Foversta provides an insightful tour of the new Richard Mille boutique in Paris, highlighting the brand's strategic decision to move from Place VendĂ´me to Avenue Matignon. This relocation reflects a deliberate effort to target a broader clientele, including art and lifestyle enthusiasts, and to better showcase Richard Mille's growing women's collection.
Step by step, the geography of the watches boutiques is changing in Paris. Brands analyse with a lot of care what would be the perfect location for their future flagship boutiques and the obvious addresses in the Rue de la Paix and Place VendĂ´me area are maybe not considered now as the key ones. Of course, they remain strategic locations but I would say, for the usual customers.
The way of thinking is not the same when a brand wishes to offer its collection to a new range of customers or to expand its clients base.
In this context, the very recent opening of the Richard Mille boutique at the 17 avenue Matignon symbolizes this approach.
The location may appear to be strange for those who know Paris. Not far from the Champs-Elysées, the boutique seems to be set up in a "transition area" between the Rue du Faubourg St Honoré, the Hotel Bristol and the most famous avenue of Paris. Actually, it is very far from the former location of the first boutique which was at the number 2 of the Place Vendôme. This 180° change is surprising but at the end is clever.
I can see several reasons to explain this quite large distance between the former boutique and the new one locations.
The first one is the size of the new boutique. Forget the phone box of the Place VendĂ´me and enjoy now the 200m2 place designed by MĂ©lanie Monceyron, the Richard Mille Artistic Director.
The second one is the neighbourhood. The boutique is surrounded by several prestigious Art Galleries. And we are touching here the main explanation of this location. Richard Mille wished to escape from the simplistic solution of the Rue de la Paix and to be closer to these galleries to target clients which are true passionates of Art and Life-Style. And these passionates represent a significant part of the current customers base of the brand in addition of the watchmaking fans fascinated by the innovative technical developments which can be found in the collection.
The last reason is the will to be closer to the ladies' expectations. We don't have to forget that Richard Mille has a strong women's collection and that women represent a large potential of growth for the brand. So this location by the Champs-Elysées and the galleries is at the end perfect to meet them. And I could feel this strategic move with the large part of the surface on the left just after the entrance door fully dedicated to ladies' watches.
So, forget your watches shopping habits... walk a bit after the Hotel Bristol toward the Champs-Elysées and you will find the new Richard Mille boutique at the 17, avenue Matignon. Believe me, you will be seduced by the beauty and atmosphere of the boutique. And since pics are better than thousand words, I propose you to discover it now.
The entrance of the boutique with the typical RM008 glass on the left. The atmosphere is bright and clear and we can feel it even with the facade:
The left window as seen from inside of the boutique:
The Macassar ebony wood of the displays and on the right, the workshop of the watchmaker. I love this transparency effect, the clients may take advantage of his presence to observe him at work.
The large surface of the ground floor. Each detail was designed to make the visit as comfortable and relaxed as possible. I really had a feeling of space inside and it is a huge improvement when compared with the former boutique.
The basement is dedicated to welcome the clients and guests in a very refined and contemporary environment.
One of the frames which decorate the basement:
Of course, I couldn't leave the boutique without putting several watches on the wrist. I chose 3 watches which are good representatives, at least in my point of view, of the current collection.
We are in June, Summer is getting closer... so the RM 030 Polo Club Saint-Tropez was too tempting!
I love its ceramic bezel and the combo created with the grade 5 titanium of the other parts of the case.
The different colors used on this watch come from the logo of the Polo Club:
The power reserve display is on the left of the dial. The On/Off indicator is used to show if the automatic winding is engaged or not. To protect the movement, when the two mainsprings are fully wound, the automatic winding feature stops.
Despite its rather large size (50 x 42,70mm), the RM 030 Polo Club de Saint-Tropez can easily be worn by women thanks to its colors and style and its white bezel. A great Summer watch!
We totally change the atmosphere with the impressive RM 031 High Performance Caliber.
I consider this watch as the perfect example of how the latest technical development can improve what is the most important for a timepiece: its accuracy. The RM 031 is not only a beautiful watch, it also claims superlative chronometric performances with a variation of accuracy between 20 and 30 seconds per month. Just the fact that we changed the scale (month instead of day) gives the proof of the trust the Richard Mille and APRP teams have in this watch.
The RM 031 takes advantage of the AP direct-impulse escapement. Also note that the movement frequeny is 5hz.
On the right side of the dial, the W/N/H display is the functions indicator of the crown:
Beauty or beast? The watch is heavy (platinum case), large (diameter of 50mm) but there is something magic with it. It is due to the dial lay-out. Actually, there is no dial. The movement itself decorates the front side of the timepiece.
The RM 031 on the wrist. I forgot its weight and I enjoyed its very technical and contemporary design.
I would like to finish the report with the RM 058-01 Jean Todt World Timer. I have a soft love for traveller watches and I couldn't miss this one.
It is a piece I highly appreciate because it embodies a rather unusual atmosphere for a Richard Mille watch. First of all, due to its world timer complication and secondly, due to its colors. Of course, we recognize at the first glance that it is a Richard Mille timepiece due to the hands, the fonts and the case. But this Pink Gold & Titanium case, combined with the world timer ring brings a very warm touch to the watch.
The vertical bridge of the Tourbillon, even if it is not a "big originality" contributes to the successful aesthetic achievement of the watch which remains legible despite the numerous data on the dial.
The cities ring is set on Paris... perfect to celebrate the first steps of the new boutique!
Like the RM 031, the RM 058 features a 50mm case. A watch with a strong presence on the wrist but a bit less radical than the RM 031 due to its more classic, if I may say so, dial lay-out.
I will have the opportunity in the future to come back to these watches and especially the RM 031 due to its performances.
In the meantime, I wish the best for the new Richard Mille boutique and its staff. Don't forget its address: 17 avenue Matignon. So don't stay only on the very known rue de la Paix, move to the West... and discover this new place which will deserve your visit, you can trust me!
Thanks a lot to the staff of the boutique and the Richard Mille PR team for the warm welcome.
Fx
This message has been edited by foversta on 2015-06-13 15:09:42 
