For close to a decade, Ralph Lauren marketed its own line of premium Swiss wristwatches, in partnership with the Richemont Group.
While Professional Watches confirmed unofficially that Ralph Lauren was ceasing production of their luxury watch line in 2018, no official announcement was ever made. Considering the strength of the Ralph Lauren name, the now discontinued RL timepieces (2010-2018) with movements from famed watchmaking brands such as Piaget and Jaeger-LeCoultre — could one day become collectible.
Going forward, we know that Ralph Lauren — the man behind the brand — loves wristwatches and believe that continues to drive the desire to produce a timepiece with a mechanical motor.
Enter, Ralph Lauren’s latest venture into mechanical watches. This time, with a highly accessible collection of watches, dubbed The Polo Watch and The Polo Sport Watch. The two model names are slightly different but they share the same 42 mm x 12. 35 mm stainless steel case, with 100 meters of water resistance, a steel bezel, and anodized aluminum insert color-match to the dial. Each of the three dials — green, blue, and black — is lacquered with a matte finish and an oversized 3D-printed multicolored Pony player motif. “POLO” is emblazoned on the bezel, and “RALPH LAUREN” at the top of the printed chapter ring. Perhaps the coolest element, though, is the Polo player engraved in relief on the stainless steel crown.
The movement is an off-the-shelf Swiss-made Sellita SW200-1 with “RALPH LAUREN” engraved on the automatic winding rotor, that beats at 4Hz, has 26 jewels, and offers 38 hours of power reserve. The front is protected by a sapphire crystal, with a clear caseback revealing the perlage, blackened screws, and Geneva stripes of the caliber.
One thing worth noting is that the straps — which have a similar bold fashion aesthetic to Polo apparel — could become an item watch collectors buy to accessorize non-RL watches. As of right now, only one of the straps, a black and white leather Nato-style strap, that comes in a universally friendly width of 20 mm, is available individually for $95.
Basically, the difference in naming — with or without the “Sport” moniker — comes down to which strap option the watch is sold with. Otherwise, the watches are all the same apart from the dial and bezel color, with the exception of a black PVD coated steel case. The Polo Watch is being marketed as a limited production model, with no production quantity provided, and will likely be continued in the future if sales provide a high enough threshold to bear out profit now, or on a projected future basis.
Retail prices range from $1,650 to $1,950.
Learn more at Polo Ralph Lauren.
