Every so often, I find that I need to talk about the watches of Ralph Lauren. It’s possible, I think, that the Ralph Lauren brand is one of the most underrated, misunderstood corners of watchmaking. Most casual and even not-so-casual observers probably assume that Ralph Lauren watches are “fashion watches,” and it makes a certain amount of sense why they’d reach that conclusion. While many of the watches in their collection flirt with the fashion watch moniker , there’s a lot of interesting design and watchmaking happening at the higher end , and I’ve always found it fascinating how their watches complement the extremely established aesthetic of the brand. Ralph Lauren is so omnipresent in culture, the mention of the name immediately conjures something in the mind’s eye, and a lot of the watches do a remarkably good job of reflecting that.

Two recent Ralph Lauren releases have caught my eye in the last few weeks, and they’ve flown mostly under the radar to this point, which I think is a shame.…