How Bulova Used a Universal Genève to Get to the Moon, and How You Can Get One Today

I recently got myself the Bulova Moon Watch, a reproduction released by the brand earlier this year. For those of you unaware, the watch is based on an unofficial prototype worn by Astronaut David Scott during the Apollo 15 mission. That watch first came to light in 2015 when it was auctioned and sold for $1,300,000 at RR Auctions. Bulova naturally seized on the hype, and released their homage to that now iconic watch later that year.

Now, as fascinating as this all is, I prefer to dig a little deeper on the watches I buy, so I started doing some research. Specifically, I wanted to know the differences between the original and the current reproduction, so I started with the movement. In my research, there was confusion whether the original had a Valjoux 72 or 7736. But let’s shelve that for now, because as I dug deeper, I found bits of information suggesting the original watch was actually a variant of the Universal Genève Space-Compax! That was totally unexpected, but being as curious as I am, I found find myself falling down a rabbit hole, one that I learned was filled with many dubious leads.

Unsurprisingly, most Internet forum chatter is hearsay. Claims are often presented without any substantiated research or proof. These claims then turn into facts through the echo chamber that is Online watchdom.

But the claim that Bulova’s moon watch was actually Swiss and not American was simply too juicy to ignore, so I set out to explore that claim. Now, I’m no stranger to this subject. Two decades ago, I helped Chuck Maddox on his moon watch research. In his most often cited page on the moon watch (seriously, go read it if you’ve never had the pleasure), I was responsible for providing the Jack Swigert Rolex annotations. Chuck gracefully credited my contributions. Back then, I spent days looking through various books, micro-film, and perused all the publicly available NASA image libraries. To put a fine point as to how good Internet-age collectors have it, today this type of research would take an afternoon.

The story goes like this. Bulova, among others, failed the initial moon watch testing in 1965. In 1972, brands that previously failed got a second chance when NASA embarked on the Second Qualification Program, something that was heavily promoted by General Bradley, President of Bulova. According to Kesaharu Imai’s seminal research, Bulova lobbied Senators into action by requiring new and current participants to comply with the “Buy American Act.” This law, dating back to 1933, required 51% of a government-issued product to be manufactured in the US. Out of the 16 participating firms, only two eagerly complied—Omega and Bulova. Bulova, at the time an American company, assumed the law would automatically provide them a shield.

Omega devised a workaround and turned to two companies to help them comply with this Act. The stainless steel case was manufactured in Luddington, Michigan by Starr Watch Case Company. The complete case and crystals were then sent to Hamilton Watch Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for inspection and testing. Finally, the watches were sent to Switzerland for final assembly and installation of the movements by Omega.

Bulova at the time did not have any chronograph movements. Instead,  it is believed that Bulova procured 16 complete Swiss chronographs from their subsidiary, Universal Genève, having acquired ownership of 
UG in 1967. After a NASA audit, however, Bulova’s claims were brought into question. In a series of communiqué, Bulova argued that they met the 51% requirement of the Buy American Act, reasoning that they had invested considerable amounts of money into tooling and R&D for these watches.

On page 124 of Imai’s Time Capsule, he provides scans of all the letters and audit notes from NASA to Bulova. The letters cite the fact-finding mission on behalf of NASA officials and Bulova’s responses. The letters specifically cite the 16 watches procured through Universal Genève, and in them is a cost breakdown of all components. Ultimately, officials concluded that the Skylab missions would continue with the Speedmaster and, while unconfirmed, it’s likely that Scott was eventually gifted one of the prototypes.

Since we now know Universal Genève provided the chronographs to Bulova, I still wasn’t sure of the model. David Scott’s Bulova was believed to be a one-of-a-kind prototype. The model number designation follows the same numbering scheme of Universal Genève’s chronographs such as the Space Compax, but the latter looks nothing like the Apollo 15 Bulova or any of Omega’s Speedmaster offerings. It would be logical to assume that in 1972, Bulova performed extensive cosmetic changes to the dial, hands, case and pushers to make their watch a clone of the Speedmaster, a watch already familiar to Apollo Astronauts. This would strongly corroborate Bulova’s initial rebuttal to NASA’s audits.

Then I stumbled across this vague catalog image that I had seen shared on forums before.

Take a close look. the watch on the far left is a spitting image of Scott’s watch, sans the Bulova logo on the dial. w&w’s managing editor Ilya Ryvin suggested it could have been an auction lot given the numbers along the bottom of the frame, so I focused my search there.

Trying to find the source, I scoured auctions from Philips, Christie’s and Antiquorum. The search, I must admit, was rather haphazard as it mostly resulted in broken links. Nothing came up under “Space Compax” so I widened my search further until I found a lead (pro tip: I cropped the other watches in the snap into their own separate images and did a reverse image search). This yielded multiple hits to an Antiquorum auction result at the Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues on April 9th, 1994. Jackpot!Another moon watch had been found. Classified as an “unusual” prototype, it fits the description of David Scott’s watch: the size, dial, pushers and hands all match the visual description of Scott’s Bulova.Here is a side-by-side comparison of Scott’s example.

The watch sold for $2588 CHF, which is roughly equivalent to $3,000 US at the time. Considering the newly discovered Bulova, the owner of that watch now has something incredibly rare at an absolute bargain. It may not have flown to outer space but it’s limited rarity makes it a special watch.

The overall picture is a bit clearer now. One can conclude that Universal Genève did in fact produce multiple copies of that particular watch, and that the Bulova prototypes are indeed Swiss in origin. And that initial question about the movement? Well, based off other Universal Genève Space Compaxes, we can assume that David Scott’s Bulova is powered by a Valjoux 72. Also, the auction’s movement description clearly reflects a Valjoux 72 (13 ligne) over a 7736.

The entire narrative of the Bulova watch that went to the moon proves that for watch lovers, there remain many discoveries still left to be made. And with every new inquiry, more questions arise. Who owns that mystery Universal Genève won at auction in 1994 and where is it today, and are there more prototypes floating about that we’ve yet to discover? And of course, there are still pending questions regarding Bulova’s relationship with NASA.

For fans of the reissued Bulova Moon Watch, owning a timepiece connected to an awesome bit of history need not cost an arm and a leg. The Bulova Moon Watch is readily available and at a price that doesn’t break the bank, and now that I know more about its history, mine just got even cooler.