SWEET LIKE CANDY

At Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, the Richard Mille booth was covered in millennial pink—an anomaly, given during the last few editions of the fair, macho elements such as Formula 1 cars and Boeing planes took centre stage at the brand. Anyone who thinks that the watchmaker has gone soft or is pandering to the millennial crowd is wrong. The brand is merely following a new strategy under a new leadership—cécile Guenat, the daughter of Richard Mille’s founding partner Dominique Guenat, is the director of the women’s collections and has spearheaded the creation of the 2019 collection, aptly named Bonbon. She has given iconic models such as the RM 07-03, the RM 16-01 and the RM 37-01 a complete transformation by incorporating pastel shades and using various artistic and enamel techniques to decorate the watches. The result is a collection of 10 releases, which are inspired by fruits, pastries and sweets and boast tiny decorative elements such as mini candies and other sweet confections.

From top: RM 07-03 Automatic Myrtle, and RM 16-01 Automatic Réglisse, both by Richard Mille