BULOVA LUNAR PILOT TIMASCUS BRINGS CONTEMPORARY ART TO A SPACEFARING CLASSIC
Bulova marks its 150th anniversary with a distinctive new interpretation of the Lunar Pilot, created in collaboration with Brazilian artist Thiago Rosinhole. Combining a patterned Timascus dial, Rosinhole’s Budii astronaut and Bulova’s high-performance quartz technology, the limited edition brings contemporary material experimentation to a watch with genuine lunar history.
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For a watch whose history is tied to one of the most extraordinary chapters in exploration, the Bulova Lunar Pilot has always carried an unusual sense of purpose. Its connection to Apollo 15 in 1971 gave the chronograph a place in horological history. Still, its continued presence in Bulova’s contemporary collection has allowed that heritage to evolve rather than remain confined to the archive. For its 150th anniversary, the American watchmaker has taken that idea in a distinctly artistic direction with the Lunar Pilot Timascus, created in collaboration with Brazilian pop artist Thiago Rosinhole.
The collaboration brings together two visual languages that might initially seem distant: Bulova’s engineering-led approach to precision timing and Rosinhole’s fascination with street art, popular culture and futuristic imagery. Rather than covering the watch in conventional artwork, however, the partnership is expressed through its materiality. At the centre is a vivid Timascus dial, whose irregular pattern makes every example subtly different.
Timascus is produced by folding and forging titanium through a Damascus-style process, creating layered patterns across the metal. The resulting surface can shift in character according to the light, with variations in tone and texture giving the dial a distinctly individual appearance. It is a particularly fitting choice for a collaboration built around the idea of exploration: the material resists uniformity, ensuring that each watch’s visual composition is never quite identical to another.
The effect also introduces a more contemporary character to the Lunar Pilot’s familiar architecture. Blue chronograph pushers and a blue tachymeter ring complement the patterned dial, while silver registers and Super-LumiNova on the hands and markers preserve the clarity expected from a functional chronograph. Beneath the flat sapphire crystal, the Timascus becomes the principal visual feature without overwhelming the information carried by the dial.
The case measures 43.5mm and is rendered in silver-tone stainless steel, retaining the proportions and distinctive profile associated with the modern Lunar Pilot. Its broad tachymeter bezel, elongated pushers and tuning-fork detail on the crown maintain a direct connection with Bulova’s established design language. A three-link stainless-steel bracelet completes the watch, with a push-button deployant clasp providing a practical finish to the substantial case.
Turn the watch over, and the collaboration becomes more explicit. The caseback carries an individually numbered engraving of Rosinhole’s Budii astronaut, the character that has become closely associated with the artist’s visual universe. The motif gives the otherwise technically focused underside of the watch a playful, collectible quality, while reinforcing the connection between the contemporary collaboration and the Lunar Pilot’s association with space.
The spacefaring reference is not merely decorative. On 2 August 1971, during Apollo 15, a Bulova chronograph was worn on the lunar surface after being customised by Bulova engineers for the demanding conditions of the mission. The modern Lunar Pilot continues to draw directly from that chapter of the company’s history, making it one of the most recognisable expressions of Bulova’s relationship with space exploration.
For the Timascus edition, that heritage is paired with one of Bulova’s most distinctive contemporary mechanical alternatives: its proprietary high-performance quartz technology. The movement operates at a frequency of 262 kHz, considerably higher than conventional quartz movements, allowing the chronograph seconds hand to sweep smoothly across the dial. The six-hand configuration measures elapsed time to 1/20th of a second, adding a precise technical dimension to the watch’s artistic exterior.
The combination is characteristic of the way Bulova has approached its archive in recent years. Rather than reproducing historic watches without alteration, the brand has used significant designs from its past as foundations for new materials, technologies and visual interpretations. The Lunar Pilot sits naturally within this philosophy: its original purpose remains part of its identity, while contemporary versions can explore what that identity might look like decades later.
That approach has roots in Bulova’s broader history. Joseph Bulova founded the company in New York City in 1875, opening a small jewellery shop on Maiden Lane and establishing a business shaped by American industrial progress and an interest in precision. Over the decades, the company developed a reputation for technical experimentation, including standardised watch production and, in 1960, the Accutron — the world’s first fully electronic watch, whose tuning-fork technology would later play a role in the US space programme.
The Lunar Pilot therefore occupies an interesting position within that heritage. It represents the intersection of Bulova’s precision engineering and its history of technological ambition, but the Rosinhole edition adds another layer: the watch becomes a meeting point between horological history and contemporary visual culture.
Limited to 5,500 pieces worldwide, the Lunar Pilot Timascus is accompanied by special packaging that includes a storybook and a six-inch Budii figurine designed by Rosinhole. The watch is priced at $1,650 in the United States.
Bulova’s current official store locator remains the appropriate reference for authorised retail availability, although its live results do not currently provide a sufficiently clear UAE city listing to name individual locations with confidence.
The Lunar Pilot Timascus ultimately demonstrates how a historic watch can continue to acquire new meaning without losing sight of its origins. Apollo 15 supplies the foundation, Bulova’s quartz technology provides the precision, and Rosinhole’s Timascus interpretation introduces an element of individuality that cannot be replicated exactly from one dial to the next. For a watch born from an era of exploration, that capacity to keep changing may be one of its most fitting qualities.