BY SAM DELAWARE
Though Ralph Lauren doesn’t maintain the same longstanding heritage as most traditional Swiss watchmakers having only ventured into horology c.2008, however Lauren’s lasting partnership with the Richemont Group (think Piaget, Cartier, IWC, and Jaeger-LeCoultre to name only a few…) has lent the backing of serious horology.
Continuing this collaboration, Ralph Lauren’s American Western Watch Collection now includes two brand new cushion-case models with lacquered black dials, hand-engraved sterling silver and 18K rose gold cases, and an exclusive Piaget movement.
Ralph Lauren has long drawn inspiration from the swagger of old Hollywood and the raw beauty of the American West to shape his collections. These two pillars of Americana have also helped define the evolution of western apparel, giving iconic pieces like cowboy belt and belt buckle their place in fashion’s mainstream.
In the late 19th century, large belt buckles were almost exclusively reserved for military use and only housed engravings with specific military symbolism. But American Western films ushered the belt into the everyday and soon the real-life article began to look more and more like that of the silver screen – highly adorned and ornately engraved.
Measuring 42mm in diameter and 10.6mm thick, both the 18k rose gold and aged sterling silver watches use the same intricate, organic pattern that extends across the cushion case, across the caseback, and across the lugs. This dizzying display is painstakingly hand engraved one-by-one stateside where Ralph Lauren first began in NY, NY c.1967.
Under a convex sapphire crystal, both watches house an elegant lacquered black dial, a striking contrast to the cream versions released previously. Opposite too are the off white Arabic numerals marking the cardinal hours, while Roman numerals fill the gaps in between, surrounding a smaller 24-hour track and Ralph Lauren’s clean san serif typeface just above the handset.
Powering the Breguet handset is a custom Piaget calibre RL514 aided by 26 jewels, itself meticulously decorated with Perlage and vertical Côtes de Genève. This self winding mechanical movement provides 40 hours of power on a full wind and beats at a moderate 3hz. The RL514 is also the same calibre found in the off-white dial versions, marking these new additions as purely aesthetic variations.
The 23mm Vachetta leather straps sport equally evocative detail, complimenting the patterns of the main case. The leather itself is first burnished in Italy and then hand-toolled in Texas, USA – bastion of the American Western.
Although the lug-to-lug measurement is considerable, the engraved black leather strap tapers by 3mm narrowing to 20mm even at the pin buckle, itself either sterling silver or 18k rose gold to match the material of the main case.
While the pair do share the same features, their prices differ considerably due to their material construction: the Western 42mm Engraved Sterling Silver watch retails for $24,600 while the 18k rose gold watch nearly doubles that with an MSRP of $40,100.
