Richard Mille

The comparision is made on what these brands are known for: polishing (cases, hands, markers, chamfering...), classical style, brand fame (PP, AP, VC, ALS, indies and so on...).

Thus, using that base reference for RM brings questions.

However, from what I wrote in the past ( www.watchprosite.com ,  www.watchprosite.com  and in other posts), this is not what the brand is about.

Instead of gold and steel, they use Ti (now it is more "ordinary" but it wasn't at the beginning, especially for movement parts), different types of Carbon (from simple nanotube resins at the beginning to real carbon today), Alusic, Lital, Magnesium, all kind of hi-tech materials used in F1 engine combustion rooms, satelites, plane's landing gear etc...

Their materials are much more difficult to craft and shape than the classical ones. When these materials are used for the movement (baseplate, tourbillon bridges or smaller parts) it is also a much bigger task to perform.

Furthermore, compared to traditonal brands (JLC, PP, VC, AP etc...), the volumes are much lower, hence the impact on the final price is very important.

When you look at some Independent watches, you also see a very high increase in terms of pricing compared to traditional brands. Some have a very high finishing quality (like KV, DB for instance) and others don't. However, the prices, because of the volumes are generally much higher than what we can find with established brands.

I don't think that we can compare brands on their price level only, without looking precisely what is offered. RM offers something very different and we can't judge the price on the standard criteria like chamfering or polishing. We are talking about other fields.

That's why I feel in your "cheap and massively produced" or "mediocre product" sentences someting that indeed you don't understand (and a little biased :p ). I think, as you tried them, that it is just not your thing at all. As some also don't like this or that independent brand (MB&F, Urwerk etc...) because they are too different. But you can't I would tend to think that you understimate what their production challenges are.

We don't have to like them all but just to find what appeals to us. In that way, RM is not your thing but you should imagine that others appreciate the technicity, materials and developement difficulties in another way.

Now, if someone prefers the traditional part, then he shouldn't go for RM (I'm sure many started "traditional" and ended understandind and loving RM in the end, but not everyone will). However, if someone wants something else and tries, he might then think that traditional watchmaking is less interesting.

That's why I don't think we can compare a Dufour and a RM. This would be like comparing a small 2-sit car (Lotus Elise, not comfy, not much luggage room, bad visibility on the rear, noisy, no Air conditioning, no electric windows etc...) with a German premium sedan for the same price. But some will prefer the Elise over the BMW and others will prefer the latter. It depends on the use, taste etc...

Some say also that the price of a German premium car is not justified when you can have the same thing in a Toyota, Renault etc... Well, I think that I would disagree on the comparision as well and it is just that the important criteria are not the same for each of us.

As I replied to PP5170G above (you can read my answer if you want to know more about the brand), this is totally different as a watch brand, and one has at least to understand and feel attracted by the field used in RM watches. Most of RM clients have been owners of traditional brands before. The success of RM has shown that what they bring has appealed to many, especially during the 10 or 15 first years.

All this being said, you know that we are in a luxury field and that the price is not 100% linked with the production costs. RM has created a very appealing brand for people who like their techniques (material, caracteristics...) but also as what they represent as a social status symbol.

The pricing power in that field is huge for RM. Thus that's where their prices land.

You won't buy them, hopefully you don't have too, you don't really understand how other can like them that much as it is not appealing to what interests you in the watchmaking field, but I guess we are all different and that some are ready to pass that threshold you're far from. No problem with that Bruno. This is just a product that really doesn't appeal to you and a product that is playing in a sector where his image allows it to be sold at such prices.

I guess that we can say the same about some sport cars or Hermes bags etc... RM watches benefit from this situation they have succeeded in creating thanks to many tangible assets from combining watchmaking and other high-tech fields.

Best, Mark

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