Swatch has released a new limited production Year of the Horse (ref. SUOZ169) watch. According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2014 is the year of the horse, following the year of the snake, to be followed by the year of the goat. The watch elegantly introduces horse-themed art to a New Gent collection timepiece in what is perhaps one of the nicest (and most affordable) year of the horse-themed pieces we’ve seen yet.

For year of the dragon in 2012, the watch industry made some pretty cool watches, because well let’s face it, dragons are fantasy creatures made for interesting imagery. While horses are real, they are also the source of lots of legends and myths given their historical use and proximity to civilization. We fully expect to see a host of impressive year of the horse watches this year and Swatch is off to a nice start. The watch has a combination of black horse images on a white-colored case, dial and strap. Each horse is drawn in a way that is meant to resemble traditional Chinese art and calligraphy techniques.

The black-and-white tones of the watch are complimented with red hands that introduce a pleasing splash of color and help improve legibility. As a New Gent collection timepiece, the Year of the Horse watch is 41mm wide with a Swiss Swatch Quartz movement inside. The strap is in white silicone – a preferred material these days over plastic as it wears more comfortably. While the Swatch Year of the Horse is a decidedly fun watch, it has a clear artistic quality to it that makes it feel a bit more serious compared to much of the more youthful pieces Swatch is known for offering.

Available starting January 9th, 2014, the Swatch Year of the Horse ref. SUOZ169 watch will retail for $80. swatch.com