As much as this beauty of a watch from Ralph Lauren is meant to inspire the spirit of safari, far-flung explorations, and pushing yourself beyond your limitations, I found it perfectly suited for my own desert adventure around aperitivo time at the hotel bar in Palm Springs, California. The watch has Mr. Lauren’s style notes at its best: rugged black aged 50mm stainless steel case with an Azure black dial, numbers of a creamy patina, a red sweeping second hand, an oversized date window - and all of this on a weathered olive green canvas strap. Sure, I imagined myself in a Land Rover barreling through the Kalahari decked out in khaki, with my aviators on scanning the horizon for big game, but my reality was very different. Lounging comfortably at the pool of L’Horizon and scanning the bar area for the delivery of my next Spritz, the watch oddly felt right at home.
'Time and Place' is Matt Hranek's regular dispatch on the latest watches from around the globe for Condé Nast Traveler. #watchwednesdays @wmbrownproject