Richard Mille

[Davey S2]

Gone off them a bit now

[jogon]

I tried one on the other week in Harrods - was a black one with no date, no vision pannel at the back and weighed hardly anything. Its apparently the more commercial version of Nadals. The sales guy said its what John Terry was wearing on the bus after they won the champ league. Yours for £68,000.

Lovely piece and was astonished at how light it was but crazy money. They also seem to depreciate c£20k after a few years judging by the 2nd hand prices you come across.

Do want one though.

[Ikemi]

... whereas I'm starting to warm towards Rolex.

[secretagentbloke]

Hopefully this can redress the balance a little! Love the RM011, but would go for titanium, fits more with the ethos of the brand and looks much much better IMO. Would also not advise buying new, let someone else take the hit of depreciation. Even factoring that in, it's still a brand out of my financial league at the moment.

[jonny70]

Ikemi said:

... whereas I'm starting to warm towards Rolex.

who is that?

[bobbybee]

Over priced, over hyped, one trick pony styled modded ETA.
And all their celebrity ambassadors are cocks

IMHO, of course

[Fitz666]

Sorry but who it that in the first pic?

[Dominic H]

jonny70 said:

Ikemi said:

... whereas I'm starting to warm towards Rolex.

who is that?

-10 points for you. Mrs Sylvie van der Vaart, wife of Tottenham footballist, Rafael.

I think D Becks is maybe due an upgrade...

Fitz666 said:

Sorry but who it that in the first pic?

Ashley Cole, England and Chelski footballist.

Edited by Dominic H on Thursday 28th June 12:29

[marcosgt]

Is there ANYTHING that justifies a £68K+ price tag for a watch?

You can still buy houses in parts of the UK for that!

I know people with money like to spend it, but surely even they must think "Hold on, WHY is this quite that expensive?" sometimes?

Those who say you'd like one, regardless if you can afford one or not, is there something amazing that makes these watches worth astronomical amounts?

M

[Chicane-UK]

marcosgt said:

Is there ANYTHING that justifies a £68K+ price tag for a watch?

You can still buy houses in parts of the UK for that!

I know people with money like to spend it, but surely even they must think "Hold on, WHY is this quite that expensive?" sometimes?

Those who say you'd like one, regardless if you can afford one or not, is there something amazing that makes these watches worth astronomical amounts?

M

I do often wonder this myself. I wonder if I suddenly came into a lot of money, like winning the lottery, would I suddenly consider that a reasonable amount of money for a watch? I could see myself spending more than the norm on something made by George Daniels perhaps because all the pieces are unique (I think?) and they were all made by him - that goes some way to justifying the prices in my mind. But stuff like this - I mean.. exactly how much work goes into a Richard Mille watch?

[secretagentbloke]

marcosgt said:

Is there ANYTHING that justifies a £68K+ price tag for a watch?

You can still buy houses in parts of the UK for that!

I know people with money like to spend it, but surely even they must think "Hold on, WHY is this quite that expensive?" sometimes?

Those who say you'd like one, regardless if you can afford one or not, is there something amazing that makes these watches worth astronomical amounts?

M

Yep, they certainly ain't exactly cheap, but when you consider that even the titanium bolts that hold the cases of his watches together took months of development and a king’s ransom to produce, each requiring more than 20 different production steps, then it does go some way to explaining the cost. Believe me, compared to some "luxury" brands, they do put a lot more thought and design into their watches, so there are a lot of development costs to be factored in as well. Seeing as they aren't a volume producer, that's why the costs are the way they are.

[bobbybee]

secretagentbloke said:

Yep, they certainly ain't exactly cheap, but when you consider that even the titanium bolts that hold the cases of his watches together took months of development and a king’s ransom to produce, each requiring more than 20 different production steps, then it does go some way to explaining the cost. Believe me, compared to some "luxury" brands, they do put a lot more thought and design into their watches, so there are a lot of development costs to be factored in as well. Seeing as they aren't a volume producer, that's why the costs are the way they are.

All that bespoke work, all that effort and expense to then chuck in a modded ETA, yes great value there.
Fur coat, no knickers
Like driving a Ferrari powered by a Fiat125 engine. (sorry that's a little unfair to ETA movements)

[Ikemi]

bobbybee said:

All that bespoke work, all that effort and expense to then chuck in a modded ETA, yes great value there.
Fur coat, no knickers
Like driving a Ferrari powered by a Fiat125 engine. (sorry that's a little unfair to ETA movements)

APRP and Vaucher produce most of the movements for Richard Mille, all of which are to his specifications. Soprod also supply a few bolt-on complications, but no modded ETA movements.



Above is RM's first in-house movement ...

[marcosgt]

I won't pretend to know anything besides the eye watering prices about Mille watches, but are the watches made in tiny batches?

Even with all that work, how long does it take to make one?

Unless you consider them a work of art (and surely they're more like prints than originals given they're not unique?), the prices seem impossibly high by any usual measurement.

I'm just trying to understand what people thinking they're buying that's actually WORTH that much money.

M.

PS Just did a bit of reading, seems there's a lot of 'machine' work involved and they're very limited in number, so I guess some people will pay nearly anything for something rare enough...

Edited by marcosgt on Thursday 28th June 17:09

[andy_s]

bobbybee said:

Fur coat, no knickers

Sounds good to me...

[marcosgt]

andy_s said:

bobbybee said:

Fur coat, no knickers

Sounds good to me...

That expression always reminds me of :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKQIUJOr1GA

M.

[paul0843]

Big amount of money,off course... But if you earn big you need to spend big on any consumer items.
Money goes back into the economy... Imo what would be worse is just keeping money in the bank
thus preventing rest of us indirectly benefitting

[chris5150]

I think you will find many very knowledagble watch collectors actually do buy RM watches, yes many loaded celebs do as well, same with anything from ferraris to airplanes, always a split between enthusiasts and those that just want one due to the bragging rights.
Do your research before you start slagging with half cocked comments..eta movements???..total rubbish. Eye watering prices, yes agreed that part...same old story, earn your money make your choices.
Plenty of watches out there in £100k + price bands, and you know what they sell loads. Its not just RM's ..£68k is a 'cheap' one!!...whats the value?...thats an individuals choice isnt it, maybe a good investment maybe not. My 1985 rolex daytona cost me £700, worth £25k today, not laughing at that one.
Is a ferrari 458 fully loaded worth £250k?...you can get a car for £5k...as i say earn your money, spedn it how you like, previous post is spot on, spend it spend it spend it..keep the economy going. THe most miserable uninteresting people in the world are the type theat bemoan spending any extra on anything at all, and think everybody that does is stupid, everything in the world is wrong,whilst they sit there with loads in the bank like scrooge,go on the internet and make half assed comments about things they know nothing about... dull and boring...too many of them in the UK I am afraid

Edited by chris5150 on Friday 29th June 08:33

Edited by chris5150 on Friday 29th June 08:34

[andy_s]

chris5150 said:

I think you will find many very knowledagble watch collectors actually do buy RM watches, yes many loaded celebs do as well, same with anything from ferraris to airplanes, always a split between enthusiasts and those that just want one due to the bragging rights.
Do your research before you start slagging with half cocked comments..eta movements???..total rubbish. Eye watering prices, yes agreed that part...same old story, earn your money make your choices.
Plenty of watches out there in £100k + price bands, and you know what they sell loads. Its not just RM's ..£68k is a 'cheap' one!!...whats the value?...thats an individuals choice isnt it, maybe a good investment maybe not. My 1985 rolex daytona cost me £700, worth £25k today, not laughing at that one.
Is a ferrari 458 fully loaded worth £250k?...you can get a car for £5k...as i say earn your money, spedn it how you like, previous post is spot on, spend it spend it spend it..keep the economy going. THe most miserable uninteresting people in the world are the type theat bemoan spending any extra on anything at all, and think everybody that does is stupid, everything in the world is wrong,whilst they sit there with loads in the bank like scrooge,go on the internet and make half assed comments about things they know nothing about... dull and boring...too many of them in the UK I am afraid

I thought you'd wade in a some stage Chris...

All talk of cost is purely relative. All talk of value is subjective based on perception and product. You are free to spend your money how you like, and there are far worse things to spend it on. The price Chris will pay for a watch and the price I will pay for a watch that probably brings us equal enjoyment is purely a matter of scale.

Before shooting down RM (or anyone else), you need to research and appreciate - some watch brands I do feel are a 'rip-off', but all of them do what all business' do and charge what the market will bear in their segment. As Chris says, this is not confined to the world of watches, which, lest anyone forget, are a luxury item once you go above a fiver.

Good luck to you Chris, and long may you continue to show us your very uncommon and interesting watches with your obvious enthusiasm, and ditto to the G-Shock guys, the Seiko-ista and any other enthusiast; wherever you are on the scale.

[tr7v8]

They must sell a few as they sponsor Le Mans Classic!