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Richard Mille is a Swiss luxury watch company founded in 2001 by Dominique Guenat and Richard Mille, based in Les Breuleux, Switzerland. The brand specialises in very high-priced clockwork watches which have been criticised by some as "ridiculous" and "unnecessarily extravagant." Company history After studying marketing in Besançon, Richard Mille (born 13 February 1951, Draguignan, France) started work at Finhor, a local watchmaking company in 1974. The company was bought by Matra in 1981, and Mille rose to manage Matra's watchmaking business, which then included the brands Yema and Cupillard Rième. Matra's watchmaking activities were sold to Seiko; Mille left in 1992 to start a watchmaking business for jewellery firm Mauboussin. Development Following a disagreement about commercial strategy at Mauboussin, where he was a shareholder, Richard Mille left his position as general manager to launch a range of watches. In late 1998, Mille presented his plans to his friend Dominique Guenat, owner of watchmaker Montres Valgine, whom he met in 1988 while working in Besançon for Compagnie Générale Horlogère and with whom he worked at Mauboussin. In early 1999, Richard Mille and Dominique Guenat drew up their plans for the Richard Mille brand in partnership with Montres Valgine and Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet. Over the next two years, they defined their brand concept and began designing watches. They then founded Horométrie, their operating company for the new Richard Mille brand as equal partners, which was registered in Switzerland by October 2001, and created the Richard Mille watchmaking brand in collaboration with Audemars Piguet, which owned it then owned a stake in Richard Mille brand in 2007. After three years of research and prototypes, they exhibited their first watch, a manually-wound RM 001 Tourbillon, at the 2001 watch and jewellery exhibition Baselworld in Basel, Switzerland. The watch, which featured an exhibition caseback and visible parts, had a tourbillon calibre, a power-reserve indicator, and a torque indicator. Richard Mille joined the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie in 2007. In April 2013, Richard Mille and Dominique Guenat acquired a 90% stake in Prototypes Artisanals SA, founded by Marco Poluzzi; former director Alain Varrin retained a 10% share. The company became ProArt and moved to a purpose-built 3,000 m² building in Les Breuleux. Following the sale of case supplier Donzé-Baume to Swiss luxury group Richemont in 2007, the Richard Mille company started machining its cases and some components, with ProArt as a subcontractor. In 2013, Richard Mille turned down a proposal by the French group Kering to acquire a 51% stake. In 2018, Richard Mille withdrew from the Salon international de la haute horlogerie in Geneva. In October 2018, Richard Mille opened its sixth and largest United States store in New York. In late 2018 the RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman was launched, designed by women's collection director Cécile Guenat. It was described as being made by a woman for women. The Richard Mille Group The Richard Mille Group comprises the following companies: Horométrie SA (distribution), Guenat SA Montres Valgine (conception and assembly), ProArt (components), VMDH (decoration) and Cercle d'Art (publishing). In 2018, the Group employed 148 people. Guenat SA - Montres Valgine Dominique Guenat joined the Guenat SA - Montres Valgine (GMV) company in 1986 and took to the helm in 1991. In 1999, he teamed up with Richard Mille to create the “Richard Mille” watch brand. All Richard Mille watches are developed and produced in Switzerland by the Guenat SA - Montres Valgine (GMV) Manufacture in Les Breuleux. Design and development are carried out in the old 1950s building in Les Breuleux, which was renovated in 1972, while assembly and quality control are performed in a building built in 2007. ProArt Richard Mille watch cases and some movement components, such as baseplates, bridges, screws, and some wheels, are produced by ProArt, which belongs to the Richard Mille group. VMDH VMDH (Vital Morel Décalque Horlogère) is located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 25 km from Les Breuleux. It specialises in transfers and the decoration of watch movement components (galvanoplasty, electroplating, etc.) VMDH produces the dials and flanges used by the Richard Mille and applies phosphorescent pigments. VMDH is chaired by Yves Mathys. Technologies Richard Mille watches are designed to be very shock-resistant and accurate. They are light in weight, using materials including grade 5 titanium, LITAL, Carbon TPT, and graphene. Richard Mille teamed up with North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT), producer of lightweight pre-impregnated materials used in sailing and Formula 1, to produce the RM 27-02 Rafael Nadal in Carbon NTPT and Quartz TPT, and the RM 11-03 McLaren. Technical innovation Development of the first baseplates in carbon nanofibres, titanium, and Carbon TPT Development of gem-set ceramic Invention of laminated sapphire crystal (RM 53-01) Invention of new watch complications: Oracle (RM 069), mechanical G-force sensor (RM 036). Invention of the variable-geometry rotor on RM 011. Invention of the declutchable rotor. Invention of Quartz TPT with the NTPT company. Movement The brand has designed its own manufactured automatic calibres, including a whirlpool movement: Records Accuracy of RM 031 The RM 031 escapement beats at a frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour, accurate to within 30 seconds per month. The RM 031 was limited to just 10 pieces. Weight In 2004, Richard Mille launched the RM 006 Felipe Massa Tourbillon, which weighed 48 grams excluding the strap, in 2005 the 29 g RM 009 Felipe Massa Tourbillon., in 2007 the 20 g (including strap) RM 027 Rafael Nadal, with movement made from titanium and LITAL, a lithium alloy used in aeronautics that contains aluminium, copper, magnesium and zirconium. In 2013 the 18.83 g (including strap) manually-wound RM 27-01 Rafael Nadal Tourbillon watch, developed with Nadal, was produced, limited to 50 pieces. The watch was the lightest tourbillon ever made due to its lithium aluminium movement and carbon nanotube case. In 2017, at the Salon international de la haute horlogerie (SIHH), the RM 50-03 McLaren F1 was exhibited, the world's lightest flyback chronograph at 38 g (including strap). Shock-resistance The RM 27-03 Tourbillon can withstand impacts of 10,000 g due to its skeletonised unibody baseplate made from Carbon TPT. On 25 July 2009, during his Formula 1 accident in the qualifying stages of the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Felipe Massa, one of the brand's "partners", was wearing an RM 006, which was undamaged. Projects Quebec City Clock The Porte-Bonheur Clock was presented to Quebec City by the Republic and Canton of Jura and the Richard Mille brand in 2014 to celebrate its 400th anniversary. From 2008 to 2014, the Richard Mille company, the technical college of Porrentruy (École des métiers te.... Discover the Rafael Perini popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Rafael Perini books.