![rado golden horse](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-3.jpeg)
The vintage-inspired Rado Golden Horse 1957 is a throwback to one of the brand’s classic designs and succeeds by not straying too far from the original. Available in either a blue (as seen here) or green gradient dial, these 37mm-wide watches come on an old-school grains-of-rice bracelet and are limited to 1,957 pieces.
![rado golden horse](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-9.jpg)
![rado golden horse](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-4.jpeg)
The dial is done with the same style indices, hands, red-date, and twin decorative golden seahorses, while the thick box-shaped sapphire crystal tops off the throwback vibes. The highly polished rhodium indices and dauphine hands would ordinarily send a chill down my spine from a photography point of view (let alone legibility) but the healthy double-sided anti-reflective coating goes a very long way.
![rado golden horse](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-11.jpeg)
![rado golden horse](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-12.jpeg)
The 37mm-wide and 10.8mm-thick case would ordinarily be a bit too small for me (though I’ve increasingly been appreciating sub-40mm watches as of late), but the 40.9mm lug-to-lug measurement confirms what I felt as I wore it. The Golden Horse is a smaller watch for sure, especially by contemporary standards, but the proportions make it look just right on my 7.5 inch wrist. I also think the bracelet does a lot for the watch in this regard, as the leather strap on the previous red-dial Golden Horse did make it wear smaller.
![](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-6.jpeg)
![](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-8.jpeg)
Speaking of which, the polished grains-of-rice bracelet is very well done. It looks, feels, and wears like a bracelet that costs more than the sub-$2,000 price of the Golden Horse. The high polish might be a scratch magnet down the road, but that’s not a consideration that substantively takes anything away from it. The brushed folding clasp is adorned with — you guessed it — two seahorses. Hats off to Rado for its execution of the bracelet.
![rado golden horse](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-5.jpeg)
![](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-7-e1586316278551.jpeg)
Where things are thoroughly modern here is with the movement. Being under the umbrella of the Swatch Group, Rado uses an ETA C07.611 movement, which is a take on the 2824. This means that we get the 80-hour power reserve operating at 21,600 vph Powermatic silicon hair spring movement that’s been increasingly prevalent with Rado, as well as its Swatch Group siblings. You won’t get to take a look at it, though. I love an enclosed case back, and that’s what you get here, along with three engraved seahorses to adorn it.
![](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-2.jpeg)
![rado golden horse](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Rado-Golden-Horse-1957-1.jpeg)
There are currently four versions of the Golden Horse: a red-dial model on leather strap; black dial on bracelet; green dial on bracelet; and this blue dial on bracelet. Personally, I have to say the blue is actually my favorite. I do really like the red-dial model, as well, but trust me, you want this watch on a bracelet. I can’t speak to the black, as I haven’t seen it in person, but it’s not hard to imagine what a black dial looks like. As for the green gradient model, it is very cool and while this is the “of the moment” color, I just prefer the blue. Limited to 1,957 pieces, the Rado Golden Horse 1957 is priced at $1,800. You can learn more at rado.com.