So, this RM35 Richard Mille. Everyone’s always yapping about it, right? You see it on the wrists of folks who look like they bathe in money. Instagram’s full of ‘em. Always struck me as more of a statement than a timepiece, if you catch my drift. Like, are you buying it to tell time, or to tell everyone else you’ve made it? Most times, I lean towards the latter.
I wasn’t always this cynical, mind you. I got curious. Not ‘sell-my-house’ curious, but curious enough to want to understand the hype. You hear the prices, the tech talk, the limited editions, and you wonder, what’s really there? Is it all just smoke and mirrors for the super-rich?
My little investigation, if you can call it that, didn’t involve walking into one of those fancy boutiques. Nah, not my scene. I’d probably get escorted out for breathing too loudly. Instead, it was more about just… observing. And then, I had this one encounter. That’s what really shaped my view on these things.
There was this industry event I went to. Not watches, something totally different. Pretty low-key. And I saw this guy, older fella, kinda dressed down, nothing flashy. But then, bam. On his wrist. An RM35. Clear as day. It almost didn’t fit his whole vibe, you know? So, I had to ask. Not about the price, God no. I just sort of nodded at it, said something like, “That’s quite the piece.”
And you know what? He didn’t puff up his chest. He actually chuckled. Told me he’d been into watch mechanics his whole life. Saved up for this one for ages. Not because it was an RM, but because he genuinely geeked out over the specific movement, the materials, the engineering. He started explaining the barrel torque and the baseplate rigidity. Stuff that went way over my head, to be honest. But his passion? That was real. He barely mentioned the brand name. He was talking about it like a craftsman talking about his favorite tool.
He even said, “Most people who buy these just want the logo. They don’t even know what’s inside.” And that just clicked for me. It wasn’t about the watch itself being bad, or the tech not being impressive. It was about the circus around it. This guy, he was like finding a diamond in a pile of… well, you know. He loved the watch, not the status it screamed.
So, what’s my takeaway on the RM35? It’s complicated, I guess. The tech is probably amazing, for those who care. But mostly, it feels like it’s become this symbol for a certain kind of wealth, a certain kind of person. And that overshadows everything else. That one guy, he showed me there can be genuine appreciation behind it. But man, I think he’s the exception, not the rule. Most of the time, when I see an RM35 now, I still think it’s more about the show. But I also remember that quiet fella, and I wonder, just for a second, if there’s more to that particular story.
It’s like, these things get so hyped up, so tied to this image of crazy money, that you forget there might be actual craft involved. Or that someone, somewhere, might appreciate it for reasons that aren’t just about showing off. Still, it’s a tiny sliver of reality in a whole mountain of bling. That’s my two cents on it, from what I’ve seen and who I’ve talked to. It’s not about owning one, it’s about what owning one means to people. And most of the time, it means “look at me.”
