Brand concept

The first wristwatch model produced by Richard Mille Watches, the RM 001, was presented at the beginning of the new millennium. In a literal as well as figurative sense, this first new model, the harbinger of several to follow in the ensuing years, was consciously meant to serve as a landmark wristwatch, an embodiment of concepts that could delineate a vision of 21st century watchmaking.

Real technological concepts and materials inspired by the world of Formula 1 racing car technology were behind the realization of that first RM 001 tourbillon and this forms a thread through all that followed. In this primary model the basic, no nonsense, no frills approach for a continually growing series of watches was crystallized. It represents the embodiment of Richard Mille’s passion for the world of F1, as well many principles it shares with the aerospace industry and the technological resources that power them.

A result of the continuous demands for increasingly higher levels of development, the automotive and aerospace industries have both being strongly influenced and inspired by contact with new materials each passing year. Metallic and non-metallic alloys, ceramics, carbon nanofiber and many more materials are no longer seen as exclusively the domain of such industries. These materials offer the watchmaking industry tremendous possibilities and superior technical solutions- only if one is inquisitive enough to accept the challenges they present for watchmaking in the 21st century.

Whether car, jet or wristwatch, all are machines pur sang with similar rules regarding their functioning, accuracy of construction and reliability. Each part of a high performance wristwatch, whether it is a case, screw, bridge, wheel, lever, spring, baseplate or balance wheel must fulfill its task with a wide margin of security and resistance to shocks and stress exactly as would be demanded of a high performance F1 racing car. All these parts must be developed in a coherent totality, just as in racing car where chassis, engine, steering and transmission are all developed to function in harmony at an optimum levels under duress. This quest for perfection involves the balancing of all these options, proportions and aspects into an integrated result. For this reason virtually no standard parts will be found in a Richard Mille watch, since it is the concept that defines the components, not the components that define the watch.

This unconventional philosophy is revealed in the book Richard Mille: Page after glorious page, the reader is escorted into the heart of haute horlogerie and discover the intricate and surprising world inside a Richard Mille watch.