The Ralph Lauren Automotive Collection is supposedly inspired by the dashboards of vintage automobiles, and the particular touchstone for the collection is a particularly famous car from Ralph Lauren’s very famous collection: the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe. While that specific car’s connection to the collection may or may not be obvious to a casual observer, the influence in general seems to have produced watches with a coherent design language. This sort of appropriation of design motifs is, of course, something Lauren has been doing in his clothing designs for many, many years to great success. The signature element of the Automotive Collection watches is the use of amboyna burl wood for the dials and bezels, as well as a case with six (functional) bezel screws, and the use of only steel (either brushed or with a gunmetal coating) for the cases.
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