Ralph Lauren’s new RL867 watch is a simple two-hand watch that tells time in hours and minutes—but staying true to this brand’s nature, the design is distinctively classic. The squared, Art Deco case is contoured like a picture frame, surrounding a dial that repeats the square with concentric indexes: an outer minutes track and an inner hours track. The combination of Arabic and Roman numerals (sometimes called a “California” dial) is a tweak used on previous Ralph Lauren watches and is distinctive to the brand, with large Roman numerals that are decorative as well as functional. The off-white lacquered background and black, Breguet-style hands complete the classic look.
The RL867 is billed as a men’s collection, as it is named for the men’s flagship store in New York at 867 Madison Avenue—the RL888 collection is named for the ladies’ flagship, at 888 Madison—but the size, measuring just 28 mm wide or 32 mm wide, along with its classic design, really make it this a gender-neutral model. Either way, it is discreet, fits nicely under a cuff, and serves as a go-anywhere, any-gender, any-occasion kind of timepiece. It may be exactly the kind of simplicity that is called for right now.
The case is available in either 18-karat gold or sterling silver, a material not often used in luxury watches. The movement is a manual wound Swiss mechanical caliber made by Piaget exclusively for Ralph Lauren. The caliber RL430 has a 40-hour power reserve.
The 867 was inspired by Ralph Lauren’s iconic New York men’s flagship store at 867 Madison Avenue, a mansion built in 1898 by an eccentric heiress, Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo, who never lived there. A symbol of New York City’s Gilded Age, it was built in the French Renaissance revival style, modeled on the chateaux of the Loire Valley. It boasted enormous halls, galleries, banquet rooms, a full-floor ballroom, a bowling alley and a swimming pool, but it languished unoccupied until after Waldo died in 1914. In the 1920s, it was carved into a series of retail shops and lavish upstairs apartments. At one time it was the home of Christie’s auction house. Ralph Lauren acquired the building and restored it, opening its flagship there in 1986. While it has passed through the hands of several developers, Ralph Lauren has remained the sole tenant. The palatial and refined setting is the perfect home for the company’s timeless style and, now, its latest sophisticated timepieces.
There are four models in the collection: a 28 mm sterling silver at $8,250; a 28 mm in 18-karat gold at $15,500; a 32 mm in sterling silver at $8,350; and a 32 mm in 18-karat gold at $17,000. All come on a black alligator leather strap.
