Initially, I was under the impression that the Omega Speedmaster Professional was the only timepiece certified by NASA for spaceflight. Whilst some research proved that to be technically correct, the Bulova chronograph made an outing on the wrist of David Scott during the third Apollo 15 moonwalk without being NASA flight certified.

Apparently, Mission Commander David Scott wore his Speedmaster on the lunar surface during his first and second moonwalks but during the second moonwalk before the crystal mysteriously popped off forcing him to wear his personal backup Bulova chronograph for the third moonwalk. It just happened to be a coincidence that Scott’s Speedmaster failed, but fortunately a he bought his personal and specifically designed one-of-a-kind Bulova so was able to wear that as a replacement. There was a suggestion that the contract should be awarded to an American manufacturer and not a Swiss company.

Bulova allegedly attempted to utilise their White House contacts to seek favourable concessions to allow the contract to be awarded to their timepiece. However, Omega was the only timepiece to pass the tests, Bulova was not even considered in the initial selection so the Bulova timepiece could be considered a stowaway not meeting test criteria. As Scott’s Bulova chronograph timepiece was private property and not the government issued Speedmaster and property of the US government, he was able to retain his moonwatch as official timepieces had been donated to the Smithsonian Institute for display. As private property, Scott was able to sell his Bulova chronograph at private auction in 2015 for $1.6 million – that’s a pretty tidy sum.