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Unveiling Richard Mille —Founder and Name—

Richard Mille watches are extremely expensive, far exceeding the price of traditional high-end brands like Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, and A. Lange & Söhne. In the public eye, Richard Mille is often referred to as "the ticket to the billionaire's market." Note that this refers to "billionaires," not "multi-millionaires" or "millionaires." Multi-millionaires might hesitate to buy a Richard Mille, while millionaires might be short of the funds… Hence, a new theory has emerged: "A person wearing a Real Richard Mille must be a Real Rich Man."

Richard Mille is a very young brand, founded in 1999, less than 20 years ago. The brand name comes directly from its founder, Mr. Richard Mille himself. In mainland China, Richard Mille is often translated as "Richard Miller," but the officially recognized Chinese name is "Richard Mille " (Li Cha De Mi Er). This is similar to the car brand Tesla being colloquially known as Tesla, while its official name is "拓速乐" (Tuo Su Le).

Richard Mille himself has absolutely no experience in watchmaking or repair. His biggest connection to watches stems from his time working at Seiko and a French jewelry and watch shop before the age of 50, where he was involved in luxury goods marketing and management. It wasn't until he was over 50 that he founded his own watch brand.

When Richard Mille is mentioned, various fancy terms easily come to mind, such as "NTPT." "NTPT" is an abbreviation for "North Thin Ply Technology," a type of carbon fiber material woven in a specific sequence. Carbon fiber weighs only half as much as aluminum but is three times stronger, boasting the highest strength-to-weight ratio of all materials. The directional strength, torsional stiffness, lateral stiffness, and other specific mechanical properties of carbon fiber products (such as watch cases) are influenced not only by the material itself but also by the weaving technique or pattern construction.

Swiss company Renens developed a carbon fiber technology called "NTPT" as early as 2001. Unlike traditional weaving methods, NTPT production involves shifting each 30-micron layer of carbon fiber at a 45° angle to the previous layer. The final product not only boasts improved performance but also exhibits a distinctive, wood-like wave-like texture.

Initially, this technology was used in the production of racing sailboats. In 2013, Richard Mille partnered with NTPT, signing a long-term, exclusive supply agreement for their watches, allowing this material to shine in their products. The same movement can command a price difference of hundreds of thousands of RMB simply because the case uses NTPT…

Besides NTPT, Richard Mille also offers watch cases made of other materials. It wasn't until 2013, with the opening of the ProArt SA factory, that Richard Mille gained independent case production capabilities; prior to that, they sourced their products from external suppliers.



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If you look closely, you'll notice that the Richard Mille's clasp is very similar to those of Blancpain and Chanel, employing a similar spring-loaded structure. In fact, the clasps of Blancpain, Richard Mille, and other brands are all manufactured by G&F Châtelain. Those who collect vintage watches often see their stamp on clasps, cases, and straps.

The Châtelain family began involved in watch production in 1936, focusing on clasp and case polishing. After World War II, they restarted production, primarily focusing on jewelry and high-end watch cases; Patek Philippe is one of their clients. Although G&F Châtelain was acquired by Chanel in 1993, it still supplies components to other companies.

The Vaucher movement used in the Richard Mille is a semi-custom model. The treatment of the entire movement's plates, gears, and steel components is also very special, using brushed, polished, and PVD black coatings—a testament to meticulous attention to detail. Even each screw is a custom-made pentagon, further increasing its cost.

Furthermore, some of Richard Mille's regular chronograph models use modules superimposed on the Vaucher movement, not manufactured by APRP. To distinguish between Vaucher and APRP movements, one can observe the movement itself; watches using Vaucher movements will have a four-pointed star logo on the movement.

Richard Mille frequently collaborates with sports stars, having them wear their watches in various competitions such as sprinting and tennis. Consumers may easily develop the misconception that Richard Mille watches are suitable for sports. However, such use can easily damage the watch. Although Richard Mille watches utilize various new case materials and even have specially designed movements in some models, they are fundamentally still mechanical watches. No brand of mechanical watch, including Richard Mille, can be worn for extended periods during strenuous activities. Just like a person, no matter how much metal armor they wear, they are still a carbon-based organism.