Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewlery is a joint venture between Ralph Lauren Ltd. and watch group Richemont.

History

Ralph Lauren Ltd. and Compagnie Financière Richemont SA created Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewlery in 2007 and launched in January 2009 at SIHH. The Plan-les-Ouates company is 50% owned by each company and designs and sells luxury watches. The company began carefully, with just 14 sales outlets globally and conservative watch designs.

The initial watches used movements from Richemont brands, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre (world time and chronograph), and Piaget (Slim Classique) and most had precious metal cases. The most distinctive model was the Stirrup. All of these were priced well above the respective models from each brand. A Jaeger-LeCoultre-powered tourbillon was added later at $68,000.

The brand was not successful, launching during the global financial crisis, and was reorganized under new management. Starting in 2015, the company launched new products in the lower luxury watch range (between $2,000 and $5,000) and expanded its offerings for women.