When I first sat down to write this piece I thought it would be relatively straightforward, just a story about something from my childhood that still fills me with great memories. It didn’t take long for all the knowledge I’ve acquired since then to kick in and make me realize that there might be far more to the “Real American Fragrance” than just the juice in the bottle.

In the decade-plus that I’ve been into watches, I’ve noticed that there is a very, very small handful of watches that are universal. And when I say universal, I mean that with as much certainty as I can glean without a formal data set. These are watches that pretty much everyone likes and that any watch collector who’s not simply looking to flex will enjoy. In fact, these watches are well-known to be as appreciated by collectors as are their Pateks and Rolexes.

While I’m not convinced about COACH’s approach to “fashion”, this is a company that has proven over the decades that it has “style” covered, in spades.