New Western

What we like about Ralph Lauren is as much its preppy side as its Western side. The maison has never hidden its fascination with the American West with its concho belts, leathers and suedes, silver and turquoise crafted by jewelers of the American Southwest. Its watches with their generous silver cushion cases engraved as part of the American Western collection are the horological counterpart. Today, it is changing scale. The 38mm Western Cushion is the same object narrowed down to gain discretion, versatility, but above all to satisfy smaller wrists. This new version is offered with three dials: lacquered black, natural turquoise, and off-white. The watch goes from a statement piece to an object that can be worn every day and, once again, suits every wrist. It nevertheless retains what makes it unique with its silver case that develops a patina over time.

The West, a lifelong obsession

For Ralph Lauren, the West is a true way of life. The designer collects concho belts, where leather is combined with engraved silver plaques emblematic of Native American craftsmanship, rides horses at his ranch in Colorado, and brought turquoise into his fashion shows as early as his 1980s Santa Fe collection. The American Western collection extends this history into the field of watchmaking with richly decorated watches that embrace their connection to Western objects rather than solely to Geneva's watchmaking tradition. A line that is undoubtedly one of the most personal to the founder. One where his Swiss watch tells the story of his America. The 38 mm Western Cushion is its latest chapter.

Silver and turquoise, the heritage of the Southwest

The duo that Ralph Lauren puts on display draws from a very real tradition. In the 19th century, silver working techniques introduced by Spanish settlers merged among Navajo and Pueblo silversmiths with local know-how. Thus, was born the Southwest art of setting engraved silver into turquoise for bracelets, buckles and ornaments. 

The arrival of the railroad, and the flow of travellers that came with it, gave it even greater importance and scope. Ralph Lauren cherishes this craftsmanship by showcasing it in his creations, reinterpreting it by transferring its motifs onto the cases of his watches. The Western Cushion bears witness to this, and carries this tradition onto our wrists.

A silver case marked by time

The cushion-shaped case is crafted from sterling silver, and covered with engravings featuring stylized botanical motifs, combining foliage and geometric forms. Silver is a soft metal that scratches and tarnishes, everything that contemporary watchmaking specifically seeks to avoid, with its proliferation of scratch resistant ceramics and armoured titanium. Ralph Lauren takes the opposite approach and makes this fragility a deliberate choice: silver develops a patina, becomes marked, is a living material and therefore an interesting one. Since each case is hand engraved, no two watches will ever age in quite the same way. The horological object thus becomes a piece of jewellery craftsmanship designed to become personalised through use. In terms of shape, the cushion case refers to the golden age of the earliest wristwatches. With its 38 mm case, the Western Cushion takes on a different presence on the wrist. Its Breguet-style hands and dial combining Roman and Arabic numerals still fully embrace its vintage aesthetic, while its more compact diameter gives it a subtler presence and greater versatility. Where the 42 mm imposed itself, the 38 mm is “easy to wear.”

Three dials, three nuances

Beneath the same silhouette, three faces. The polished lacquered black dial features off-white numerals while its deep black surface stands out against the engraved silver case. The turquoise dial, meanwhile, is cut from natural stone, the quintessential gemstone of the Southwest, that of the Navajo ornaments that Ralph Lauren has long cherished. Each dial, taken from a different stone, displays its own veins, meaning that no two watches are ever identical. Finally, the lacquered off-white dial plays a softer note with its black numerals and dark minute track, evoking the patina of vintage dials. Three moods, three styles, brought together by the same Breguet hands and the same dual alphabet of numerals.

Hand engraved, patinated, unique

Silver is the starting point, then the craftsman takes over to give it shape and enhance it through the engraving of the case and buckle, echoed on the leather straps whose floral motifs recall tooled leathers and saddles of the West. Even the crown, in patinated silver, bears the designer's initials. The house lays claim to craftsmanship spread across several continents so that each stage can be entrusted to specialised hands: engraving and ageing of metals in New York, leather worked in Texas and then polished in Italy.

A Piaget signed movement

Beneath this decorative profusion beats real mechanics. The Western Cushion is powered by calibre RL514, a manufacture automatic movement made by Piaget for Ralph Lauren. It is painstakingly decorated with Geneva stripes and perlage – which cannot be seen, since the back is solid and screwed down. This mimics the whole spirit of the piece: the care devoted to what remains hidden is equal to that given to what is displayed. The essential aspect of the piece is also reflected in displaying the most important timekeeping functions: hours, minutes and central seconds are delivered by the movement oscillating at three hertz. With around forty hours of power reserve, this is no technical overstatement; mechanics serving the object.