Although not listed among the official exhibitors, the Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry Co. was present at the SIHH 2017 for those in the know. That the brand’s presence was confined to a large meeting room away from the main drag was due to the last-minute arrangement, which was only agreed within a month of the show opening. But the fact that Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry was present all was mainly thanks to the support of Georges Kern, current CEO of IWC and the future overall head of watchmaking at the Richemont Group.
Having started as a joint-venture between Ralph Lauren and the Richemont Group in 2008, the Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry Co. has had trouble finding its niche in the watch market. Prices were initially too high and the brand’s complete absence from the SIHH last year left the industry uncertain as to its future. But Hautlence co-founder Guillaume Tetu, who has recently taken over the running of the company’s operations and deals directly with Mr Ralph Lauren on product designs and development, has a very clear idea of how the brand should evolve. His focus is on making the products more competitive with their peers on price, while keeping the signature Ralph Lauren designs.
One of the main noticeable changes is the use of Sellita movements in the collection, including the latest Safari models (under the Rl3105 calibre name), whose 50mm case diameter seems to run counter to current trends but complements the existing 39mm and 45mm models. The two new models feature a big date indication with a choice of black or camouflage dials, as well as the Safari’s signature aged steel case. The former comes with a “weathered” olive green canvas strap designed to mimick the strap of an explorer’s shoulder bag, while the latter has an alligator leather strap in the same colour tone. Canvas straps in other colours (blue, black and faded versions) are sold separately. At 4,850 dollars, these new models fall within the brand’s new core price range of 1,800 to 5,000 dollars.
At the upper end of its range, Ralph Lauren adds two new tourbillon models to its Automotive collection with its distinctive amboyna burl bezel and shotblasted steel case. Unusually, the brand is simultaneously launching both single and double-tourbillon versions on black dials with vintage-style beige SuperLuminova hands and numerals and a matching black alligator leather strap. Price is also a major selling argument for both models, since the double tourbillon is cheaper than many other single tourbillons at 99,000 dollars and the single tourbillon model costs 60,000 dollars. Other than the number of tourbillons beating inside, the difference between these two watches is that the single tourbillon is self-winding, powered by a micro rotor visible through the smoked sapphire crystal case back, while the double tourbillon is a manually-wound calibre. Both offer 72 hours of power reserve and are water resistant to 50 metres.
