Bulova’s first Chinese Zodiac watch proves the brand isn’t afraid to explore bold, artistic territory. The Super Seville Year of the Horse brings together striking visuals with serious precision, all at an approachable price point!
Bulova, founded in 1875, is one of the oldest American watchmakers. This is a brand that has built a reputation for having timepieces with precision, innovation, and craftsmanship, principles that serve the brand still to this day. Bulova regularly features limited-edition or special-edition models either as collaborations, celebratory pieces, or for anniversaries.
The brand’s history of creating limited-edition themed timepieces shows that they are comfortable creating collector-oriented special releases, showing a deep understanding of storytelling, symbolism, and wearability, setting the foundation for future ‘cultural pieces’. And this is exactly what 2026 has meant for Bulova. This is the first time that the brand is featuring a Chinese Zodiac-inspired timepiece in its catalogue
The New York City-born watchmaker only recently celebrated their 150th anniversary last year, making 2025 an especially significant milestone in Bulova’s history. With this auspicious moment now passed, the introduction of this latest Year of the Horse timepiece feels like a confident new step forward. While this is certainly new territory for the brand, it’s a natural evolution for the brand’s special releases.
Bulova uses its iconic Super Seville as the base model for its first-ever Chinese Zodiac creation, which, in my opinion, serves as the perfect template: it’s already a dress watch that exudes luxury and features a unique square-shaped design. The Super Seville collection’s design evokes the sophistication of the 1970s, with a beautifully designed retro case that showcases a refined, confident sense of style.
Case Design
For this milestone event for Bulova, the brand has crafted the case of the Super Seville in gold-tone stainless steel. The case measures 37.5mm x 11mm, which is perfectly proportioned for modern dress watch standards. The coin-edge bezel gives the timepiece its natural sparkle, which, when executed in gold tone, adds a subtle layer of refinement without being overly flashy.
The case also features a mix of different finishing techniques that add to the overall aesthetics of the timepiece. The surface of the case and lugs features a satin vertical brushed finish, while the three-link bracelet carries the same brushed finishing on the outer links, with the central links showcasing a shimmering mirror polish. This variation gives the watch its luxury aesthetic, with the bezel’s coin-edge design and the polished finishing of the bracelet allowing the case to reflect light beautifully.
Dial Design
There have been several Year of the Horse releases that I’ve seen so far, but very few have showcased this year’s Chinese Zodiac with such beautiful visual artistry. As Bulova’s first entry into the Chinese Zodiac collection, the brand has certainly chosen not to play it safe. Within the gold-tone case sits a red and gold dial, featuring stunning imagery of a rearing stallion. This stallion is depicted in red to represent this year’s Chinese Zodiac Horse: the Fire Horse itself.
There are two beautiful floral motifs, while the surrounding elements of the dial feature a floral background that the Fire Horse is meant to sit against. The outer flange features a minute track, finished in red and yellow, which suits the dial nicely without detracting attention away from it. These colours also provide enough contrast to ensure the watch remains easy to read.
At 3 o’clock sits the only complication of the timepiece, which is the date mechanism, with the date window surrounded by a gold-toned border. While I generally prefer the date window to be colour-matched to the dial, in this case, the white background works well as it helps break up the strong red and gold elements of the dial.
Movement
Powering this Super Seville Year of the Horse is Bulova’s high-precision quartz movement. This proprietary ultra-high-frequency (UHF) movement vibrates at approximately 262,144 kHz, making it eight times faster than a standard quartz movement and delivering an overall accuracy of ±10 seconds per year. It also features a smooth-sweeping seconds hand, much like that of an automatic timepiece. Due to this extremely high level of precision, the movement has been nicknamed Precisionist, or simply 262 kHz.
The caseback of this limited-edition model showcases Bulova’s brand logo, along with the Chinese symbol for “horse,” directly reflecting the watch’s reference to the Year of the Horse. Beneath the symbol sits the limited-edition numbering, with Bulova limiting production to 888 units. As the number 8 is considered very lucky in Chinese culture, this further reinforces the watch’s theme of good fortune and prosperity.
Initial Thoughts
One of the more affordable Year of the Horse timepieces, Bulova has done exceptionally well with its entry for the Chinese Zodiac-inspired timepieces. This is the first time the brand has ventured into creating artistic dials inspired by the various Zodiac’s, and given their history with creating some great limited edition models in the past, this was always going to be a compelling and well-executed release.
Beyond the “Year of the Horse” artistic execution, the Super Seville remains as a well-balanced and wearable timepiece at its core, measuring at just 37.5mm x 11mm in case size. What I also like about it is that, if you are okay with not having an automatic, it offers one of the better quartz movements at its price range, operating at a very high accuracy of just +/- 10 seconds a year.
The combination of the gold-tone case, a beautiful Year of the Horse-inspired design, and the High-Precisionist movement gives the watch more substance beyond its visual appeal. This, for me, certainly feels like a confident and thoughtful step for the brand in their first-ever Chinese Zodiac-inspired creation. The Bulova Super Seville Year of the Horse offers collectors an accessible yet meaningful way to celebrate this special year, while staying true to the brand’s strengths!
Reference: Bulova Super Seville Year Of The Horse (Ref. 97B242)
Specifications
- Dimensions: 37.5mm case diameter x 11mm thickness
- Case Material: Steel gold-plated
- Dial: Red dial with Chinese Zodiac Fire horse motif surrounded by floral motifs.
- Movement: Ultra-high-frequency (UHF) Precisionist movement
- Power Reserve: N/A
- Beat Rate: 262.144 KhZ
- Water Resistance: Splash resistant
- Strap: Gold-plated 3-link bracelet with polished centre links.