Richard Mille

Richard Mille

The first wristwatch model produced by Richard Mille watches, the RM 001-1, was presented at the new millenium.

In a literal as well as figurative sense, this first new model, the arbinger of several to follow in the ensuing years, was consciously meant to serve as a landmark writswatch, an embodiment of concepts that could delineate a vision of 21e century watchmaking.

Within a short span of time, the words futuristic; daring, high tech and cutting edge soon becae the keywords used the public and press alike when attempting to decipher the emotional attraction that all the concepts built into the RM 001-1 evoked. Real technological concepts and materials inspired by the world of Formula 1 racing car technology were behing the realization of that first RM 001-1 tourbillon and 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 and the technological ressources that power it. Whether car or wristwatch, both are machines pur sang with similiar rules regarding their functioning, accuracy of construction and reliability. Each part of a high performance wristwatch, whether it is a case 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, streering 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 intergated result. For this reason no standerd 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.

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