When you are born plain old Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx the only way is up. But no one could possibly have guessed the meteoric rise of Ralph Lauren to become the 176th richest man in the world with a personal fortune of $4.6 billion. Today Polo Ralph Lauren probably has a place in your wardrobe, and is quite possibly the name on the underpants you are wearing as you read this.
Now with the release of the Ralph Lauren Sporting Watch, he can be the name on your wristwatch. It’s a watch inspired by his other passion, collecting vintage sports cars. In particular, this watch draws on the interior design of one of the most celebrated antique cars in the world, one that has elevated Mr. Lauren to an elite status in the car collecting world, the 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic coupe.
The outer dial of the RL Sporting Watch is made of elm burl, the same type of wood found on the dash of Lauren’s Bugatti. Within the elm burl frame you’ll find a matte black galvanic dial that, just like the gauges on the Atlantic coupe, feature Arabic numerals for increased legibility.
The hour and minute hands are arrow-shaped and rotate around an open railroad-style track. Seconds are displayed in a sub-register at 6 o’clock.
The brushed steel bezel is highlighted with six functional screws, and the crown is signed “RL”. On the rear of the new RL Sporing Watch is a sapphire exhibition caseback allowing full viewing of the RL Calibre RL98295.
The movement supplied by IWC, is manually wound and has 156 components and a power reserve of 45 hours. The movement is finished with both Côtes de Genève and Perlage work on the plate.
Sword-shaped hands tell the hour and minutes–marked by an open railroad-style track, while the seconds are indicated by an arrow-shaped hand and closed railroad-style track within the subdial at 6 o’clock. The bezel and dial are accented by functional screws, while the crown displays the famous RL initials logo.
The watch will retail at $13,200. You won’t get your hands on the 1938 Bugatti, but you can at least be reminded of its dashboard.
I saw an ad for this watch in The New York Times and had to investigate further. Incredible timepiece! Thank you for giving the details of this masterpiece!