I love watches.  I love the traditional movements perfected over the last three centuries.  However my eyes are always scanning for completely new ways that time is displayed.  Richard Mille is a perfect example of futuristic movements.  His watches are so … mechanical.  He is a watch manufacturer of the new millennium.  After several years of intense technical design development, he presented his RM-001-1 privately.  Very soon his watches were synonymous with extreme cutting edge and high tech concepts.  The technological concepts  and materials of the RM-001-1 tourbillon and its many high tech successors were inspired by the Formula 1 racing car.  In the first model Richard Mille had a no nonsense, no superfluous frills ideal of a Timepiece.  Richard Mille is passionate about Formula 1 and the tremendous technological power that drives it, he extended that power and passion to his watches. Whether watch or Formula 1 car, both are a symbiotic workings of high performance parts which must fulfill their function with a large margin of security and resistance to shocks and stress. So that in both cases perfection is reached thus ensuring the optimum performance results even under duress. Each and every part is individually developed and no standard parts will be found in a Richard Mille high performance time-piece.

Richard Mille has developed its own unique approach to watch-making thereby increasing its strength in the highly competitive watch-making industry.   Many watch manufacturers order standard parts from mass suppliers to build a watch and many reinvent old watch concepts from previous models.  Richard Mille is a young company and thus has compltely fresh ideas, in addition no parts come standard and every part down to the last screw is designed with precise dimensions.  Each piece has an individual requirement which will be crafted to the minutest detail.  Richard Mille requires of its watchmakers many years of specialized watchmaking experience, materials are chosen with care.

The drive to create the image of perfection is displayed with incredible clarity  in every Richard Mille Watch.

The watch above is one of Richard Mille’s latest: The RM 016.  It has the same movement as the RM 010, with a baseplate, bridges and balance cock of PVD-coated titanium.  This watch has an astounding 55 hours of power reserve and its rotor is fitted with ceramic rotor ball bearings.

This is the back of the RM 007, those strange round things are actually 100 microballs  of gold.  These microballs are placed in a rotor weight fitted on a red-gold rotor. The balls allow for better shock absorption and more efficient winding, and it provides an interesting topic of conversation.

The RM007 is available from simple elegant precious metals, to completely covered in diamonds  or diamonds and other precious gems in various colors and designs.

This is the RM012 Tourbillon with its unique tubular baseplate and bridge construction for a watch made with Phinox - chosen for its resistance to corrosion and fatigue as well as thermal and mechanical shocks. It has a power reserve of 48 hours, variable inertia balance with overcoil, platinum adjustment screws with blue movement jewels.  It is the first watch crafted with going train wheels made of Anticorodal aluminum.

Richard Mille has many firsts in the watchmaking industry which just goes to show his  incredible ability to blend old-world watchmaking traditions with futuristic materials and high-end technology for performance watches.

Ebel Beluga’s newest addition, The Cavier Watch is quite aptly named. The entire face is paved with exquisite hand selected black sapphire crystals and a  black leather strap.     At first glance, I had a sudden image of this watch in a crystal serving dish glittering underneath a low hanging chandelier; however the formidable presence of this watch had the tune from the famous shark movie “Jaws” thundering in my ears. 

The Beluga Cavier has a 38MM case, large for a women’s watch, but a watch meant to be noticed.  The dazzling bezel encircles the black dial creating a sharp contrast.   This watch is limited to only 10 pieces.   This watch is designed for individuals of incredible character and sophisticated style. 

Eleven years ago, in a small town of Fleurier, in Switzerland’s Val de Travers, a man who had a gift for watchmaking and a passion for restoring complicated vintage watches started a watch company. Eleven years later the company has exploded into a watch company of many factories, 400 employees and approximately 5000 complicated luxury watches, produced and delivered in 2007. The astronomical growth of the company has by no means lessoned the extreme detailed attention given to each and every timepiece. Parmigiani wants to grow and grow fast. They have increased sales by 43 percent from 2005 to 2006 and in Germany the growth has been 300 percent in that same time period. Parmigiani’s goal is the production of 10,000 watches per year by the year 2010. This highly organized goal orientated company will certainly achieve this feat. The company has discovered the way to utilize time to its fullest. You may think that Parmigiani, a Sandoz Foundation, has its head in the clouds.  The company does have its head in the clouds, but not  in the way you’d think. Parmigiani has sponsored hot-air-ballooning.

In 2007 Parmigiani marketed its new Chronograph collection - Kalpagraph to the younger market. This collection is straddling the line between a real sports watch and an elegant timepiece. The Kalpagraph incorporates the brands Kalpa line in its proportion adding a sensuality that can be worn by both men and women although the watch case is quite large. The watch collection is ergonomic and appealing to the younger generation. To help promote this line of watches, Parmigiani has taken a new ambassador, Bernard Stamm, a sailer who has sailed around the world three times in three years.The Kalpagraph Collection includes one version which is crafted in a rare precious metal known as palladium, a bright white element which Parmigiani first introduced to the watch world in 2005. Palledium is a member of the Platinum family; however it is slightly lighter, brighter, and less expensive.