Community Stories

Dave Scott's Personal Bulova Chronograph Worn On The Moon, For Sale

TLIGuy
Posts
2,042
Likes
10,581
TNTwatch TNTwatch
The 5100 series is an automatic movement with central minute chrono counter and different subdial configuration.

It could probably only be either Lemania or Valjoux, but it seems to have been under very tight wrap.

@TNTwatch ..In hindsight you are correct about the Lemania 5100 and I should have noticed that before I posted this all bleary eyed and tired this morning. That said, the person that worked closely with Scott regarding this piece is the one that noted it was the 5100 movement and I was just passing on the information. I will email him now and ask if he has any additional information on the movement and what information he used.
 
donkii
Posts
1,394
Likes
14,920
9bW7pOi.jpg
EQ6hTAV.jpg pZDy35o.jpg FgC9Tv7.jpg 7qONAqB.jpg
 
TLIGuy
Posts
2,042
Likes
10,581
TNTwatch TNTwatch
The 5100 series is an automatic movement with central minute chrono counter and different subdial configuration.

It could probably only be either Lemania or Valjoux, but it seems to have been under very tight wrap.

@TNTwatch....Here we go from the space collectible guys doing their research before they bid on a sure to be six figure watch.

"Thanks to the RR Auction catalog we now know the entire serial number from the back of this mysterious Bulova. And thanks to that number, a mystery can now be solved.

In the late 1960s to early 70s, Bulova owned a Swiss watch company known as Universal Geneve. The case number from Dave Scott's Bulova matches exactly the case numbers found on the Universal Geneve chronograph model known as the "Space Compax." This watch featured a triple register just like a Speedmaster, but used a Valjoux 72 movement."

http://chronomaddox.com/competitors/speedmaster_v_space_compax/speedmaster_v_space-compax.html
 
TNTwatch
Posts
2,876
Likes
1,956
TLIGuy TLIGuy
@TNTwatch....Here we go from the space collectible guys doing their research before they bid on a sure to be six figure watch.

"Thanks to the RR Auction catalog we now know the entire serial number from the back of this mysterious Bulova. And thanks to that number, a mystery can now be solved.

In the late 1960s to early 70s, Bulova owned a Swiss watch company known as Universal Geneve. The case number from Dave Scott's Bulova matches exactly the case numbers found on the Universal Geneve chronograph model known as the "Space Compax." This watch featured a triple register just like a Speedmaster, but used a Valjoux 72 movement."

http://chronomaddox.com/competitors/speedmaster_v_space_compax/speedmaster_v_space-compax.html
Perfect sense! No wonder it looks just like a Space Compax. Did the auction house provide any picture of the movement?
 
donkii
Posts
1,394
Likes
14,920
TNTwatch TNTwatch
Perfect sense! No wonder it looks just like a Space Compax. Did the auction house provide any picture of the movement?
No pictures 🙁
 
Time Exposure
Posts
1,598
Likes
1,072
Tri-national-man Tri-national-man
Don't Omega claim that the Speedmaster is the "First and only watch worn on the moon" and wouldn't they get in trouble if that claim is disproved??
Omega gets off on a technicality. Only the Omega Speedmaster was issued by NASA. Astronauts were allowed to carry their own timepiece as well.
 
TNTwatch
Posts
2,876
Likes
1,956
dennisthemenace dennisthemenace
After a bit of googling , it appears the movement is a Valjoux 7736.
I think it was just some extrapolation/speculation to the contemporary Bulova Chronograph Model C, which has the Val. 7736, based on the 3 subdials similarity. The Space Compax ref number gives a much more plausible clue.
 
TLIGuy
Posts
2,042
Likes
10,581
I was going to be in it until $53,450 but I think it has quickly moved out of my price range.

"The Moon watch, along with a "detailed five-page letter of authenticity", will be auctioned on 22 October as part of the The Space and Aviation Autograph and Artifact Auction. The minimum bid is $50,000.

Given that the "attitude controller assembly" used by Scott to land the Apollo 15 Falcon lunar module sold for a cool $610,000 in May last year, RR Auction is reasonably predicting the Bulova could hit $1 million."
 
U
Posts
25,980
Likes
27,622
Guys, it's probably a manual wind chronograph since an automatic would be useless in space with no gravity to spin the rotor. As mentioned above, a Valjoux 72 or 7736 fits the bill, not a Lemania 5100.

There were several other watches worn on the moon and in space, like Carpenter's Breitling (early Earth orbits) and a couple Rolex GMTs which were popular among test pilots (who eventually became astronauts).
 
TLIGuy
Posts
2,042
Likes
10,581
U ulackfocus
Guys, it's probably a manual wind chronograph since an automatic would be useless in space with no gravity to spin the rotor. As mentioned above, a Valjoux 72 or 7736 fits the bill, not a Lemania 5100.

There were several other watches worn on the moon and in space, like Carpenter's Breitling (early Earth orbits) and a couple Rolex GMTs which were popular among test pilots (who eventually became astronauts).

Well then, I guess this thread is pretty well tied up.

So a quick summary then...

1) Yes, a manual wind watch. Thought we had pretty much resolved that a few post back.
2) "Since an automatic would be useless in space with no gravity to spin the rotor." Not true, but lets roll with that.
3) Yes, lots of other watches have been documented to have flown in space...but they are not for sale.
Edited:
 
U
Posts
25,980
Likes
27,622
TLIGuy TLIGuy
2) "Since an automatic would be useless in space with no gravity to spin the rotor." Not true, but lets roll with that.

Then allow me to clarify: The automatic winding portion would be nearly useless. You could still manually wind the watch.

TLIGuy TLIGuy
3) Yes, lots of other watches have been documented to have flown in space...but they are not for sale.

Exactly. 😉
 
Archer
Posts
27,485
Likes
69,989
U ulackfocus
Then allow me to clarify: The automatic winding portion would be nearly useless. You could still manually wind the watch.

::facepalm1::
 
Time Exposure
Posts
1,598
Likes
1,072
Archer Archer
::facepalm1::
Once we get Dennis to spell "Volkswagon" with an "e," we can broach the subject of inertia. Baby steps...
 
U
Posts
25,980
Likes
27,622
Okay, correct me if I'm wrong then - gravity plays a large part of the winding rotor's motion. If it didn't then it wouldn't have a perimeter weight, correct? I understand inertia, but inertia as related to a rotating automatic watch winding system is much more effective with gravity than without it. Please explain if this is wrong. A simple few sentences would help not only me but most here.
 
Jones in LA
Posts
5,098
Likes
45,915
For sure, the rotor of an automatic watch is designed to work best in a 1-g environment. If it's a high quality movement and well maintained, the rotor should re-align itself with the gravity vector when the position of the watch is changed, no matter how slowly its position is changed.

A rapid wrist movement in a micro-g environment would likely result in movement of the rotor, due to inertia. But, it's also easy to imagine that in a micro-g environment, the position of the watch could be changed very slowly such that the rotor will not move at all (due to friction and maybe even mainspring tension). Thus, 1-g wins as the happiest place for an automatic movement 😀
Edited:
 
Modest_Proposal
Posts
2,926
Likes
6,224
The question is if it would be more work than it was worth to flick the watch around until it was wound. It depends on if the inertia necessary to wind the watch was weak enough that a person could do with without consciously trying.

Take a good long look at the watch in this picture and tell me this doesn't have straight traditional pushers. Is this suppose to be the exact watch for sale in the auction? Because the one at auction has slender slit pushers.


.
 
9bW7pOi.jpg
Jones in LA
Posts
5,098
Likes
45,915
The watch in the photo above is Dave Scott's Speedmaster that he wore on EVA-2. Scott noticed that the Speedmaster's crystal was gone while he was back in the LM between EVA-2 and EVA-3. The Bulova was worn on EVA-3.

Edit: The brochure's photo (above) was not meant to depict the watch on sale, but rather illustrate the story of how the Bulova came to be worn. @TLIGuy can probably verify this, but I don't believe there is a clear photo in existence that shows the Bulova in use on the Moon's surface.
Edited:
 
32 More Posts...
Sign up or log in to reply...

Similar threads

TDBK

Dave Scott's moon-worn Speedmaster, Bozeman MT

TDBK Open Discussion
vbrad26
vbrad26
Posts
22
Views
3K
kidkimura

Dave Scott's Moon-worn Bulova (Yes that one) up for sale -- 50k

kidkimura Vintage Omega Watches Help, Discussion and Advice
Blaise
Blaise
Posts
5
Views
2K