Bulova Lunar Pilot Chronograph Review: Is It Worth It?

A close reissue of the 1971 Apollo 15 chronograph, with a tachymeter bezel, three subdials and a broad handset. The proportions are historically faithful and enormous by modern standards.

The NP20 high-performance quartz oscillates at 262 kHz — roughly eight times the frequency of a standard quartz crystal. The practical result is a chronograph seconds hand that sweeps smoothly rather than ticking, and timing resolution far beyond a mechanical chronograph.

A 316L steel case with an anti-reflective sapphire crystal and a push-pull crown, rated to 50 m. Construction is solid; the water resistance is the specification most at odds with the watch's appearance.

A black dial running six hands across three subdials, with a tachymeter scale, applied luminous markers and a calendar aperture. It is a busy dial, faithful to the original, and legible once you learn where things are.

Two straps in the box: black textured leather on a pin buckle, and a black nylon strap whose nubuck patch is stamped DOM 08021971 — the date Apollo 15 landed. Both are 20 mm, and a 20 mm strap on a 45 mm case looks narrow, which is part of the period-correct proportions.

The limiting figure is 53 mm lug-to-lug, longer than anything else in this database by 3 mm. Bulova publishes the 45 mm diameter and the 20 mm lug width but not this figure, so treat it as a specialist-press number rather than a manufacturer one. This watch needs a wrist of about 7.25 inches to sit correctly, and it will overhang below that.

High-frequency quartz movements of this class are specified far more tightly than standard quartz. Confirm the exact figure with Bulova for the reference you are buying.