The Ralph Lauren RL Automotive Skeleton Watch ($50,000) is the ultimate in elegant precision timepieces, inspired by of one of the most prized sports cars in the automotive world: Ralph Lauren’s own 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe. One of only two remaining in the world (and only four ever built), Lauren’s striking vehicle was fully restored in 1990, recently winning the prestigious Concorso d’Eleganze Villa d’Este title, and cementing its place as an historic and truly covetable automobile. Unsurprisingly, the vehicle’s estimated worth exceeds the $40 million mark. The ‘Automotive Collection’ is a series of five superb watches, with the RL Automotive Skeleton as the masterpiece. This is the brand’s first open-worked timepiece, featuring a black gunmetal steel case with a satiny matte finish. Powered by an original hand-wound IWC mechanical movement (with 156 components and a power reserve of 45 hours) which recalls Bugatti’s powerful engine, it can be admired through a sapphire crystal front and back. Arabic numerals replicate those found on the car’s iconic gauges, while other fine details like the “bombé”-shaped amboyna burl wood bezel (hand-set with six functioning screws), and black alligator straps hark back to the rich interiors. In addition, the gear train’s steel & brass elements add subliminal style beneath sword-styled oxidized black hands (coated in a super-luminal beige finish for increased visibility in low-light conditions). Oscillating at 18,000 vibrations per hour, the RL Automotive Skeleton is exemplary of elegance in its purest form.
