing the prototype out on the third of his three moonwalks.
Forty-four years later, former NASA astronaut David Scott auctioned the watch for a then-record-setting $1.625 million. A month after the sale, Bulova introduced its first production replica of the Apollo 15 watch, which it called the "Lunar Pilot." Since then, the American watchmaker has released a few different versions of the Lunar Pilot, including a 2021 golden version in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 15 mission.
Related: The Apollo Program: How NASA sent astronauts to the moon
