Police

Police began in Italy in 1983 as an eyewear brand under the Vogue and later De Rigo groups, and built its identity on sunglasses worn by film and music figures through the 1980s and 1990s.

The watches are licensed rather than made in-house, produced under agreement by a specialist watch manufacturer and sold through jewellers and department stores alongside the eyewear and fragrance.

Design follows the label: heavy cases, dark PVD finishes, exposed screws and industrial detailing, skull and heraldic motifs, and a masculine, deliberately loud aesthetic that changes with the season rather than the decade.

Movements are quartz, occasionally multi-function, and prices sit in the fashion-watch bracket.

Taken as an accessory that matches a particular look, the range does what it sets out to. It is not a watchmaking company and does not present itself as one.

Police holds 18 models, from £55 to £189. Half cost less than £90, and a quarter less than £75. 2 of 18 are automatic. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1983

Founded in Italy as an eyewear brand.

1990

Celebrity endorsement establishes the label internationally.

1997

The licensed watch collection launches.

2005

Watches expand across European jewellers.

2015

Range widens into jewellery and leather goods.