Far and away by the countless number of customers who collect Mille watches. Last week in the USA, one of them asked me what the launch program for 2014 looks like, because he buys one every two months. A little earlier, a collector who is a brand enthusiast sent me a photo featuring 50 of the models he owned. There are hundreds of them who have three, four, five or ten RM watches, and I’m totally fascinated by this phenomenon.
At what point did you think to yourself : “We’ve made it” ?
Never ! My business plans have always been very reasonable, based on sufficiently conservative profitability thresholds to avoid falling into debt and to be able to cope with the inevitable delays in delivery. This caution has remained in place as I grow older and both sides of my brain are pretty well balanced: one is completely crazy and enables me to have a ball by exploring all kinds of technical developments; while the other carefully secures production and ensures the geographical diversification of our markets. I began at a very early stage to round out the collections with ladies’ models, as well as with round and rectangular cases. In the same way, our business plans remained well within the market potential. Whereas the entire production could have been sold in Asia, I made a point of pushing the American and European markets. We have just finished our world meeting that confirmed a super-full order book corresponding to two years’ production; but I told everyone to keep their feet firmly on the ground. This kind of prudent strategy enables us to maintain a serene attitude to the future.
Twelve years after your beginnings, has the creative process for new models undergone significant changes ?
The same somewhat unusual approach is still in place : when a concept pops into my mind or someone suggests a technical development, we examine the feasibility in broad terms and then we get started. Since the initial concept has always consisted in developing a production and then pricing it in accordance with its actual cost price, creativity is not hampered by financial considerations. So materials are expensive ? No big deal ? The R&D looks like lasting quite a while ? Not a problem. This is the brand DNA, it’s how I like things to be and what my customers expect. Such is notably the case on the aviation watch we have been working on for three years and which is currently delayed – but we’re talking about one of the most complex watches in horological history, comprising more than 1,000 parts. If I had wanted to define all the parameters right from the start, I would never have launched this project. The extreme high-end watches are issued in numbered limited series of just a few watches, and the rest in modest quantities reinterpreted in step with developments.
Of which 2014 new launch are you most proud ?
Among the new models introduced in 2014, the Loeb watch is an interesting object. Interpreting lifestyle models is a successful area that appeals to me, but I also feel it a duty to offer extremely technical models that will doubtless become must-haves for collectors in a few years’ time. Such is the case for example with the RM 031 that has not been widely spoken of and is only moderately successful in terms of sales because it is not visually spectacular – and yet its precision timing performances are pretty close to those of quartz, with variations in rate of just 0 to 20 seconds per month. Despite this, such a extreme high-performance watch creates less of a stir than the Blake or Nadal models.
Richard Mille is strongly active in the field of sport ; have you ever considered artistic partnerships ?
Yes of course, I’ve always said that Fine Watchmaking should be open to the world in general, and notably to art. This has been exemplified this year in our collaboration with the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and the Perrotin gallery in Hong Kong and will continue next year in association with my friend Benjamin Millepied of the Paris Opera Ballet company, as well as with the Concours Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille. We have also bought up the Editions Cercle d’Art publishers, co-founded by Pablo Piccasso, in order to ensure the continuity of this company by enabling it to diversify as a creative agency.
Which assets enable a watch brand to achieve emancipation from its eponymous founder ?
I am doing everything I can in this respect, because nobody lives forever even though I’m still young! Nonetheless, I am by nature an interventionist and I can’t stop myself from getting involved in production plans, communication budgets, after-sales service – you might well even find me snipping bits of carpet on my booth at the SIHH! Fortunately, I’m starting to be able to step back a little.
Given the ever-increasing numbers of the super-rich that you are aiming to reach with your watches, do you plan to increase production accordingly ?
There is no question of making the brand commonplace, and the production of our watches will always remain as complex as it now is. The constant growth of our sales in value terms stems essentially from the average price of our watches that currently amounts to around CHF 150,000. I find that unbelievable ! Turnover stood at 110 million Swiss francs in 2012, 130 in 2013, and is expected to exceed 180 in 2016. For years I’ve said we would be able to sell over 3,000 watches per year – a figure that should quite logically be reached in 2014. However, our production volumes will stay at around a few thousand units per year.
What should your customers expect over the next 12 years ?
As ever, plenty of surprises, since I can’t see the creative wellspring drying up any time soon. The fields of expression explored by Richard Mille watches afford countless possibilities for renewal – naturally without becoming repetitive. At the SIHH 2014 we are presenting the Baby Nadal and the new Bubba Watson model, but above all the ladies’ collection has been significantly expanded. Since the RM 007 designed for ladies has been equipped with a high-performance in-house calibre boasting sensational finishes, this has encouraged us to give a fresh boost to this segment. The field of materials, in which the brand has played a consistently pioneering role, offers a vast sum of untapped potential that we will continue to explore. As far as I’m concerned, using them is only meaningful if these materials bring something genuinely useful to the model, and if they have been sufficiently tested to guarantee their non-allergenic nature and their reliability for at least 30 to 40 years. Opening up to the world gives you so many options !
