Since 2019, almost the entire watchmaking industry has been repeating a keyword: a retro tribute. Brands with a long history reproduce the milestone works of the golden age, reproduce the texture and style of the time, and show the timeless charm of the watches through the times; and some of them will also make everyone feel familiar or less surprised. Under this trend, there are still a few brands that have the courage to go against the trend, and are still constantly exploring boundaries in the fields of watchmaking technology and cutting-edge technology, and even become the "unreplicable high-end watch" in the watchmaking field with a leading position - RICHARD MILLE is obviously the leader that cannot be ignored.
Breakthrough innovation, the unique modern watchmaking philosophy
RICHARD MILLE, founder of MILLE, once expressed his views in an interview. He believed that he had fully learned and respected the watchmaking tradition during his years in the watch jewelry industry, but he often encountered experiences that could not break the shackles of the watch tradition. Many of today's watch works take similar routes and lack a certain uniqueness. This also made him think about how to use contemporary technology and design to explore the possibilities of watches in the early stages of the brand, and he never plagiarizes, is not afraid of taking risks, and creates modern high-end watches without restrictions.
To give an example, if we talk about the most topical watches in 2022, the ultimate ultra-thin watch created by RICHARD MILLE and the Ferrari team are ranked among the top three. This ultra-thin watch with a thickness of only 1.75 mm is even thinner than a one-yuan coin. The 1.18 mm movement equipped in the watch challenges the limit, which can be said to have overturned the definition of an ultra-thin watch in one fell swoop.
RICHARD MILLE launches the new RM UP-01 FERRARI watch to challenge the difference by a slim difference, and subverts the ultra-thin watch with an ultra-thin watch with a thickness of only 1.75 mm (1.18 mm movement).
After dozens of watch prototypes and more than 6,000 hours of R&D and laboratory testing, RICHARD MILLE decided to retain the traditional structure of assembling the movement into the case instead of using the bottom cover as a bottom plate to ensure that the watch can guarantee impact resistance in any environment. Finally, with the creation of the fifth-level titanium alloy, this ultra-thin wrist is enough to withstand the acceleration impact of 5,000g, becoming a truly ultra-thin watch for daily wear. As Richard Mille said in a previous interview, the innovative materials used on each RICHARD MILLE watch are never for gimmicks. Each introduced material must have a reasonable cause or purpose, and ensure its shock resistance and comfort.
In fact, the refreshing desire shown by the RM UP-01 FERRARI watch is not limited to this watch. From every watch created by RICHARD MILLE, you can feel the respect of the brand’s founders for high-end watchmaking. At the same time, they are passionate about high-tech R&D, innovative materials, racing and other fields, and the innovative spirit that never compromises for ordinary norms, creating a three-dimensional and personalized watch.
RM 001 Tourbillon Watch
The fifth-level titanium alloy material mentioned above has actually been used since the brand's first watch, the RM 001 Tourbillon watch. This watch is the first watch named after RICHARD MILLE. Its introduction, literally and symbolically, echoes the first year of the Millennium in 2001 and marks the beginning of a new era of watchmaking craftsmanship. The concept and material inspiration of RM 001 are closely related to the design and development of Formula 1 racing . Just as this source of inspiration is still the basic principle of building a brand philosophy - it is not only a watchmaking method that looks at the overall situation, but also forms the cornerstone of RICHARD MILLE methodology.
The first automobile competition was held in France in 1906, and the first F1 competition was held in , the Silverstone Circuit in the UK in 1950. Although the sports principles of cars have not changed over the past 100 years, technological advances such as technical specifications, materials, and aerodynamics have changed all aspects of racing. Perhaps racing is not a car that can be driven on cities or roads in life, but it provides rich technical experience for cars that are driven daily, making cars faster and safer.For example, dual-clutch transmission , power recovery, etc. are all tried first from racing cars and then applied in cars.
RICHARD MILLE seems to have the same significance for the watch industry. Foresight and visionary watch design may also provide you with new ideas. The full sapphire case and Carbon TPT® carbon fiber seem to be the leading application of these materials. Racing is not only the inspiration for the RICHARD MILLE design, but more importantly, it provides the most authentic trial field. As the founder of the brand, Mr. Richard Mille said in an interview with the media: "When I started a brand, people always told me that it is impossible for tourbillon watches to be worn when playing golf. I proved them wrong with our watches. People also said that it is impossible for tourbillon watches to be worn when driving F1 racing cars, and I proved them wrong. ... I am keen to challenge and show the world that our watches can withstand the impact of various extreme environments. Our watches are not used in safes, but are used to be worn and used in real life."
In recent years, cooperation between the watch and the automotive industry has not been uncommon, but how to truly integrate and innovate from it, RICHARD MILLE has always been a model for being ahead of the industry. Since its inception, it has been committed to applying innovative technologies and materials acquired from the development of Formula One racing and the aerospace industry to the watchmaking process. In the application, use and design of new technology materials, the brand has a number of innovative moves, greatly expanding the boundaries of watchmaking professionalism and innovation.
Perfect experience, redefining the comfort of wearing
Original wine barrel-shaped case conforms to ergonomics, perfectly fits the wrist, creating a free and comfortable wearing experience.
In addition to paying attention to the overall volume, physical requirements of the movement and specific functions in the production of watches, the comfort of the watch wearer is also very important. This is the core concept that Mr. Richard Mille upheld when he developed the original barrel styling at the beginning of the brand.
"My first priority when creating a watch is that this watch must be worn comfortably. My watch must be light and ergonomic, with the right curve perfectly fits your wrist, and you can fit freely even if your wrist is thick." Mr. Richard Mille once explained his original intention of making watches.
2022, when Nadal once again won the Roland Garros French Open championship trophy, wearing the RM 27-04 Rafael Nadal tourbillon watch tailored for him on his wrist.
In fact, RICHARD MILLE did this, and the most well-known example is the close cooperation between tennis star Nadal and the brand. Since meeting RICHARD MILLE in 2008, Nadal has been wearing the watches created by the brand to show off the competition. In 2022, when he picked up the Roland Garros French Open Championship trophy again, he wore the RM 27-04 Rafael Nadal tourbillon watch tailored for him. This watch can withstand more than 12,000g of impact, weighs only 30g, including the strap, and combined with the ergonomic design, it truly becomes like a "second layer of skin".
RICHARD MILLE has been working with Nadal in the past few years, and some comments are inevitably about how many tables Nadal has broken. You can imagine that the car needs to undergo various impact tests before it is officially launched on the market. In fact, Nadal has indeed broken several prototypes, but they are all styles that have not been officially released. More so, the brand hopes that Nadal will test the performance of these watches in the competition and learn from them to continuously improve. Nadal has always shared his wearing experience with Mr. Richard Mille, so from the 11 years after 2011, we can see that Nadal has always brought RICHARD MILLE's watch to compete, breaking his Grand Slam record many times.
However, comfort is not achieved simply by copying and pasting. What is required is careful processing and polishing on the case.Since its establishment, RICHARD MILLE has introduced various innovative materials into the watchmaking field, including titanium alloy, nano- carbon fiber , ALUSIC, aluminum-lithium alloy , Anticordal 100, Phynox, Carbon TPT®, graphene and other different materials, etc. Each material means that the development of a new polishing process is invisibly increased the R&D cost required for "comfort", and makes the wearing experience of RICHARD MILLE an irreplicable attraction.
reaches a millimeter, reconstructing the high-end watchmaking
Richard Mille's watches are characterized by avoiding unnecessary redundant details. Just like the high-speed sports cars we see today, the appearance is determined by functions; the design method dominated by aesthetics cannot be useful, nor has room for foothold. For brands, every pinion, lever and clockwork must perform their own duties to achieve efficient reliability and accuracy. This belief is not only reflected in visual form, but also in every design decision at every stage of production. Even spline screws that are as small as well-known as others - extremely eye-catching on the outside of the case and widely used in the movement, are the result of months of research and investment. Each screw requires more than 20 processing processes to complete.
Even if it is a spline screw that is as small as a well-known one, it is extremely eye-catching on the outside of the case and widely used in the movement, it is also the result of months of research and investment.
Each watch is full of innovative achievements inspired by advanced technological breakthroughs. The pursuit of perfection is to strike a balance between all possible functions and choices. Because of this, there is almost no standard part inside the RICHARD MILLE watch. Ideas determine components, but components cannot define watches. Based on the research results of technical fields and on-track force solutions, the RICHARD MILLE watch has made progress in the rigidity of the base plate, the power transmission of the transmission gear teeth, and the flexibility of specific components of the movement, which can provide more impact resistance.
The pursuit of perfection is to strike a balance between all possible functions and choices. Because of this, there is almost no standard part inside the RICHARD MILLE watch.
And RICHARD MILLE's various breakthroughs in impact resistance technology are not just gimmicks, but to better adapt to the wearer's sports scenes. For example, after three years of dedicated research and development, RICHARD MILLE launched the RM 35-03 watch equipped with a new movement winding mechanism for Nadal. Previously, the RM 35-02 watch has adopted the iconic component of the RICHARD MILLE automatic winding movement - the variable geometric structure oscillator. The new generation RM 35-03 introduces the brand's patented new butterfly rotor, allowing the wearer to adjust the geometric structure of the oscillator by himself and change the movement winding speed according to lifestyle and sports state. Such complex functions are also quite interesting while focusing on practicality.
The new generation of RM 35-03 introduces a new butterfly rotor, allowing the wearer to adjust the geometric structure of the rotor by himself and change the movement winding speed according to lifestyle and motion state.
"Previously, any adjustment to the variable geometric oscillator had to be done by professional watchmakers. We hope to optimize the winding mechanism so that the wearer can have the opportunity to directly regulate the winding speed of the watch," Salvador Arbona, technical director of RICHARD MILLE movement, explained. "Just like a driver can choose to enable the sports mode to adjust the vehicle transmission mechanism and switch the vehicle from urban driving to track racing mode."
time interest, the core of the watch is loaded with an interesting soul
When a product is to the extreme, it can break the shackles of the product itself and become a work of art that expresses the soul and opinions, and the same is true for RIHCARD MILLE watches. After crossing the mountains of watchmaking fields such as accurate timing and comfortable wearing, the "interesting soul" loaded on the core of the watch continues to appear in a square inch. The unique interest in time makes RIHCARD MILLE's watches like vivid characters, becoming an irrepeatable and moving work.
In this era of expressing personality with emoji, a row of small yellow round faces with different expressions is almost everyone's essential language.These small yellow round faces evolved from Smiley, a yellow smiling face that appeared in the Evening News in 1972. This yellow smile symbol became popular all over the world as soon as it was born and has long become a cultural symbol. Smiley has always conveyed a positive spiritual resonance, and now, as a symbol of communication, it has become alive in the energy-filled world of the RM 88 Smiley’s self-winding tourbillon watch.
RICHARD MILLE released the new RM 88 Smiley automatic winding tourbillon watch to interpret the fun style.
After three years of research and development, a watch with extraordinary skills and innovation was launched. The RM 88 self-winding tourbillon watch and every decorative element it combines comes from the world of Smiley with joy: blooming flowers, warm sun, delicious pineapples, vigorous cactus, pink flamingos, brightly colored rainbows... Just like this wine glass with neon lights intertwined, a cheerful cocktail must be tasted carefully. Such watchmaking creativity adds a sense of positivity and pleasure to the hearts of watch lovers. The white bezel contains various elements, like a painting where life should be full of joy. But every element in RM 88 has been carefully polished by hand. Even if it is not so "serious" watch work, it is still "serious" in workmanship. Although many brands are eager to bring different happiness on watches, RICHARD MILLE has indeed done it, and continues to bring surprises to everyone with distinct characteristics.
Starting from RICHARD MILLE's first watch, RM 001, a deconstruction and innovation of high-end watchmaking has launched the engine, galloping like Formula racing on the F1 track, breaking through one limit after another, and establishing an unparalleled leading position in the industry. Among these watches that are extremely thin, extremely light, and extremely impact-resistant - ultimately able to control the ultimate environment, we see not only the present, but also the future of the watchmaking world that is accelerating. It is this never-ending acceleration that makes RICHARD MILLE a high-end watch brand that cannot be copied.
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