The first Richard Mille watch, the RM 001 Tourbillon, appeared in 2001. This futuristic complication watch, with its barrel shape, skeleton calibre and unprecedented finishes, was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. The Tourbillon 2.0 clearly marked the beginning of a polarising watchmaking style based on technological, artistic and architectural dimensions. Success was immediate, and the watch was hailed as a phenomenon, cementing Richard Mille’s reputation as a masculine brand.
The brand’s watches were unapologetically macho, featuring large dimensions, visible mechanics and the quest for ever-sturdier and more robust materials. But that didn’t stop the company from launching its first women’s watches as early as 2005, just four years after its creation. Just as the brand’s history began by showcasing mechanical jewellery for men, it was only natural that it should turn towomen, creating dedicated collections that were more than just men’s watches set with diamonds with the odd touch of pink. Once again, success came quickly. More and more women started to appreciate the brand’s extreme technicality – and a Mille watch is extreme! Richard Mille women’s watches fully embrace the brand’s DNA.
The RM 007, the first women’s watch, was still barrel-shaped, but sized to fit a woman’s wrist. The Richard Mille interpretation of a ladies’ watch was extremely technical, like the rest of the collection, but with a subtle refinement. It featured an exclusive innovation: a bidirectional automatic movement with a sand-blasted gold rotor, one section of which was filled with hundreds of gold microbeads.
From then on, women’s watches became a non-negotiable element of the collections as a whole. The RM 07-01 collection generated surprise with pieces made from TPT® Carbon set with diamonds, red gold rings and coloured ceramics. In 2023, after three years of work by the Research & Development department, the RM 07-04 Sport was born. This is the first in-house sports collection dedicated exclusively to women, powered by the compact CRMA8 titanium movement, which has been subjected to a series of rigorous tests to confirm its resistance to acceleration up to 5,000 G, and shocks in general.
Richard Mille’s feminine momentum continues with a masterpiece, the RM 71-02 Talisman, powered by a tourbillon escapement calibre. Innovations and creative concepts like these have led to women’s watches now making up around 30% of Richard Mille’s sales. Women buy Richard Mille watches for themselves. They’re charismatic, they know what they want, they open the door to the boutique themselves. Richard Mille watches are not only given to women by men! The word on the street is that Richard Mille’s feminine adventure will continue with some stunning new releases. To be continued…
