One of the watches disclosed early for formal debut at SIHH 2011 is the new RL Sporting Watch by Ralph Lauren. It is based on Mr Lauren's 1938 Bugatti dashboard, and sports an IWC movement. The manual wind IWC Calibre 98295 to be exact.
New RL Sporting Watch uses IWC movement
- 9 replies
- last reply by Bloemen 7 Dec 2010
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MasterThank you Michael that Bugatti Atlantic was a great car.
Is the dial rosewood?
Last year there were some rummors about IWC and wooden dials I don't know how you feel about the perspective of wooden dials. -
The wood on the dial is burled elm, like the Bugatti's dashboard. I'm not sure but don't believe that the watch itself is fabricated by IWC; at least the dial comes from an outside supplier.
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MasterI know one thing....if the name Bugatti is associated with this watch it will probably be at least three times more expensive than you would otherwise expect. LOL
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MasterNice execution - however, in my opinion, the case and crown seem to be a mismatch with the dial and movement - the dial and movement seems to yield a "vintage homage theme" while the case and crown (looks similar to Ingenieur crown) appear too contemporary in style that clashes with it.
I do like the concept of fusing materials like wood and metal, etc - when you're inspired by a classic like a '38 Bugatti - RL is the style guru, what do I know anyway?
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MasterWell, if you go 98295, then I would go VC Portuguese. But then, not many watches beat this Portuguese. There are a few non-IWC watches I like, this Ralph Lauren is not one of them: the dial is too messy for me.
Kind regards,
Paul, wearing rose gold VC Portuguese, so the comparison was easy -
MasterGreat insides - great motor under the hood ....but not my style.
Thanks MF for sharing this interesting watch/design.
Best regards
Mark -
Master
The German sister forum mentions that every member of the (Richemont?) group is "forced" (quotation marks from the original message) to deliver a movement to Ralph Lauren. The 98295 movement is IWC's contribution. An interesting concept: Ralph Lauren in this way cannot really be seen as competition, as the movement is sold in watches that IWC could not sell under its own label. Some Ralph Lauren watches remind me very much of Cartier: these watches have the shape of a stirrup, quite funny, and looking better than the watch shown here.
Kind regards,
Paul, wearing titanium Ingenieur Automatic -
Dear Paul,
I talked to the designer of the RL Sporting Watch last week, and various executives in Schaffhausen today. Based upon what they told me, your statement (on behalf of others) is completely untrue. Three Richemont companies supply small numbers of movements and do so, at least in IWC's case, voluntarily and with a 2 years' lead time. I am aware of the initial discussions between Georges Kern and Ralph Lauren. The story behind this one watch has nothing to do with what would not sell by other companies. I also think the watch is much better looking than you think, but I guess your taste might be justified (for you).
One vice of the Internet is when opinions appear as fact, a bigger vice occurs when rumors are stated and a still bigger vice occurs when they're repeated on the Net To my knowledge, based on inside information, what you repeat is incorrect.
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Master
Hi Michael,
Thank you for correcting the apparently wrong facts. As long as the source seems to be trustful (it was, as you can verify), and the news seems interesting, I see nothing wrong in telling this news. In this case, it shows some of the actions behind the screens that are interesting enough. If the facts are not true, well, blame the source, it certainly was not me, I was in no position to know this.
Kind regards,
Paul