Hodinkee
Interview: Richard Mille Looks Back On The Meteoric Rise Of His Brand
"I was convinced from the start that this was going to be an extraordinary adventure."
731 articles · 123 videos found · page 13 of 29
Hodinkee
"I was convinced from the start that this was going to be an extraordinary adventure."
Hodinkee
Lighter, lighter, lightest – and a technical first.
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Just a casual weekend watch.
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Celebrating 10 years of ultra-light partnership.
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Cermet time again.
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Big, light, and brash. I kinda love it.
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Missed the RM 033 in 2011? You're in luck.
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Forget Odell Beckham Jr. and camouflage compass watches with hydration tables, it is all about this wild new RM.
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Formula One's Iceman gets an equally cool and complicated RM to call his own.
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Wearing a watch to practice was one thing; a game is quite another.
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Three brothers, three killer watches, and one big award.
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Nineteen (ish) grams of carbon nanotube cool.
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And yeah, he wore it on the field.
SJX Watches
Greubel Forsey’s Balancier Convexe S² recently took its final bow, making way for the ‘baby blue’ edition of the Balancier 3. Positioned as the brand’s entry level model now that production of the the dressier Balancier Contemporain has concluded, the Balancier 3 is a 22-piece limited edition that introduces a novel finishing technique for the Y-shaped titanium bridge that transverses the dial. Initial thoughts For fans of sport watches who thought the end of the Convexe S² might be a signal that Greubel Forsey is backing away from its Convexe collection, the launch of a new - albeit limited - series of the Balancier 3 is welcome. The brand’s sporty case format debuted shortly before controversial tenure of former CEO Antonio Calce, who seemed to see the Convexe case as a vehicle for rapid growth akin to that of Richard Mille. But his efforts at scaling production ran into the immutable limits of hand craftsmanship. His ouster was followed by something of a return to form for one of the leading lights of La Chaux-de-Fonds, which subsequently backed away from some of the more simplified watches launched under Mr Calce. The Balancier 3 manages the difficult task of being a casual watch built with utmost dignity. While this is technically the brand’s entry level watch, and a sport watch at that, it is finished more thoroughly and to a higher level than most grand complications from the great houses of Geneva. If we’re splitting hairs - and at this price ...
Fratello
I vividly remember visiting the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), the predecessor of Watches and Wonders, in Geneva in 2010. Alongside Richard Mille, Richemont Group brands, and a few others, Audemars Piguet showcased its latest creations. That year, the Royal Oak Openworked ref. 15305 stood out to me. It was based on the […] Visit Introducing: New Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Openworked And Malachite-Dial Models to read the full article.
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SJX Watches
Having last exhibited in Geneva six years ago, Audemars Piguet (AP) will return next year as an exhibitor at Watches & Wonders 2026 (WWG). The brand had departed the predecessor of WWG, Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), in 2019 along with Richard Mille, opting instead to launch the latest products at its own events. AP’s return to the exhibition reflects the importance of WWG as the most important trade fair on the horological calendar. It also underlines the importance of exhibiting alongside respected peers. The central hall at WWG 2025 Alongside AP, another ten brands will be showing at the event, ranging from clockmaker L’Epée 1839 to Chinese watchmaker Behrens, as well as Credor (the sister brand of current exhibitor Grand Seiko), and Favre Leuba, a recently rebooted historical name. This brings the total exhibitor tally to 66, a number that includes giants like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chanel, and Cartier. WWG will take place April 14-20, 2026, at Palexpo.
Teddy Baldassarre
If you’re new to your appreciation of fine watches, you have undoubtedly read a lot of references to and heard a lot of opinions about watches’ bezels. It is somewhat of an esoteric term but it describes something very simple and essential. The bezel is the front part of the case (often but not always ring-shaped) that frames the dial and secures the crystal. Bezels can be made of the same material as the case middle and/or the caseback, but can also be made of a different material. Here we run down the various types of watch bezels you’re likely to encounter. Polygons and Exposed Screws Watch cases, of course, are not uniformly round, which means that bezels, the front-facing parts of those cases, can also be found in a variety of shapes - sharply squared or rectangular, like the Cartier Tank and Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso (above); softy cushion-shaped, like the Panerai Luminor and Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921; oval-shaped, like the Breguet Reine de Naples and other luxury ladies’ models; tonneau (“barrel”-shaped), like the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang and many Richard Mille models; and a host of others that combine elements of these and other polygonal shapes. The shape that has proven to be the most popular and influential is the octagon: eight-sided bezels have proliferated ever since Audemars Piguet launched the Royal Oak (above) in 1972, and watchmakers have also dabbled in other unconventional shapes: the sharply faceted bezel of the Zeni...
Worn & Wound
Before there was MB&F;, before there was Richard Mille or Greubel Forsey or De Bethune, there was Vianney Halter. Alongside brands like Urwerk, Vianney Halter helped to reimagine what watches could look and feel like coming into the 21st century. Writing in 2025, it’s hard to think of a time when the weird and wonderful wasn’t a core part of watch collecting, and Vianney Halter deserves no small amount of praise for his role in bridging the gap between a more traditional interpretation of independent watchmaking and the wide-open world of watch design we now get to enjoy. Still, nearly three decades on from the release of his first watch in 1998 (the inimitable Antiqua Perpetual Calendar), Vianney Halter is still working, and his latest release, the Old Soul - designed and executed in collaboration with William Massena and Massena LAB - is a sterling reminder that the old master isn’t out of tricks just yet. Like Halter’s last collaboration, the Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Regulator, which was released around Thanksgiving last year, the Old Soul leans into Halter’s Steampunk sensibilities, but blends the unique aesthetic with Massena’s signature eye towards historic watch design. The resulting piece is something both classically beautiful and wholly contemporary. Cased in a sedate and handsome 42mm, 12mm thick steel case, the Old School by Vianney Halter and Massena LAB is powered by the Minerva calibre 17’22, a vintage pocket watch movement first introdu...
SJX Watches
Initially launched as a unique piece in a crystallized titanium case for Only Watch 2023, the TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph was then added to the catalog, most recently as a limited edition in ceramic. Now the model returns in its original crystallized titanium livery, accented in lime green. Under the hood is a high-beat Vaucher chronograph movement, also used by Parmigiani Fleurier and Richard Mille. The split-seconds is the flagship of the Monaco collection, impressive inside and out – with a price to match – but seemingly runs counter to the brand’s established direction of affordable sports watches. Initial Thoughts The latest iteration of the Monaco split-seconds is the best yet, price aside. The variants of the model released between the one-off for Only Watch and this felt incomplete without the crystallized titanium case. The material is visually and technically interesting, and its resemblance to forged carbon fits the automotive theme; lime green accents notwithstanding, it’s a good-looking watch. Image – TAG Heuer A rattrapante is a natural fit for an auto racing-focused brand like TAG Heuer, but the ambitious CHF145,000 price is confusing, given TAG Heuer’s efforts toward making the Swiss-made tourbillon affordable. The Monaco split-seconds itself is excellent – the movement especially so – but an affordable rattrapante would be more in line with the brand’s recent direction. While the base movement is shared with costlier Richar...
SJX Watches
Christie’s continues its spring season in Hong Kong with an unexpected single-owner trilogy – three separate collections of timepieces owned by one collection going on the block – The Chronicle, The Generations, and Stories in Time. The Generations collection will be sold on May 28, and focuses on sports watches from Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe. Slated to be sold on the same day, The Chronicle collection is more eclectic but focuses on traditionally styled watches. Thirdly, Stories in Time will hit the block on May 29, and features notable vintage Rolex watches – including a fine mid-century cloisonné Oyster – stunning Cartier clocks, and avant-garde creations by independents. One of the top lots in the sale is the Rolex Oyster ref. 6100 with a cloisonné enamel dial that is only now reemerging publicly after having last been sold in 1990 Concurrently, watches from The Legacy Collection, including rare watches from Richard Mille and gem-set Patek Philippe complications, will be on show from May 22 to 28 (though that are not part of the auction). We round up five fine and fascinating watches, and one clock from the upcoming sale. Online bidding and the catalogue for the May 28 sale and the May 29 sale, and the catalogue in PDF format for both sessions, are available on Christies.com. Lot 2277 – Seiko Credor Eichi I Unveiled in 2008, the Credor Eichi I was the second product of Seiko Epson’s elite Micro-Artist Studio, after the Credor Sonnerie of 2006....
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SJX Watches
If you want to own the world’s thinnest mechanical watch, the Konstantin Chaykin ThinKing, you’ll have to fight for it at The Geneva Watch Auction: XXI, which will see the first production example go under the hammer. The 1.65 mm stature of the ThinKing is even more impressive coming from a small Russian independent watchmaker, considering previous records were set by big Swiss brands ranging from Piaget to Richard Mille. Notably, this is not the first time a landmark release has been trusted to an auction that isn’t linked to a charity. The most famous example of this was the Patek Philippe Calibre 89 (ref. 989J) back in 1989 at Antiquorum’s thematic sale. The ThinKing will be sold in the first session of the auction, which starts on May 10, 2025, at 2 pm. The ThinKing in profile. Image – Phillips Mr Chaykin achieved the record-setting height with clever construction, including a “double balance wheel” system that places an intermediate wheel between the balance and escapement, allowing both to sit on the same plane. Another notable technical feature is a barrel that is open on both sides, and no thicker than the mainspring itself. And unlike most serially-produced Konstantin Chaykin watches, each ThinKing is made, finished, and assembled by Mr Chaykin himself. Wearability is enhanced by the bolt-on protective shroud in titanium christened “PalanKing”. This increases the height to 5.4 mm, but adds key-less setting and winding, and automatic winding by a...
Teddy Baldassarre
There have always been thin watches, and always watchmakers who have dedicated their craft to reduce the essentials of timekeeping, as well as other additional complications, into as slimmed down and wearable a package as humanly (and horologically) possible. Lately, however, as 21st century technological developments impact watchmaking as they have every other industry, it seems there are more exceptionally thin watches than ever before -some of them aimed at a customer simply seeking an elegantly understated and luxuriously lightweight timepiece for regular wear, others almost defiantly unobtainable to all but a few, but intended to boldly shatter records for both thinness and complexity. We offer some of both types in our roundup of ultra-thin watches below (which we're defining as 10mm thick or under, based on average watch sizes), in ascending order of case thickness, starting from the top with the current category record holders. Under 2mm Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari (1.75mm) In the world of high horology, Richard Mille has been pushing the envelope in the areas of materials, technologies, and (let’s face it) prices for quite some time. In 2022, the brand probably best known for making the watch that tennis champ Rafael Nadal wears to play in Grand Slams entered a new partnership with Ferrari, and the result was, to many watch enthusiasts’ surprise, the current record-holder for world’s thinnest watch. The RM UP-01 Ferrari is an almost unimaginable 1.7...
Fratello
After the first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Australia, Richard Mille and IWC scored 27 points, putting them in first and second place. “GP” is in fifth position with eight points scored by Lawrence Stroll and Fernando Alonso. But with 23 races to come, there’s still everything to play for. Formula 1 and watch brands […] Visit Introducing: The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Aston Martin F1 Edition In Green And Lime to read the full article.
SJX Watches
Christie’s has just announced Watches for ELA, a thematic auction of 11 watches, mostly one-of-a-kind, to benefit the European Leukodystrophy Association (ELA), which supports research into the disorder. The brands that have created watches for the sale include Bovet, Konstantin Chaykin, Girard-Perregaux, Swatch, and most crucially from a value perspective, Richard Mille. While Christie’s is best known for staging Only Watch, a biennial charity auction, the ELA auction is notable for being the brainchild of François-Henri Pinault, the chief executive of French luxury conglomerate Kering, which owns brands like Gucci and Balenciaga. Mr Pinault is on the board of ELA, while Christie’s is owned privately by the Pinault family. Each timepiece in the ELA auction is offered without reserve, with all proceeds going to ELA. The sale takes place on November 11, 2024 as part of Christie’s customary Rare Watches auction. The catalogue and online bidding will be available at end October. Richard Mille RM 65-01 Automatic Split-Seconds Chronograph Dark Yellow Quartz TPT The flagship offering in the sale, and the only watch with a six figure estimate, the RM 65-01 is one of the most complicated Richard Mille watches, the RM 65-01 is powered by a high-frequency, self-winding rattrapante chronograph movement made by Vaucher. This example is part of a 120-piece limited edition that’s the latest iteration of the RM 65-01. It sports yellow Quartz TPT carbon composite case and is th...
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A mere .05mm later, and the new Ultra supplants Richard Mille's 2022 efforts and also claims the record as world's thinnest chronometer-certified watch.
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