Horologists in Kuwait (all 4 of you) will be interested to know that we’re finally getting a Richard Mille store. While in Salhiya recently I noticed a hoarding up for Richard Mille in place of where the Vertu store used to be located.
Vertu used to be a luxury mobile phone brand but the company shut down a couple of years ago so makes sense that they finally closed the local location as well. I don’t think I had ever seen a single customer inside the store, like ever.
Richard Mille on the other hand is a high end luxury watchmaker with their most affordable watch starting at around KD15,000 (give or take) and can hit a few hundred thousand dinars easily. I was lucky enough to see two Richard Mille models being put together when I visited watchmakers Renaud & Papi in Switzerland a few years ago. Good times.
26 replies on “Richard Mille Opening in Salhiya”
Hot take: A true horologist wouldn’t buy their overpriced abominations.
Of course they would because the movements are no joke, this isn’t Hublot. Giulio Papi is considered to be one of the 5 leading watchmakers of our time.
“watchmakers of our time” pun surely intended?
😅
Yea true, it was a kinda tongue in cheek comment
But still I can find similar if not better complication design and implementation in many many many other top brands without the inflated price and gaudy (I’m being nice here) looks
A true horologist would never buy this crap, they would purchase something from patek, vacheron or audemars (the trinity of watches), or some of the lesser known watch makers. Richard Mille, hoblot ect. were designed for stupid kids to compliment their ghastly Brabus or mansory cars while terrorising central London.
Yeah I’ll have to disagree with you plus it’s funny you mentioned AP because renaud & papi is their subsidiary
It is a watch supplier, not a brand, they create designs you ask them to.
Just to be clear by the term watch supplier here, we mean Renaud & Papi design and create custom movements for brands like AP and Richard Mille.
The Renaud & Papi division of AP work on AP’s most complicated movements. It’s a step up from the usual AP movements which are worked on in their facility in Le Brassus. Richard Mille is a new brand, but they contracted the best of the best to design their movements, and yes some of their designs are overboard but thats why they’re so great. They’re absurd.
A $700,000 watch that has a skull containing a tourbillon inside the mouth?
https://www.richardmille.com/en/collections/rm-052/
Or a $700,000 sports watch? https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertanaas/2018/06/14/nadal-wins-french-open-wearing-725000-richard-mille-watch/#1bee9ef4467a
Yes absurd shit but in a crazy good way.
A real world easy to understand comparison would be what AMG is to Mercedes, Renaud & Papi is for AP.
My beef with mille isn’t their absurd designs (each to their own), it’s just the absurd prices they put for being “unique”. A case which you perfectly highlight with the two examples above 🙂
I’m sorry but I just don’t share your view. If I purchase an expensive watch I expect the watchmaker to make it not some sub-contractor, R&p are owned by AP so it’s under their brand while Richard mille just told someone else to do the work. If I am honest with you I have more respect for R&P than AP and Richard Mille combined but they don’t sell their creations directly, so AP is the next best thing. I’m sorry to inform you that the only thing I saw from the link you sent me was that Richard Mille’s main selling point is price, I’ve seen much more complicated mechanisms in watches most people have never heard of, because they have specific clients. Try jaquet droz, de bethune or greubel forsey.
🤷🏼♂️
Stupid kids wear Patek, AP and Vacheron too. Makes sense when terrorising Courchevel or somewhere in the Alps right!
Got to flex you cookie.
Stupid wear Balanciaga and other stupid people wear savile row, you have to find the number of stupid customers over total customers to see which brand has a higher proportion of stupidity. No brand protects you from stupidity, not even oxford. Plus I prefer the alps over London, the stupid rich people end up at the bottom of a mountain either by not knowing how to drive or not knowing how to ski.
Alpine Darwinism: Survival of the fittest on the Alps
My day is made
Lol, I used to think I knew a bit about watches. After reading the above comments, just realised I know nothing.
Tag Heuer FTW….
It just comes down to taste .. patek , watchmakers watchmaker (GOAT) , lange , vacheron etc VS hot millenial garbage.
Does Salhiya still hold sway over Prestige at the Avenues? I imagined it was turning a bit flaky and knackered with age.
On a separate note, have often wondered how is it K-town is still lacking in a stand alone
Graf diamonds boutique. Thought Prestige IV would make for a perfect address for Graf to call its home in Kuwayt.
Since I don’t own a jewel studded timepiece myself I couldn’t say, for sure, just how difficult it can get when suddenly asked to give the time of day.
May be the horologists in our midst can respond to the latter.
I think salhia is alive and kicking, at least compared to Prestige.
I remember a Graff hoarding at the end of Salhiya next to the Marriott entrance… what happened?
So buying expensive watches makes me you a horologist…
ummm no thats not how it works
When I was little I would think a horologist is an
aficionado of horror films.
Mark: someday I hope you will do an entry on luxury pen and luxury writing material. Well yes, some of us still write letters and official correspondence the old fashioned way.
Never got into pens myself but my dad had a large collection of Mont Blanc pens which he ended up selling https://248am.com/mark/interesting/limited-edition-mont-blanc-pens/
is there a need for more horologists/watchmakers in kuwait? if i were to move there would i need to set up my own business or are there any established workshops