The Ralph Lauren Polo Bear Watch Is Worthy of Its Name
RALPH LAUREN POLO BEAR WATCH KEY INFORMATION AND FIGURES:
Price: 1,800 euros for the 38 mm versions, 2,100 euros for the 42 mm versions
Diameter: 38 mm or 42 mm
Thickness: 9.9 mm for the 38 mm model, 10.7 mm for the 42 mm model
Lug-to-lug: 41 mm for the 38 mm model, 48 mm for the 42 mm model
Water resistance: 5 bar/50 meters for both case sizes
Case information: Polished stainless steel
Strap material: Calfskin strap for both models (color varies by model); 38 mm model has a polished steel pin buckle, 42 mm model has a stainless steel deployant clasp
Movement: Calibre RL 200 (modified Sellita SW200 movement)
Warranty: 2 years
Pros:
The dials on both watches are absolutely stunning. The level of detail displayed on each of the Polo Bear dials is delightful, and the depth with which they are rendered thanks to the 3D printing technique makes them stand out beautifully.
The case shape is distinctive and wears elegantly in the 38 mm model.
Lack of a “ghost date” setting at the crown shows a real attention to detail that even some “real” watch brands do not have.
Overall, this is a niche product which is nevertheless executed very well. It should erase any doubts as to the quality that Ralph Lauren is capable of delivering in watchmaking, and it’s a good indication of the quality one could expect from its more upmarket and broadly appealing offerings.
Cons:
There will be people for whom the 42 mm sizing is the preferable option, but for me it lacks the understated elegance of the 38 mm version (even while it does present a larger canvas for the beautiful Polo Bear motifs).
The “Ralph & Ricky” engraving on the back of the 38 mm watch is understandable, but regrettable. Ralph Lauren is about letting people imagine themselves in a world, and here it seems Ralph Lauren (the man) is imposing his own story. I would have much rather preferred this space be left blank so that owners (likely couples) can engrave their own names.
The caseback on the 42 mm could have been closed rather than see-through to provide an even larger space for personalized engraving.
The strap on the 38 mm option may not fit more petite wrists. You can buy straps in several sizes from the Ralph Lauren website but you apparently can’t select the size when you buy the watch, meaning you may have to spend nearly 300 euros (at least) to get an additional strap, or take the default option to a cobbler to add more holes cleanly.
Pricing the 42 mm version 300 euros higher (over 16% more) than the 38 mm version seems cheeky
Verdict: The Ralph Lauren Polo Bear watch exceeded expectations that I’ve been building up for years and confirms yet again that “fashion watches” can be excellent if they are executed with care. The Polo Bear collection from Ralph Lauren is aimed at very specific buyers, who stand to be delighted with these watches on their wrist. For everyone else, the Ralph Lauren Polo Bear line is an invitation to explore the brand’s other ranges.
I’ve been into menswear and clothing since middle school, just about 30 years now, and one of the brands that kick-started it all for me (and so many others) is Ralph Lauren.
Amazingly, despite me and the world changing so much, Ralph Lauren has outlasted countless brands and is about the only thing from middle school I can say I’m still passionate about.
Is it that amazing though?
Ralph Lauren, the brand and the man, stand almost alone in the fashion world for their ability to create stories and then craft a range of products around those stories, in a way that allows everyone to create their own role (from now on, Ralph Lauren will refer to the company unless otherwise specified).
The flipside of this heritage built on storytelling is that Ralph Lauren is everything, without actually being anything at all in the strictest sense. For instance, the brand references art deco styling codes from the 1920’s often, yet the brand was started in 1967.
Also, the famous Polo player logo was chosen despite Ralph Lauren, the man, not being a polo player when he came up with it.
To be fair, Ralph Lauren just happens to be the best at a practice utilized by all luxury brands, but it’s perhaps this adoption of other people’s design codes that puts some purists on edge. Watch fans are notoriously reserved in who they attribute credit to, and often, brands which primarily serve other luxury segments are discounted right from the jump.
I’ve written often that this derision is unwarranted and frankly illogical, because brands which truly operate in the luxury space have no incentive to cater to any other category in a half-hearted way.
When Ralph Lauren entered the watch scene about 15 years ago, no one could objectively accuse the brands of selling cheap trinkets, because not only did their watches feature genuinely unique designed drawing on their codes (the burlwood bezels remain a favorite of mine), they also came into existence via a partnership with Richemont and featured movements from JLC (among other group brands).
That partnership ended years ago and though I don’t have any data to support this statement, I’m not sure that this original launch brought the success Ralph Lauren might have expected; yes, the watches were objectively well made, but to come out swinging with 5-figure watches when there are far more established brands out there is a risky move. Some of these watches were very large, 45 mm in the case of some chronos, and can now be found for a relative song on Chrono24.
Nevertheless, Ralph Lauren carried on making watches but interestingly, to this day never really seems to publicize them, or even make them that available.
Indeed, I had to wait until earlier this year at Geneva Watch Days 2025 to finally see a Ralph Lauren watch in person, the very model I’m reviewing today.
The Polo Bear watch exceeded my expectations and in short: Ralph Lauren is arguably the most consequential name in modern fashion, but that doesn’t stop them from making a fully legitimate watch.
The story of the Polo Bear
There’s no doubt that the Polo Bear watch is an incredibly niche product, made for fans of the Polo Bear specifically, who understand and appreciate the character’s significance to the brand and modern fashion culture.
The Polo Bear began life not as a marketing invention but rather as an inside joke among Ralph Lauren employees. In 1991, the company gifted its founder a Steiff teddy bear dressed exactly like him: double-breasted suit, pocket square, the works.
It was such a perfect encapsulation of Ralph Lauren’s self-mythology, the American dream recast through an aspirational wardrobe, that Steiff produced a short run of limited bears for sale.
Those sold out instantly, and the Bear evolved from corporate curiosity to brand icon: a mascot that distilled the label’s preppy romanticism, Ivy League nostalgia, and subtle tongue-in-cheek self-awareness.
Unlike many luxury brands, Ralph Lauren is similar only to perhaps Hermès in that it is a very serious company that nevertheless isn’t afraid to show a playful side. The Polo Bear, after all, is meant to be a child’s toy, yet from the very beginning it was exclusive and always styled as a person, wearing outfits that mirrored the brand’s runway looks or those of specific sub-lines within the Polo ecosystem.
For Ralph Lauren fans and fashion insiders, the Polo Bear is undoubtedly an icon (Image source: Ralph Lauren)
The Polo Bear is now an icon reserved for Polo’s more upmarket items, and its most enduring expression ended up being knitwear, particularly the heavyweight sweaters that cost many hundreds of dollars new, and whose discontinued motifs can fetch many times that on the secondary market.
While the designs are fun, the product, like a Hermès tie, is very serious. These sweaters are well constructed, and the styling is deliberate and impeccable with the Polo Bear dressed in everything from tuxedos to alpine gear. From the very beginning, each configuration subtly reinforced Polo’s aspirational lifestyle narratives.
Over time, the motif became a quiet signifier among collectors: the Polo Bear wasn’t a cute afterthought; it was a shorthand for the more elevated, archival side of Ralph Lauren.
That’s why its appearance on a watch dial isn’t kitsch, it’s a continuation of the brand’s premium storytelling, borrowing the same nostalgia and refinement that propelled those sweaters into genuine Americana artifacts.
The Polo Bear’s presence is meant to signal to Ralph Lauren connoisseurs that even if they don’t know much about watches and just want a fun accessory to complement all the Ralph Lauren clothing they already own, this particular one is going to be of a certain quality.
That assumption holds, beginning, naturally, with the dial.
The dial of the Ralph Lauren Polo Bear is pure whimsy and quality, and so are the hands
Prior to being able to see a Polo Bear watch in person, I was always amused, even educated, by all the different motifs (I mean, that’s a well dressed bear…), and just assumed that these would be flat-printed onto their respective dials.
I could not have been more wrong and still remember just how stunned I was at Geneva Watch Days.
The Polo Bears meant to represent Ralph and his wife Ricky are printed in such a way as to look 3-D, almost as if they were made out of enamel.
My understanding of the process is that, ironically enough, it is enabled by “just” a printing methodology, but one which allows for building up of many layers. The result is not flat, as I had expected for years, but rather undeniably appealing and eye-catching, even if the Polo Bear means nothing to you and you all see is a cute representation of two bears holding hands.
The motifs on both the 38 mm and 42 mm models take up a material portion of the dial, spanning almost their entire height, and in combination with the printing technique, Ralph Lauren has been able to reproduce an incredible amount of detail in what is, let’s remember, quite a constrained space.
The 3D printing and level of detail on the 38 mm Ralph Bear and Ricky Bear watch are remarkable.
On the 38 mm Ralph and Ricky, you can make out details such as the gold buttons on Ralph Bear’s blazer.
You can see different tones on each of the bears’ fur.
Their jeans show areas of fading, and, in what must be an Easter Egg for dedicated fans, you can even see the red “RL” signature under the flag on Ricky Bear’s knit flag sweater (another Ralph Lauren icon)!
All the care in the world on the Bears, admittedly the center piece of the dial, would have been wasted if they weren’t placed in the right context. It turns out that the rest of the dial is equally well made and designed and, in my opinion, stylistically very tasteful, in-line with the “classic Americana” codes for which Ralph Lauren is known.
Both models feature large numerals reminiscent of the style of American pocketwatches utilized by railroad workers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are also printed up in a deep black and look glossy when the light hits them the right way. From a distance, everything just looks extremely cohesive, legible, and really attractive.
The outer-most part of the dial has, appropriately enough, a "railroad track" design around it to go with the numerals, and “Swiss Made” at 6 o’clock. I’ll note that within the watch world, it’s easy to be cynical about this label, and for good reason, but on a watch from a “fashion brand”, choosing to follow the steps (whatever they may be) to be allowed to use the “Swiss Made” designation points to a care that a watch fan may not expect from Ralph Lauren, ostensibly not a watch brand.
Neither of the watches have a date function. You might say to yourself that this is obvious because there’s basically a whole piece of art on the dial and a date would ruin that. That’s understandable, but only if you’re into watches. If you’re not, you probably wouldn’t care as much (or at all), and perhaps another brand might be tempted to put a date there because “why not” (many others have done just that…)
But Ralph Lauren didn’t, and this choice does show a certain sophistication relative to watch design that some of its peer brands do not always display.
The only difference in dial composition between the 42 mm and 38 mm models is the “POLO Ralph Lauren” logo at 9 o’clock: on the former it appears fully, next to the Polo Bear whereas in the latter it is hidden behind Ralph Bear.
Some dial-design purists may complain about this, perhaps saying that it is akin to cutting off a 9 or a 3 as other watches do when they need to force in a date complication.
Personally it doesn’t bother me at all. Ralph Lauren could have shrunk the text to make it fit but that wouldn’t have looked right. In this configuration it’s as if the Polo Bear is stepping out at you and, via composition rather than contruction, the 3D effect of the scene is reinforced.
If you just can’t stand this, the 42 mm version “remedies” this design choice, but keep in mind that you’ll lose out on the couples motif of Ralph Bear and Ricky Bear in the larger sizes, and for reasons having to do with the case, aesthetically the 38 mm version is a much more refined package in my opinion.
Finally, I learned from Ralph Lauren representatives that each watch is essentially a limited edition, once a certain design is gone, you’ll have to go to the aftermarket or wait for another design that strikes your fancy. The 38 mm models are considered unisex so if you want a couples watch, that will be your only option whereas if you want to show off the Polo Bear’s more fashion-forward looks, you’re essentially locked into the 42 mm version which only features one Polo Bear (some Ricky Bear-focused watches are also 38 mm and are presumably marketed primarily to women, but could still of course work on men who want to be reminded of their partner).
The hands on both the 38 and 42 mm models that I have on loan are an attractive leaf shape, reminiscent, like the numerals, of classic railroad pocket watches. They are painted in a muted, slightly burgundy shade of red (other models will have black hands in the same shape).
Surely the shade of red was discussed (maybe with Ralph Lauren himself) and I’m glad the design team settled on this choice; bright red would have been obvious but very harsh, to the point of covering up and overwhelming the Polo Bear(s) behind, which are obviously meant to be the focus.
The seconds hand, however, is black and I wish they had kept it the same color as the hour and minute hands, because it’s very slim and with everything else going on with the dial, it can be hard to see at a glance and then follow around.
The Ralph Lauren Polo Bear watch presents two case options, but for me there’s only one choice
There are considerable wearability and design differences between the 38 mm and 42 mm Polo Bear watches but we can first cover the similarities.
One thing a luxury brand with little pedigree in watchmaking can do to compensate for this perceived shortcoming is to lean on its signature design cues. I’ve heard with regards to Cartier that its design is akin to another complication, and you can extend this maxim to other maisons such as Hermès and, of course, Ralph Lauren.
Among the brand’s many inspirations, arguably the equestrian world is the one that most immediately comes to mind, so central is it to the game of polo which inspired Ralph Lauren’s most famous and iconic line.
This equestrian influence is most apparent in the stirrup-style lugs which curve downwards from the main body of the watch. The two-stepped case is made of polished stainless steel and is entirely circular, with a non-screwdown crown at the unusual location of 2 o’clock. The crown is knurled, easy to grip, and topped with a relief version of the iconic Polo pony. This is a premium touch because while it might seem like an afterthought or a minor detail, the machining required to render the logo in this way must be delicate!
I’m not an equestrian, but if you showed this to me with no context, I would still peg that as the influence, so Ralph Lauren, at least for me, did a good job of translating its design codes via the watch itself; now that I’ve seen it, I could recognize it from across a room on someone else’s wrist.
These traits are shared by the 38 mm and 42 mm versions, but having the watches in-hand provides two different experiences, from the front to the back of each one.
The 42 mm versions of the Polo Bear watch feature one Polo Bear
The 38 mm is clearly meant to serve as a unisex model owing to its smaller size and couples-themed design. Beyond that, the resulting watch is the perfect encapsulation of Ralph Lauren’s design vision: it’s fun, well-executed, and good-looking on anyone’s wrist.
The 42 mm model, however, doesn’t wear as well, at least on my 7”/17.78 cm wrist. Yes, the larger dial provides a bigger space on which to place fun, highly detailed Polo Bear designs; the downside to this is that on such-dial focused watches, without, say a dive bezel to break things up, you can look like you’re wearing a dinner plate.
I am just one person and it’s entirely plausible that Ralph Lauren’s target market is actually highly receptive to the larger size, but it would be nice to see more of the 42 mm motifs showing up in the 38 mm size, which was the one I gravitated to overwhelmingly over the two weeks I had both watches on loan from Ralph Lauren.
The casebacks for both are also a miss for me.
The 38 mm version, the couples watch, features a closed caseback, which is perfectly appropriate because it should provide space for a personal engraving that means something to the couple sharing the watch.
Instead, we get Ralph & Ricky.
The caseback is nicely done, but a blank canvas would have been preferable for clients to engrave their own stories and a meanings (Image source: Ralph Lauren)
I mean no disrespect to either of them when I put forth this criticism; I really do think it’s great that in fashion, a world with no shortage of torrid stories, one of its most powerful figures really cares about his wife.
But this engraving comes across to me as an encroachment on what you might call the foundational tenet of Ralph Lauren: “We provide the set design and props, the customers provide the characters and stories”.
For a couples-themed watch, the lack of a blank caseback is a missed opportunity for some truly meaningful personalization and I hope that Ralph Lauren himself (who no doubt approved the Ralph & Ricky design touch) will reconsider this decision going forward.
The case back on the 42 mm watch is see-through, which is unnecessary, and also a missed opportunity.
Indeed, on a watch which leans more towards style than horology, and whose base movement is very common, a closed case back would have been the way to go. This is another design choice I hope Ralph Lauren will consider, of course leaving it blank to allow customers to create their own meaningful stories with the Polo Bear watch as a starting point.
The straps show the same attention to detail as the cases
Ralph Lauren Polo Bear watches show attention to detail not only in their selection, but also their construction. With regards to selection, there’s actually a multitude of straps available in the Polo Bear line, all paired according to the various motif options.
For instance, the 38 mm version I had featuring two bears wearing a lot of blue was fitted with a navy blue leather strap.
The 42 mm version I borrowed with the Polo Bear wearing a black tuxedo jacket was completed with a black leather strap.
There’s even another version being sold currently which features the Polo Bear in full denim tuxedo, paired with a denim strap!
These are really nice touches and make sense given Ralph Lauren’s attention to detail with their accessories; if you want even more selection you can buy even preppier, striped straps in leather and silk via the Ralph Lauren website. These apparently range in sizes from XS to XL, indicative of a clothing brand used to working across different body types and this isn’t something you see often from watch-focused brands which tend to opt for “one size fits all” straps.
These additional straps cost as much as a strap from a more conventional, luxury watch manufacturer, coming in at nearly 300 euros. This is a lot of money regardless of the brand, but what I can say is that, if the straps on my borrowed watches are an indication, the same care has gone into into the strap construction as the case.
Indeed, the straps on the Polo Bear watches have quick-change mechanisms and while watch fans may take these for granted, they do so because they are a feature of established, enthusiast brands; it is telling of the attention to detail Ralph Lauren is bringing to their own watch line that they included this feature.
Both my leather straps were made of nicely painted calfskin which felt comfortable against my skin, and the blue strap I wore the most showed no signs of cracking. Furthermore, both have nicely done edge painting and had “Made In France” embossed on the back.
Even though I’m half-French, there’s no bias when I say that I respect this choice. Just as the entire watch is “Swiss Made”, opting to make different straps for different watches, and have them made in a country (assuming every strap option is made in France) known for its luxury goods but certainly not known for its low labor costs, is a notable choice for Ralph Lauren.
While the straps on my 38 mm and 42 mm Polo Bears were both well made, they were equipped with different closure mechanisms. The former has a traditional pin-and-buckle system, in polished steel and neatly embossed with “POLO”, while the latter uses what some might say is a more modern deployant mechanism, whose buckle was also embossed.
This is purely my subjective opinion, but while I understand the practical benefits of a deployant, I find myself liking pin-and-buckle straps the more I use them. They are less clunky and I actually like the patina that develops on the strap the more you wear a watch, which is the main “problem” that the deployant system was designed to solve. Ralph Lauren, the man, has said that he likes how clothes age over time, and making pin-and-buckle closures standard on the Polo Bear watches would have been a thorough endorsement of this philosophy.
You can hear about Ralph Lauren’s thoughts on clothing that lasts (and much more!) in this interview from the early 1990’s.
As things stand, it appears from my review samples that you’re out of luck if you prefer the smaller 38 mm watch sizing but want a pin-and-buckle closure.
One final point of criticism regarding the strap on the unisex 38 mm option is that if you did buy this with the intention of sharing the watch with your partner, and your partner is on the petite size, there may not be enough holes in the strap. My wife falls into the category and the strap was far too big for her, and even my 7”/17.78 cm wrist utilized only the strap’s first hole.
As noted earlier, Ralph Lauren is notable in offering a range of accessory strap sizes but from what I can tell, you only get a “default” size when buying the watch online, there’s no way to select the size you want. So, you are left either having to take the watch in to a cobbler to add holes as cleanly as possible, or buying a more appropriately sized strap for nearly 300 euros more. Yes, the quick-release spring bars means the straps are easily swappable, but that is a heavy additional cost!
A common movement which is nevertheless notable in the Polo Bear line
The movement in both sizes of the Polo Bear watch is named the RL200, with the “200” number most likely referring to the fact that it is a repurposed Sellita SW200.
Many, many words have already been dedicated to this industry standard (and its basically identical, even more prevalent predecessor the ETA 2824) so on one hand I could just end it here, but I do want to talk about two aspects of this movement that are meaningful because of its very inclusion in this watch.
The first is that this movement was even selected in the first place. Ralph Lauren has several sub-brands ranging from entry level to very high-end; Polo (which covers the Polo Bear watches) sits at the middle and is on-par with brands such as Calvin Klein or Tommy Hilfiger. Both those brands sell watches, but how many of them have mechanical movements, let alone Swiss movements?
You can go to Gucci’s website, a brand that is a tier or two above Polo, and see several quartz watches selling for roughly what the Polo Bear watch goes for.
Apparently, Ralph Lauren the man is not really a fan of quartz, so the watches bearing his name tend not to have quartz movements. If you’re disappointed that a potentially 2,100 euro watch “only” has an SW200, let’s be clear that this is accepted practice with “established” watch brands, and Ralph Lauren has a range of more intricate movements higher up in its catalogue.
The second aspect that’s worth noting is that there is no phantom date position at the crown!
More often than I’d like, when brands - even ones catering to enthusiasts - opt for a no-date dial for design reasons, they don’t touch the movement. The user then has to cycle through this position when selecting between winding and setting.
Is it the end of the world? No, but it represents a lack of attention to detail, and Ralph Lauren has sweated the details.
The Polo Bear watch is not even close to being for everyone, but anyone even remotely into watches should pay attention to it
The Polo Bear watches retail for 1,800 euros in 38 mm sizing and 2,100 euros in 42 mm sizing.
I don’t love the substantial cost difference (the price of another strap) for the larger version, but for the sake of discussion let’s just say that the average price of this line is 2,000 euros.
Is the Ralph Lauren Polo Bear watch worth that amount of money?
The 38 mm Polo Bear watch is elegant and fits very well into the established Ralph Lauren universe (Image source: Ralph Lauren)
Having spent a significant amount of time with the watches, I can confirm that attention to detail and care of construction are definitely present, but the very subject matter of the watch will surely be a dealbreaker for a vast majority of people.
Many people will never think twice about the Polo Bear watch because this is a deeply niche product, a “character watch” first-and-foremost, which inherently relies on an affinity for the character to appeal to buyers; you have to like Ralph Lauren a lot, and you have to be aware of the Polo Bear, and you have to understand its place as a luxury marker within the greater organization.
Nevertheless, as far as character watches go, the Polo Bear watch gets it right. The Polo Bear is lovingly realized and works because it isn’t a mascot, it’s a fully realized Ralph Lauren archetype, dressed in the same textures, colors, and references that define the brand’s larger visual language. The dial really does feel like another medium for Ralph Lauren storytelling.
That makes the Polo Bear watch a deeply, deeply meaningful signifier for the buyers who understand what the Polo Bear means. If you own this watch, it means that you’re the type of person who buys nice things for yourself rather than trying to shout about how much money you have.
The Polo Bear watch, and the Polo Bear generally, are actual “quiet luxury”. Whereas the trend has been interpreted as piggy-backing off minimalism by just putting a bunch of browns and beiges together, quiet luxury is actually about wearing nice things that only a very select people know are actually nice.
Ralph Lauren Polo Bear watches represent the ultimate exclusivity, the kind that comes from having a point of view based on knowledge and research (Image source: Ralph Lauren).
Under this definition, “quiet luxury” can be colorful, as can be minimalism; go take a look at what Hermès is selling if you’re not convinced.
And indeed Ralph Lauren! The number of colors in which you can buy a Polo shirt alone is enormous.
Color works in quiet luxury, provided you know what to do with it, and ultimately, that’s the true signifier of quiet luxury: you know exactly what you’re doing, everything you wear has meaning, and you are so good at putting all of it together that it looks effortless.
It’s about the clothes, yes, but it’s also about the person wearing them.
The person with this type of knowledge is the one wearing the Polo Bear watch, and in this way, this is a very exclusive watch line: you have to know what the line means, and of course you have to have 2,000 euros for each and every Polo Bear watch you want to match with your outfits.
If you’re looking at the Polo Bear watch like you would another watch in this price range, you’re missing the point and based on what I hear from my contact with Ralph Lauren, every Polo Bear watch sells out. Yet to this day, I have never seen one in person (any Ralph Lauren watch, really) out in public, whereas Rolex or Cartier are common where I live.
So, which of these choices is really going to set you apart as someone with a point of view?
It’s the Polo Bear watch, because anyone who wears this signals they are part of a secret society that doesn’t need to show off: the high-profile CEO who’d rather have fun occasionally than wear her usual Cartier, the investment banker who wants to appear a little more approachable while indulging his kids who like the teddy bears, and yes, the fashion personality who wants to rep Ralph Lauren, which is about the only brand in existence that draws unanimous praise in industry circles.
And if Ralph Lauren is capable of this level of care on a whimsical, highly niche product, it raises an obvious question: what might they accomplish when they bring this same rigor to the rest of their watchmaking portfolio?
For everyone else then, especially those with an interest in watches, the Polo Bear watch is an indication that the rest of Ralph Lauren’s range is at least worth checking out with an open mind.