BULOVA 50th ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION TITANIUM and STEEL MOON WATCH 98A285

BACKGROUND

Worn on the moon first by David R. Scott on the 2nd of August 1971 when the glass on his Speedmaster came off during an EVA (essentially a moonwalk). His backup watch was the Bulova #88510/01 that ended up selling in 2015 for US $1.6m. The Bulova was his personal watch as against the Speedmaster which was government property.

FUNCTIONALITY

This iconic timepiece features a highly durable Titanium Grade 5 case with gold-tone stainless steel details set against a rich gray dial, and a commemorative design relief on the case back highlighting the historic achievement. The six-hand chronograph movement features Bulovas proprietary high-performance quartz technology with 262 kHz vibrational frequency for precise accuracy. The 262 kHz on the seconds subdial indicates the use of Bulova’s proprietary high-performance (formerly referred to as UHF or Ultra-High Frequency) quartz movement. In addition to being highly accurate to 10 seconds per year, the Lunar Pilot’s chronograph hand sweeps smoothly as it advances rather than ticking.

PERSONAL IMPRESSION

We were lucky enough to see the prototype of the 98A285 earlier this year and the watch was a real standout with the colourways selected by Bulova. The subtle contrast between the gold and the two shades of grey makes for a really beautiful dial. The crown and the pushers add to the look. Bulova has chosen a really soft matte gold tone rather than the bright shiny look at me gold tone being used by most brands. The watch is bought together symetrically with the supple grey leather strap with a gold tone keeper that has the Bulova stamp.

While the 98A285 has a lug-to-lug measurement of 49mm, the lugs are on the shorter side so we are not sure that the lunar pilot warrants the large case size reputation. The case itself measures a more modest 45mm wide and 13mm thick. The gold tone backplate really ends the watch well.

To see the 98A285 , please CLICK HERE.