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It’s officially Space Watch Season. We just saw G-SHOCK release their latest collaborative release with NASA, and now Bulova returns with a new version of their popular Lunar Pilot, this one in a “blood moon” colorway. While the Lunar Pilot doesn’t have “first watch on the moon” pedigree like the venerable Omega Speedmaster, it does have its own legitimate spacefaring history. In 1971, Dave Scott, mission commander of Apollo 15, wore a similar Bulova Chronograph when he became the seventh man to walk on the moon. Unlike the Speedmaster, which was conceived originally as a racing chronograph, the Bulova on Scott’s wrist was designed specifically for use in space, specifically for timing related to critical life support systems.
The Lunar Pilot has some aesthetic similarities to the Speedmaster (in their purest form, they are both black dialed chronographs, after all) but Bulova has shown a willingness to experiment with the Lunar Pilot recently, and it now feels very much like its own thing, existing well outside the long shadow of the Speedy. This latest iteration is a good example of how Bulova uses this platform to play with color and our expectations for a sports watch like the Lunar Pilot should be.
As you can plainly see from the images in this post, what we have here is a very red version of the Lunar Pilot, with a bright red main dial and three silvered subdials at 9:00, 3:00, and 6:00. The inspiration here, according to Bulova, is a total lunar eclipse, often known as a “Blood Moon” for the distinct red appearance of the moon during the event. Red is a touch color to pull off in a watch – it has a tendency to clash with clothing, and is typically seen as kind of a “loud” color that doesn’t really fly under the radar. Still, I have to think that red, in moderation, has its place. And for someone looking for a sporty watch with a real connection to spaceflight that isn’t your typical black dialed chrono, this might be extremely welcome.
In terms of specs, the Lunar Pilot “Blood Moon” follows previous watches in the collection, and has the same 43.5mm case and NP20 High Precision Quartz movement. This is a high spec quartz caliber, and the chronograph is capable of timing events to 1/20th of a second, which is quite possibly faster than the typical human being can even react.
The Bulova Lunar Pilot “Blood Moon” is available now via Bulova with a retail price set at $895. Bulova
