Lacoste iconic polo shirt inspires 85th anniversary watch design
All pieces in the collection have the crocodile as 3 o’clock marker
To mark its 85th anniversary last year, the Lacoste brand staged events focusing on its key products, the biggest of which was an exhibit featuring its iconic polo shirt with the unmistakable crocodile logo.
French tennis star Rene Lacoste earned the nickname “Le Crocodile” after winning a crocskin suitcase in a bet in 1927. “A friend drew a crocodile and I had it embroidered on the blazer I wore on the courts,” he was quoted as saying.
Six years later in 1933, Lacoste launched the polo shirt that has been worn—on and off the court —for over eight decades.
The cotton piqué ( pee-kay) shirt with waffle-like construction served as inspiration for the 85th anniversary watch collection from Lacoste.
Stefan Glatz, Switzerlandbased marketing manager of MGI Luxury Group SA, distributor of Lacoste watches, said that the brand chose designs that were classic, contemporary and very understated.
“They didn’t want too much bling-bling, in keeping with the brand’s nononsense appeal,” he
said. The collection now available in stores is an update of its 12.12 design, and comes in threehands or chronograph versions (P5,750 and P9,250 each, respectively). The three-hands quartz comes in blue, black, green, red or white with matching silicone straps embossed with the petit piqué pattern, while the chronograph quartz comes in blue, black, green and white with nylon-infused silicone bezels and matching piqué-pat- terned silicone straps.
A special anniversary chronograph—the most expensive at P16,950—is described as “sporty, elegant and relaxed” and comes in three matte colorways: black, navy blue and khaki. Each piece has an IP-plated steel case and a case back marked with the anniversary logo.
This 42-mm model has a minimalist monochrome dial with indexes, hour and minute hands, a second hand, and three tone-on-tone counters. Its leather bracelet is embossed with the iconic piqué pattern. All pieces in the collection have the Lacoste crocodile as the 3 o’clock marker.
“The watches were meant to appeal to both male and female customers,” Glatz said. The Lacoste 12.12 new edition watch collection is now available at Lacoste kiosks at SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia and selected L Timestudio and Wristpod boutiques.