I saw this Ralph Lauren Sporting Chronograph in the Instagram feed of @marekielbasa.md – Chopard, Dubuis, Lange – dude is nuts. He once paid ArchieLuxury for a collection review and nearly succeeded in trolling him into a heart attack – it was epic!

Now, this RL was familiar to me because in the days before Watchbox moved to Philly, it was WatchuWant in Miami. In that golden era you would see Tim Mosso & friends live on YouTube three nights a week EVERY week. So I knew that Ralph Lauren designed watches, had a 50/50 deal with the CEO of Richemont, and had Cartier, Piaget, Jaeger LeCoultre, and IWC all contribute to his line of wristwatches, which he took no interest in advertising. You either sought out Ralph Lauren timepieces or you didn’t – Ralph just doesn’t care.

When this showed in Marek’s stories as for sale, I really took a step back, knowing this piece might truly wreck my watch rotation. I got it anyway. The bracelet is AMAZING – light, strong, beautiful, and sized with two 2/3 links for a very precise fit. The Jaeger LeCoultremovement is equal in feel to other vertical clutch column wheel chronographs I’ve tried – Rolex Daytona and Breitling Premier – but more compact. This watch is 11mm thick and weighs 133 grams all up.

While it features a discrete date display and a 12-hour totalizer, current Jaeger LeCoultre watches using the Cal 751 have neither while also being larger. It’s a gentlemen’s watch. Proportions are spot on and those radial Roman numerals are executed at the level of Cartier (that Mr. Lauren owns quite a few of). If you’re attending a foot race, horse race, or auto race, the appropriate timepiece is a chronograph. This is the one I wear. I don’t own a single piece of clothing by Ralph Lauren, I am not a fanboy, but damn he sketches a pretty watch. None finer than my Ralph Lauren Sporting Chronograph.