Richard Mille

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All Elliptical Curves are Modulicious! Manufacturing the Richard Mille Case.

While a simple beguiling curve to the outside, the Richard Mille case shape is complex for a number of reasons. A great deal is made of other cases, from other watch firms, but as this article will hopefully explain, the complexity of the Richard Mille case is in the required exactness and finish for three separately machined parts to function as a completed whole.





In particular, the curvature on three separate parts of the case, the necessary lugs (to which the movement will be mounted and bolted within the case), and the fitting of curved crystals front and back. In parts on the watchmakers bench: the front and back bezels:



And the caseband (middle section) that holds the movement and dials:



The Richard Mille tonneau curved case shape represents one of the more complex to be found in the watch making industry. The case is definitely a 21st Century case design, inception and execution. The complexity and exactness in the case finish applies to all Richard Mille watches, from the lowest to the highest, small to large, from 007 to 008!

From the beginning, perhaps more than any other element, the shape and design of the case has defined the look of the Richard Mille watch and made it instantly recognizable. In only a short 5 years, from the advent of the RM001, the Richard Mille case has become a design icon. Not to mention perhaps the most comfortable case to ever be strapped onto your wrist. The curvature of the edges and their perfect shine that define the case shape, contrast with the brushed surfaces that define the depth of the finish.

The case is alluring, tactile, and ultimately beguiling, and before you know it, you have become yet the latest willing victim to succumb to its pleasures. In a glaze, you nod at the sales person, ?Ill take it!? And depart all the happier. As the case captures you at first glance, the movement and mechanism will pull you in further, and then all you can think about is your next Richard Mille watch.

The case is a reflection of Richard Mille?s love of technique (especially from the racing and aviation fields ? see http://www.thepurists.com/watch/features/interviews/MilleApr02/index.html). The curvature hugs your wrist and the watch becomes one with your arm. This feeling of ?one-ness? with your Richard Mille comes from a case that requires luxorious metal combined with exquisite finishing, to an exacting standard. A significant proportion of the cost of the Richard Mille watch comes from the manufacture of the case. The case construction, its feel and function (as part of a coherent watch design), is as important as the movement.

Creating the complex cases has always been entrusted to one of Switzerland?s top case makers: Donz? Baume. Don?t worry if you have not heard of them, their success is typical of the understated Swiss manner, and their list of clients contains nearly all of the high-end Swiss and German brands. They are case makers ?par excellence?.

The Richard Mille case is basically composed of three elements. The front bezel, the caseband (holding the movement, crown and pushers), and the back bezel. All three have to be manufactured to fit perfectly together so that when bolted into a single form there is not a sliver of space in between each part to let in either dust or moisture to damage the precious movement. The fit must be exact. The tolerances are tested to ensure exactness. Without doubt the case is one of the more complex and any case shape away from the round example (such as the tonneau) presents problems as the forces acting on the case (in depth rating) are not uniform throughout.

So, the question we seek to understand is, how do we go from this:



To this:



?

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