Killing time before Baselworld with a Ralph Lauren watch priced US$34,200 – is it worth it?
Unique timepieces, such as the Ralph Lauren RL Automotive 45mm Skeleton Steel, provide a welcome distraction as brands prepare to unveil a flurry of new designs at Baselworld
It’s the lull before the storm. Baselworld, the world’s biggest watch fair, opens on Thursday, so there’s going to be an avalanche of new timepieces coming out soon. But, for the moment, I’m left twiddling my thumbs and rewatching The Wire, quite simply the greatest television show ever made. No arguments. Ask Barack Obama.
While we wait for Baselworld, this week, I’ll go through three watches that had me momentarily distracted. There’s no specific theme that ties them together other than that they inspire a bit of curiosity, I suppose, and we begin with the most intriguing of them all: the Ralph Lauren RL Automotive 45mm Skeleton Steel.
Next, we have the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph QEII Cup 2018, a watch that’s a mouthful and an eyeful. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Swiss brand’s sponsorship of the Hong Kong horse race, this special edition is not much different from the Royal Oak Offshore, other than the slate-grey-and-blue colour combination of the dial and the case-back engraving commemorating the race.
Finally, we have another left-field piece from maverick British watchmaker Peter Speake-Marin, the new London Chronograph. Speake-Marin is sort of an insider, connoisseurs’ brand but really should be more widely known as it makes wonderfully eccentric yet top-quality watches. The London Chronograph has won me over with a design that has some 3D depth due to a slight concave shape, which means the subdials “float” on the dial face.
Other design plus points are the use of vivid blue and red and the over-the-top shape of the hour hand. I’m not a huge fan of the Speake lettering but it’s certainly different. Inside is a Valjoux 92 movement and the 42mm case is made of titanium. Limited to 15 pieces, the watch is priced at HK$158,400.