BREAKING THE CODES
Not only has Richard Mille re-written the rulebook on luxury watchmaking, but it’s also redefining our notions of watches for men and women
WITHIN THE SPACE OF just 20 years, Richard Mille has risen from start-up to the loftiest heights of horology, breaking and re-making rules and traditions with its unlimited creativity, and in the process fashioning some of the most advanced, arresting and sought-after watches in the world. In view of its ground-breaking use of unique and innovative techniques and leading-edge, ultrastrong and lightweight materials, the words “a racing machine on the wrist” are far more than a slogan, but an accurate descriptor of timepieces that sometimes appear to have more in common with a Formula 1 car than a traditional watch.
Yet Richard Mille hasn’t merely broken the codes of watch manufacturing and design. Recognising the growing interest among women in technical, complicated and innovative timepieces, and believing the binary division between “male” and “female” watches is becoming increasingly irrelevant, the company has brought exactly the same approach in terms of uniqueness, materials and design to its ladies’ timepieces as to those for men. Since unveiling its first ladies watch – the RM007 – in 2005, it’s continued along the path of innovation ever since, experimenting with mixes of innovative materials such as Carbon TPT, Quartz TPT, Titanium, Sapphire and Grey Cermet (a ceramic and metallic composite) to create equally advanced timepieces for women that defy gender stereotyping.
As if to emphasise that ladies’ watches for Richard Mille are by no means a “second choice” behind those for men, the brand’s first in-house automatic tourbillon – the RM 71-01 – was in fact made for women. Conversely, the combination of materials, colours, smaller case sizes and other details more traditionally associated with women’s watches are now increasingly appreciated by men, thus blurring the gender lines even further.
The results of this radically different approach can be seen across several current Richard Mille models, including the latest pieces to join the RM 07-01 Ladies Automatic collection, which, in a unique marriage of luxurious and technical materials features an elegant open-link bracelet in red gold and Carbon TPT that’s reminiscent of high jewellery while also being uniquely contemporary. Adopting a somewhat different approach, the RM 037 Ladies Automatic Carbon TPT Gem Set dazzles with 250 sparkling diamonds set in red or white gold on a matte-black carbon field, while the RM 74-01 and -02 In-House Automatic Tourbillons are genuinely unisex timepieces with smaller case made from innovative material combinations, such as Grey Cermet or Gold Carbon TPT, an ultra-strong and lightweight mix of carbon and gold leaf.
It’s with revolutionary timepieces such as these that Richard Mille continues to push the boundaries of luxury watchmaking, not only in terms of design and technical achievements, but also in the very notions of what we’ve traditionally regarded as men’s or women’s watches.