Richard Mille RM 27-02 for Rafael Nadal

I’m not a fan of Richard Mille’s designs. To say the least. The fact that the Swiss watchmaker’s over-the-top timepieces like this Richard Mille RM 27-02 command mini-mansion money ($775k) leaves me in slack-jawed wonder. The fact that celebrities have taken to Mille’s diamond-dripping watches like a WWF wrestler to cocaine is less of a surprise -but a constant source of amusement. Bemusement? No watch snob me. I have to admit . . .

They’re well-made timepieces, using the latest high-tech materials. According to wikipedia.org:

Richard Mille teamed up with North Thin Ply Technology, the world leader in the production of lightweight pre-impregnated materials used in sailing and Formula 1, to produce the RM 27-02 Rafael Nadal in Carbon NTPT® and Quartz TPT®.

According to the wiki hive mind, the insanely great tennis legend Rafael Nadal is a Richard Mille “partner.” The $775k Richard Mille RM 27-02 was a co-production of some sort. As in “Hey Raffy! Wear this watch willya?”

So, do Mille’s “partners” pay full-retail for their watches? Do they pay anything at all? Do they even own them?

I suspect that Mssr. Mille lends famous folk a watch so both celebrity and watchmaker can bask in the glory of a mindless media going agog over Mille prices? Like this from dmarge.com: PHARRELL WILLIAMS’ $815,500 WATCH WAS THE REAL STAR OF CHANEL’S FASHION SHOW

How does one know they’ve made it?

Well here’s a fine example. There was a fancy Chanel fashion show in Paris overnight but eagle-eyed watch goers wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. What they would have noticed was a particular luxury timepiece wrapped around the wrist of Pharrell Williams – a Richard Mille RM 70-01 Tourbillon Alain Prost Watch which retails for an insane US$815,500 and is limited to just 30 pieces worldwide.

Yikes.

Yikes indeed. Folks, you can’t buy that kind of publicity. Or can you? I wonder if any of Richard Mille’s watches use smoked mirrors, ’cause I reckon a lot of their PR is smoke and mirrors. Just sayin’ . . .