The Best Dive Watch Under $500 Doubles Its Lineup with Four New Colors

Last year, Bulova dropped a big surprise by bringing back a classic mid-century dive watch from its little-used sister brand, Caravelle. The original Caravelle Sea Hunter debuted in the 1960s, sporting a look akin to Longines skin divers with a shovel-shaped hour hand, a 12-9-6 dial layout, an oversized unprotected crown and a fully graduated dive bezel.

The new version, which Bulova revived with the Caravelle brand name intact, was a visual carbon copy of the original, right down to the fan-favorite 666 Feet “Devil Diver” water-resistance rating on the dial. But as a new watch in 2025, the reborn Sea Hunter was also granted a number of upgrades, including a 316L stainless steel case and bracelet, a larger case (but not too large), an automatic Miyota movement and a mineral crystal.

Most surprising of all was the dirt-cheap price, with the new Sea Hunter priced at just $375, arguably making it the best dive watch available below $500.

The Sea Hunter arrived to great acclaim with four references at launch. Now, Bulova has doubled the line with a quartet of new colors that have arrived just in time for summer.

Bulova

Four more

Curiously, the Sea Hunter’s original launch included just one model in bare steel, which it paired with a classic black dial and bezel. This was joined in the lineup by a yellow gold-tone version with a blue dial on a rubber strap, a full yellow gold-tone version on a bracelet with a green dial and a rose gold-tone black dial on rubber.

For the four new references, Bulova has thankfully flipped the script, giving us three new steel models and just one in gold-tone, and all are on bracelets. Let’s be real, this is what the people want.

Bulova

Of the steel models, there is one with a black bezel and a bright orange dial reminiscent of Doxa’s iconic Sub 300 “Professional.” Another version pairs a black bezel with a very pretty shade of robin’s egg blue, giving more of a modern look to the vintage-themed model.

Next is a tonal version that pairs a forest green dial with a matching bezel. This one is certainly the most versatile of the new crop and will likely be the most popular. Lastly, there’s a beige dial with a brown bezel and a yellow gold-tone case and bracelet. It gives off some slight ’70s Rolex “Root Beer” vibes and is my favorite gold-tone Sea Hunter so far.

Bulova

All four colors feature the same fauxtina lume on the hands and printed indices, which looks better on some colors than others (I would’ve liked to see white lume on the blue and orange dials, personally).

Outside of the new colors, these four Sea Hunters are the same as their four predecessors. The movement remains the Miyota Calibre 8215 automatic with a 41-hour power reserve, the water resistance is still 200m (or 666 feet, wink wink), there’s still a luminescent pearl inserted at the bezel pip and the case retains its more modern yet still compact diameter of 39mm.

Bulova

Availability and pricing

The Bulova/Caravelle Sea Hunter remains a ludicrously good deal at $375, and it can often be found for even less. Right now, in fact, you can get the original four references on Bulova’s website for between $280 and $316, which is just nuts.

It might be a few weeks before these new four colors drop in price, but the price is still ridiculously cheap for an automatic dive watch from a known brand featuring an original 1960s design.

All of the new Sea Hunters are available now, with the blue, orange and green references priced at $375 and the beige at $395.

Bulova

Bulova Caravelle Sea Hunter (2026)

Specs

Case Size	39mm
Movement	Miyota Cal. 8215 automatic
Water Resistance	200m

• $375 at Bulova

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