Bulova Chronograph Flown to moon on Apollo 15

Submitted by astronut on February 19, 2014 - 9:41am

Hello  - I just came across this forum on Bulova watches and hope someone can help me solve a mystery,

I found this entry on Wikipedia regarding watches worn by astronauts on the moon:

In 1971, Apollo 15 commander David Scott's issued Speedmaster lost its Plexiglas crystal during EVA-2. For EVA-3, the final lunar surface EVA, In a 2011 interview, Colonel Scott stated that he wore a Bulova Chronograph watch, model number 88510/01, NASA Part Number SEB12100030-202 that he had agreed to evaluate for the company. Because of the commercial interests involved and the revelation of the Apollo 15 postage stamp incident, NASA withheld Bulova's name for years afterward. Therefore, while the Speedmaster was the first watch worn on the moon, it is not the only one, as Omega often claims on its watches and in marketing materials.

My question is, which Bulova watch would have been identified as "88510/01" ???   Since it is comparable to an Omega Speedmaster, I presume this is a manual wind Valjoux chronograph which Bulova made around 1970. Does that model number match anything anyone is aware of ??

Thank you
-Robert

mybulova_admin
Posted October 2, 2016 - 11:32pm

I'd like to think that we played a small part in the history of this watch.

mybulova_admin
Posted April 21, 2017 - 11:01pm

Here is the original patent submission for the Bulova Moon Chronograph dated July 27 1971, courtesy of Ken Anderson (AndersoK) who notes that the submission is one day after the Apollo 15 mission launched.....coincidence.....I think not.

Bulova Moon Watch 1971 Patent

ToXic Blonde
Posted June 22, 2018 - 1:01am

This article captured my attention but I have one nagging question, what time zone is the moon in? :)

Reverend Rob
Posted June 22, 2018 - 10:43am

In reply to by ToXic Blonde

Zulu is the correct answer, because the joke answer I had is too political to post.

Sprocketmaster
Posted June 27, 2018 - 2:48pm

Not sure about a stopwatch, but the Bulova wristwatch thast went to the moon was a Universal Geneve.

I'd post the full size original ad but I can't post pictures. Or links. Annoying.

Edit - sorry, nevermind, I'm a half-wit sometimes. I apparently didn't know how to use the link insert box. 

Good article about it - How Bulova Used a Universal Geneve To Get To The Moon

Mybulova.com is mentioned in the comments.

Here she is. The one on the left. These were produced at the time, by the way....

Reverend Rob
Posted June 27, 2018 - 10:34pm

I'd still say that's obviously a protptype, with no name on the dial. UG did not make that movt at any rate, it is a Val 72, possibly modded slightly or not at all. The Auction makes note of the UG brand, which would have only been stamped on the movt itself. Clearly it was quick and convenient for Bulova to use their new aquisition to facilitate  the production of the watch to get a fresh crack at being in space. 

At any rate, that is some rare and excellent evidence, and Sprocketmaster has done some first rate research. I love it when the pieces fall into place! 

So now I'm looking at my moonwatch, wondering if I can drop a Val 72 into it..........

EDIT:

No surprise, this is a much larger watch and needless to say there is no way to 'drop' such a beautiful movt into it.......

Just for those who may not know, the venerable Valjoux 72 has been used in many good quality watches, not the least of which is the Rolex Daytona at one point. 

Sprocketmaster
Posted June 27, 2018 - 11:25pm

Yeah, we need the 43mm mechanical case. 43mm, coincidentally, is the measurement of that UG and Commander Scott's ''Bulova.''

And, yeah, no signed dial on that UG up there, but the buckle is signed with Universal Geneve's logo, though. So, there's that.

Of course, who knows. The people who would know anything about it are likely long gone from this old world.

Anyway. Neat stuff.

Good try on the Val 72, Reverend. It was worth a shot.

JEV1A
Posted March 4, 2022 - 9:35am

After reading through this complex thread I'm still in a quandary of what was actually worn on the lunar surface and what was not? 

 I live on the Space Coast and I asked a retired NASA Apollo engineer once about use of the Accutrons. He told me that NASA was afraid at first the electronics of the watch may screw with their other gauges. Bulova had been installing gauges in Aircraft since WWII. He had no info on which Astronaut wore which watch. But I had never heard it mentioned that Accutron's were so experimental in the day that even NASA were worried about their interaction with other on-board equipment. 

John V. 

Geoff Baker
Posted March 4, 2022 - 11:15pm

In reply to by JEV1A

John, not sure where your NASA engineer got his story but all the Apollo spacecraft were fitted with Accutron Clocks. Also the Cmdr Dave Scott watch shown in this story is THE WATCH worn on the surface of the moon. Additionally, the CIA pilots who flew the SR-71 aircraft also wore Accutron wristwatches.

Astronaut M2
Posted March 5, 2022 - 12:03pm

In reply to by JEV1A

I'm sorry but that story is nonsense, From the mid-1950s to the 1970s, American watchmaker Bulova worked in partnership with NASA to provide timekeeping instruments, including clocks equipped with the brand’s signature Accutron tuning-fork technology, and that equipment was used throughout the Apollo spacecraft from the command module to the lunar lander and even experiments left on the lunar surface, the only timekeeping instruments Omega provided was the wristwatches that the Astronauts wore, The countless contributions of Bulova's Accutron timekeeping equipment to the NASA space programs from the '50s to the '70s are well documented, The Bulova Accutron served NASA for over a decade in space!

Accutron in spacecraft 

Accutron Gemini spacecraft 1

Accutron Gemini spacecraft

And this partnership with NASA continued extensively through the '70s with the Apollo program...

 

Astronaut M2
Posted March 5, 2022 - 12:24pm

In reply to by Astronaut M2

In fact, the NASA Apollo program Started: in 1961 Completed: in 1975 which made the Accutron 214 the perfect fit for NASA as the power consumed by an Accutron 214 movement is only eight one millionths of a watt during operation! By the time the NASA Apollo program had Started Bulova had already sold millions of them on the consumer market and the Bulova's marine & aerospace clocks, timers, and switches based on the 214 movements which was designed and manufactured in a division of the Bulova Watch Company known as the Bulova Timer Laboratory at Bulova Park, Flushing, N.Y. for over a year, so they were not "experimental" in the least but in fact, a well-known commodity that NASA used extensively through the '60s and '70s... 

 

Astronaut M2
Posted March 5, 2022 - 12:38pm

In reply to by Astronaut M2

John, please stop repeating that false story as it's just not true... 

Accutron

Accutron

Accutron

Accutron

Astronaut M2
Posted March 5, 2022 - 1:02pm

In reply to by Astronaut M2

This is actually a dual image of an Accutron Timer Labs 214 TE-10 Panel Clock Integrated into a CIA Lockheed A-12 and the area it was photographing!

Accutron

mybulova_admin
Posted March 20, 2022 - 3:24am

I just found the original photo of Dave Scott's Bulova watch. Back in 2014 when this watch was first shown here on myBulova.com, only the watch was shown and not the entire original velcro strap. This was at the bequest on Mr Scott. I feel enough time has now past to be able to present the original photo that I received on the March 21 2014. (sorry about the watermark I must have done that back in 2014)

Dave Scott Bulova moon watch - first posted 21 March 2014

Astronaut M2
Posted March 20, 2022 - 5:40pm

In reply to by mybulova_admin

Just look at all that lunar regolith all over it, I would think that would be worth a lot on its own!

JimDon5822
Posted March 11, 2024 - 10:54pm

Actually this was the August 3, 1972 U.S. Senate Hearings on the Commercialization of Space.  Here are the excerpts.

US Senate Hearings 1972 Page 245US Senate Hearings 1972 Page 246US Senate Hearings 1972 Page 247US Senate Hearings 1972 Page 248US Senate Hearings 1972 Page 249US Senate Hearings 1972 Page 250