RICHARD MILLE - New strategy
#wtsihh | Richard Mille is taking a new direction consisting of a wider range of products, but fewer of each. The new timepieces shown at the SIHH – including the RM 056 with a case made entirely from sapphire – supports this new strategy.
HH Magazine de la Haute Horlogerie - 25 January 2012
Michel Jeannot / BIPH
RM 037 watch equipped with the new automatic caliber CRMA1 © Richard Mille
The many new products which the brand showed at the 2012 SIHH are due not just to the fact that Richard Mille and his teams have an abundant imagination, but to the brand's new strategy. A niche brand must make itself scarce: in order to maintain this rarity and increase volumes at the same time, Richard Mille is banking on even shorter series and a bigger collection. "The aim is to extend the collection with products that cover the entire spectrum. By decreasing volume per model while increasing the number of references, I increase overall volume and maintain rarity at the same time. It makes no economic sense, but it's the road we've decided to take. For example, I'm cutting back production of my best-seller, the RM 011, from 600 units last year to just 400 units this year."
