The Watch Collectors' Club runs regular events where we teach members a little about watches, watchmakers, watch

A club for everyone who likes watches.

Watching the Wimbledon tennis tournament, you might have noticed that Rafa Nadal, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, wears a watch whilst he plays matches. You’ll probably be surprised to learn that the watches that he wears cost well over half a million dollars each. Even for an incredibly wealthy athlete, that is a very expensive watch to be bashing around for many hours at a time. However, the watches he wears are designed to be worn in extreme circumstances. They are made by a brand called Richard Mille. Long-term readers of ours might remember the name from this article exploring unbreakable watches. This blog explores the brand in more detail.  

9 of the 10 largest Swiss watch companies by revenues is at least 100 years old. Richard Mille, the 7th largest Swiss watch company by revenue, is the exception. It was founded in 2001 by Richard Mille and Dominique Guenat. Both men had worked in the watch industry for most of their lives and the brand Richard Mille was established when the namesake turned 50. He wanted to create a brand that pushed watchmaking further than anyone else, with the sole aim of creating “the watch of his dreams”. 

What Makes Richard Mille Watches So Special? 

 There are thousands of watch brands, which makes it very difficult for a new brand to make something truly new. Richard Mille managed it with their first watch. They achieved this by doing something quite unusual. They paid almost no regard to the production cost of the watches they made. This meant that they could push the boundaries of watch design and micro-engineering to create watches that were totally unlike anything the watch industry had created before. They partnered with the highest-end suppliers and component manufacturers in Switzerland, and challenged them to create parts that were totally novel to the high-end Swiss market. 

When the RM001 watch was released in 2001, the watch industry took a collective gasp. The watch set the tone for Mille’s brand identity. A tonneau-shape case housed a partly see-through movement of the highest standard. The movement itself had a tourbillion (a movement that spins in a centrifuge to offset the effect of gravity on the movement) which for every other watch brand would only be put into delicate dress watches, due to the movement’s fragility and cost. No so for Richard Mille. This watch was designed to take anything you could throw at it. Every part of the design was there to improve the robustness of the watch, which meant that high-horology became wearable on an every-day basis for those with very deep pockets. And you needed (and still need) very deep pockets to purchase a Richard Mille watch. The first model, the RM001 Tourbillion cost approximately $150,000 upon release. 

Richard Mille has always been driven to make the most robust watches that money can buy. Whilst other brands are making sports watches out of steel, titanium or plastic, Richard Mille is working with materials right at the cutting edge of technology. They have pioneered the micro-engineering of materials such as NTPT carbon fibre, which is used on F1 cars, satellites and the sails of racing yachts, and ALUSiC which is used for thinks like brake pads. The manufacturing process for watch casing using these materials is fascinating and it is worth following those links to find out more about it. 

Richard Mille and The World’s Greatest Athletes

Whilst most brands add weight to their watches to add value, either through gold or complications, Mille does the total opposite. They try to make their watches as light as possible, whilst also making them as close to indestructible as possible. This suits high-performance athletes, such as the golfer Bubba Watson, who wore bracelets before Richard Mille made him a watch, the F1 driver Felippe Massa, who wasn’t allowed to wear a watch due to the added weight, and sprinter Yohan Blake, who found a regular watch was off-putting when he was racing. 

However, it is Rafa Nadal whose signature Richard Mille watches probably most accurately reflect the technical prowess of Richard Mille. Until they met in 2008, Nadal refused to wear watches, both on and off the court. Richard Mille convinced him to test a new light watch that he was designing, and together they developed the RM 027 – which would become the lightest tourbillon watch in the world at less than 20grams including the strap.

Over the next decade, the collaboration would continue to push the boundaries of what a high-performance , high-end, watch could be. For example, the RM27-04, which Nadal is wearing at the 2022 Wimbledon tournament weighs 30grams, which is about the same as two CDs (without packaging), and is capable of withstanding 12,000 g-force. The watch movement is held in place by four braided steel cables that are each 0.35mm in diameter.

Whilst you are watching this years’ Wimbledon tournament, take a look at Nadal’s watch. We are sure that like us, you’ll marvel at the engineering that has gone into creating something that can withstand the constant movement of one of the world’s greatest tennis players.   

If you are interested in learning more about the history of all of the Richard Mille models, it is an incredible story of constant technical achievement and an enjoyable read. The Watch Collectors' appreciates all the different watches that the industry has to offer, even those that we cannot afford. 

If you want to explore along with us, join our mailing list to hear about our online and in-person events, and follow us on Social Media.

Extreme Luxury Watches

Rafa Nadal and Richard Mille: A Match Made in Heaven 

There are many millions of watches out there that do only one thing. Tell the time. They have no date, no fancy features, they just tell the time. Their job is to do that reliably, accurately and safely. We call these time only watches.

Achieving this took a surprisingly large amount of innovation in the watch industry during the move from pocket watches to wristwatches in the early decades of the 20th century. It was not simply about making everything smaller; putting a mechanical device on the wrist exposed it to far more movement, dust, and water risk than when the watch was kept in a pocket. This meant that technology had to improve at a rapid pace and it hasn't stopped since. Accuracy and reliability in watchmaking remain the goal whether the watch costs $10 or $1 Million.

It is possible today to buy a reliable digital watch for only $10, and a reliable mechanical watch for around $40. You can also pay millions of dollars for a handmade watch that also only tells the time. Two of the most popular watches in the world, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual and the Patek Philippe Calatrava only tell the time and have long waiting lists. So how do high-end watchmakers sell their time-only watches for thousands of pounds, and why are some of them so famous?

Why are some time only watches so expensive?

The story of making watches more reliable and accurate is ongoing. Some big watch companies design and make their own mechanisms, so-called in-house movements, aiming to bring out new and improved mechanisms every decade or so. Some do it with great fanfare, such as Rolex, others do it more quietly, but the quest to make watches better continues. These brands see technological development as a core part of their offer to customers.

Continued innovation in high-end watchmaking leads to higher accuracy and reliability, and most notably in recent years, a much longer service interval. Watch companies used to recommend a mechanical watch be serviced every 2 or 3 years, but now regularly offer 5 or 7 years guarantees on a movement and expect no service need until then. This is a massive benefit to the wearer and has come about thanks to huge amounts of research and development. These improvements cost money.

The watch world is still dominated by brands made in Switzerland and Japan. Both of these companies have a very high cost of living, and thus the employees of watch manufacturers and their suppliers based in these companies are very well paid by global standards. Similarly, the costs to manufacture are much higher than in other parts of the world. For customers who want their watch to be Swiss or Japanese-made, they have to pay these higher costs.

Finally, some watch companies hand adjust and hand finish their movements. This is incredibly labour intensive, and this labour is expensive, wherever it is done. The more hand-crafted a watch is, the more expensive it will be. 

Why are some mechanical watches so cheap?

There is a very simple answer to this: Asian Manufacturing. The excellent progress of simplifying movement design made by the Japanese over the course of the 20th century was then added to the sheer scale and quality of Chinese high-volume manufacturing. Citizen Watch Group make many of their low-end movements in China, and Seiko make many of theirs in Malaysia, but using Chinese-made parts. 

This enables simple movements, including time only movements, to be made at very very low cost as they make tens of millions of them. The same is true of quartz and digital watches.

However, these movements are not particularly accurate, and can often break. They are accurate to around 45 seconds variance per day, which over a week can lead your watch to be 5 or more minutes out. When they do break it is often not worth the cost of a service to fix them, they are usually replaced entirely by the watchmaker.

The good news is that the availability of these movements, plus ones made by Chinese manufacturers, has enabled the creation of a huge number of new Microbrands, allowing enthusiasts and entrepreneurs to start their own watch brands for very small amounts of money. We wrote a whole series of articles on Microbrands last year, and we love seeing what new ideas people dream up. Low cost movements allow this, without taking anything away from the higher-priced movements sold by other watch brands.

In 1927 Rolex introduced the first wristwatch to be a proper "hit". The Rolex Oyster was the first waterproof watch to hit the big time, with the Rolex brand and watch name marketed widely, something still unusual for watches at the time. They even put the watch in fish tanks in jewellery store windows to prove its claims! In 1932 Rolex added the Perpetual automatic, or self-winding movement, and this watch was even more successful. The watch has been so successful they still sell it today, 95 years later. The current version is powered by the Rolex Reference 3230 movement, which is the culmination of a century of improvements, with the latest version having no fewer than 91% new parts compared to the previous one when it was introduced this year.

The Patek Philippe Calatrava is the simplest watch in the Patek range, and for a firm most famous for complicated timepieces with many functions, it is still a very popular watch. Its simple design was influenced by the German Bauhaus design movement in the early 20th century. In 1952 it was given a revolutionary new automatic movement, and it has featured one ever since. The relaunch of the watch in the 1980s saw it given the name Calatrava, which it has retained ever since. Remarkably, this name is now so iconic that some people are referring to time-only watches from other brands as "Calatravas", despite it being a Patek Philippe brand name.

There are many more iconic time-only watches from the great Swiss and Japanese brands, such as the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso, and the Credor range made by Grand Seiko. They are often priced as true luxury watches, even if they don't have the most complex functions or movements, they are well regarded by collectors and very reliable for their owners.

The fact that time-only watches are the most numerous available means there are many very reasonably priced vintage watches available. This is often a great place to start if you like a watch brand but cannot afford its current range. You can buy incredibly high-quality watches for relatively little money, so long as you are very careful. See our guide to buying vintage watches for more details about how to get started.

There are so many watches in the world with interesting functions, fancy complications and crazy designs that it is easy to overlook the fantastic range of time-only watches on the market, from the youngest Microbrand to the most prestigious high-end Independent watchmaker. They are also the most accessible way to buy the big brands, whatever the price point. We at The Watch Collectors' Club don't have a favourite time-only watch but we see many in our members' collections. We hope you will join us to explore this part of the watch world. Please follow us on social media and make sure you are on our mailing list so you don't miss out on any of our events.

Why are some time-olny watches so expensive?

Exploring Time-only Watches

We explore the range of watches that simply tell the time.

Why are some time-only watches so expensive?

We're already half way through 2022 and it's been a great year so far building momentum for The Watch Collectors' Club! We've held 12 Events, with more planned this Sunday (details here) and in July. Last Tuesday we had our general Meetup in London, and it was a fantastic success, with a great mix of watches and people from different backgrounds. When watch lovers come together it's really easy to have a good time, and we keep proving it! 

It's the biggest brand in the world and there are a lot of them, but it's always lovely to see some Rolexes. No fewer than 8 were brought along on Tuesday! There were both new and vintage models, and it was especially nice to see the two Explorer models side by side. There are definitely two of the more subtle watches in the Rolex range. With their distinctive dials and tough construction, they are great daily wearers.

On the vintage side, there were some fascinating Elgin Drivers watches, which have hinged lugs to allow you to wear it on the side of the wrist while your hands remain on the wheel. I'd never seen or heard of these before, and they are a great example of the idea that you'll almost always learn something new at a meetup. It's one of the most fun things about them.

Finally, we had a nice range of High Quality Swiss and Japanese timepieces, some rarer than others, but all remarkable to see in person! Let's hope future meetups are as blessed. If you have something you're proud of and would like to share, please do come along.

Our audience and following continue to grow, and we will hold at least one online and in-person event every month from now on. If you have any event ideas you'd like to see us create, please let us know. In the meantime keep an eye out for our event promotion on our events page. 

We are building our educational resources and hope to launch our Club Membership towards the end of the year. If there's anything you think we should cover then do let us know! What do you most want to learn about? 

We are currently hiring interns, so if you want to intern with us or know anyone who likes watches and might jump at the chance to intern for a startup (paid, of course!), please send them our way.

As part of our ongoing development, we have changed our website domain and will change our email address after this week. So please update your safe senders, as all future Blog Posts and event communications will come from: join@thewatchcollectorsclub.com

Thanks for following us and please do give us any feedback about what you'd like to see us cover, any event ideas you have, and if you like what we're doing, tell anyone else you know who likes watches. The bigger this community, the more events we can run, and the more fun we will have.

June Meetup HIghlights and Watch Collectors Club Plans for the summer

A selection of fantastic watches from our Meetup earlier this week.

We are delighted to announce our next virtual event, and we are starting by keeping it simple. It's on Sunday 24th July, at 7:30pm BST

You bring the watches, we will host the discussion. Here’s how it will work:

    The Watch Collectors’ Club exists to bring people together to explore, learn and share the world of watches.

    1.) Send us a pic or pics of a Watch from one of the largest watch groups. It can be any brand as in the photo.

    4.) Each person will get two minutes to introduce the watch, what it means to them, and what they like about it

    5.) If people want to discuss it, we discuss it

    6.) We all learn a little, and see some great watches.

That’s it. A stress-free way to learn what’s out there, and hear why people wear what they wear. If you don’t want to participate, that’s fine, you can just listen in. It’s a showcase and a get together. We will be kind, considerate, and interested. We ask you be the same.

Join us on Zoom for a wider reaning chat about watches.

join us online for a wide ranging chat about watches

WCC July Virtual Showcase 2022

Our next General Meetup will be on July 12th from 6:30pm in Central London, and we will release the details early in the week of the event. It will be a relaxed evening in a private space where you can come and share your passion for watches with like-minded people. We will give two short talks to help you learn more about this fascinating space, and there will be refreshments available.

Everyone is welcome, whether you have been collecting for years or are just getting started. We are creating a place to share knowledge and help each other out, and you don't even need to own a watch.

We assure you that the venue will be COVID-compliant, and there will be plenty of sanitiser available.  Please register using the link and if you have any friends how might like to come, also ask them to register in advance.

Join us to share your watch stories and explore the watch world.

watch meetup in central London July 2022 for watch collectors

WCC July in-person Meetup

Join us on Sunday June 19th at 7:30PM UK Time, for an engaging and interactive exploration of Patek Philippe. You'll hear about the 4 men who have made it the company is today, 4 of the most important watches from the last 100 years, and learn about the 4 little numbers that denote a Patek Philippe reference, and hence the name collectors use to talk about them. We promise a short, exciting, and of course interactive experience, where you'll learn a lot more about one of the world's most famous watch companies. It's free, and it's on Zoom, and everyone is welcome. Please register using the link below.

Club Plans

Make the watch world simple