This All-Black Watch Is Almost Impossible to See

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Watch brands are always chasing new materials and finishes—but Bulova just pushed things to an extreme. The new Lunar Pilot Black Hole limited edition is designed to be one of the darkest watches ever made, using a special coating that absorbs up to 99.4 percent of visible light.

Inspired by the light-swallowing nature of black holes, the watch leans fully into a stealth aesthetic, pairing a matte black case and bracelet with an ultra-dark dial that almost disappears in certain lighting. But this isn’t just a design exercise—it builds on the legacy of Bulova’s historic Lunar Pilot chronograph, adding modern materials and updated proportions. Limited to just 6,000 pieces, it’s one of the most striking—and unusual—space-inspired watches released this year.

The black-on-black watch features a new, slimmed down, 41mm case (compared to the 43.5mm standard model). To achieve the pitch black look, the stainless steel case and bracelet are PVD plated and sandblast-finished for an ultra matte, charcoal effect. Darker still, the dial isn’t just black, it’s painted with a special Musou black paint that absorbs light.

The six-hand chronograph is fitted with a tachymeter bezel for clocking speed. The watch’s space gray hands and indexes are painted with SuperLumiNova indexes that glow blue in low-light situations on Earth or in the abyss of space. For better lit environments, the flat sapphire crystal offers a five-layer anti-reflective coating to mitigate glare.

Flip the Black Hole over and the screw-down case back is equipped with a unique glass insert portraying a matte black and grey lunar landscape with an astronaut and Apollo 15 details. (During the 1971 mission, commander Dave Scott wore his personal Bulova chronograph on a moon-walk after his NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster’s crystal came off.)

Bulova’s proprietary high precision quartz NP20 calibre runs the Black Hole’s time keeping. The 1/20th second chronograph movement is accurate to around 10 seconds a year and vibrates at a frequency of 262khz, allowing a sweeping chronograph hand and running seconds hand.

Inside a special “Black Hole” box, the Lunar Pilot limited edition comes with a travel pouch and a travel clock inspired by the lunar capsule instrument used on Apollo 15 voyage.

The Lunar Pilot Black Hole is limited to only 6,000 pieces world-wide and is available now at bulova.com for $1,650.