The candy-inspired “Bonbon” watches that Richard Mille introduced at SIHH have definitely sparked a lot of conversation (and we should note that this attention may itself have been one of the main objectives of the company, in introducing these watches at SIHH.)

I heard an interesting assessment of these Richard Mille watches in a Hodinkee podcast covering SIHH. Here’s a link to that podcast; the RM discussion starts at around the 21:20 mark -- https://simplecast.com/s/2f406436?t=21m20s In this posting, I’ll summarize some of the points made by the Hodinkee crew, and also add some of my own thoughts at the end.

By way of background, Richard Mille has announced that the company will withdraw from SIHH, starting in 2020 (so that this 2019 show was their last SIHH). The Hodinkee guys made the point that RM is looking to the next chapter after SIHH, and that the Bonbon line of watches was a way to grab some attention, on the way out the door. And don’t worry – RM will be introducing some “serious” watches over the course of the year. [Of course, all this points to the revolution that has occurred in the way watches are being distributed, with the “omni-channel” approach replacing the usual dealers and distributors; thus, not much need for these annual trade shows.]

Looking at the Bonbon watches, the Hodinkee guys made the point that Richard Mille positions itself as being over-the-top, and is unapologetic about it. Many of their watches are “transgressive”, violating the usual norms and being offensive to many people. RM does things and makes watches that many people think they shouldn’t be doing or making (and the person wearing a Richard Mille watch may have the same outlook).

The Bonbon line also represents the idea that all fine watchmaking is by its nature self-indulgent, and that we all take it too seriously. Richard Mille is having fun, with the way they are perceived in the world of watchmaking. So putting candy on the dial of a bright, colorful watch is no more ridiculous than many of the fine (and expensive) complications that we see in other high-priced watches. The bottom line – traditional watchmaking can be humorless, serious enterprise. So hat’s off to a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

And for those who were wondering – the Bonbon watches are priced between $150,000 and $250,000.

Let me close with a well-known passage from F. Scott Fitzgerald:

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different.