Chapter 543 Richard Miller

In addition, Parmigiani Fleurier can also use Gucci-Hermès's channels for top consumers to expand the sales of its watches.

It can be said that all of this is the most beneficial ending for Parmigiani.

After spending a few days traveling with Beatrice in Switzerland, Barron finally decided on the acquisition of the Santos family's watchmaking industry.

The Gucci-Hermès Group will acquire the remaining 75% of the shares of the VMF movement factory from the Santos Foundation. In addition, it will also acquire 75% of the shares of Parmigiani Fleurier. The other 25% of the shares will still be in Parmigiani Fleurier. In the hands of founder Michel Parmigiani.

It has to be said that Barron's aristocratic status also played a certain role in achieving this acquisition. Just like his personal use of the Bentley Mulsanne sedan, many rich people became interested in this new Bentley flagship. , in the field of luxury goods, an old-money class like him with the blessing of "noble blood" can already play a leading role.

When Barron returned to London and prepared to participate in the annual "Guardian Day" event, Hadhra Payne, the senior vice president of the Gucci-Hermès Group in charge of acquiring and managing the watch business, also found another young company Watch brand - Richard Mille.

Richard Mille's popularity is still very high after more than ten years. When mentioning this brand, the first thing that many people may think of is "very expensive"!

Indeed, the watches under the Richard Mille brand are very expensive, with an average selling price of US$180,000, which is approximately 1.24 million Chinese dollars, and watches worth tens of millions of Chinese dollars are not uncommon - this is far more than Many people have traditional impressions of the price of high-end brands, such as Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, and A. Lange \u0026 Söhne.

Therefore it is also known as the "billionaire's ticket"...

In fact, Richard Mille, the founder of Richard Mille, himself does not know how to make or repair watches at all. His biggest connection with watches is that he worked at Seiko and a jewelry and watch store in France before he was 50 years old. , has been engaged in luxury goods marketing and management.

At the age of 50, that is, after he was over fifty, he came to create his own watch brand.

Years of experience in luxury goods marketing and management tell Richard Mille that many customers with huge purchasing power are no longer satisfied with buying traditional precious metal watches such as Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. They need "different" products.

At that time, the only ones that could be seen on the market were Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore, Frank Muller, etc.

But they are not "different" enough, not "out of the ordinary" enough!

Therefore, "being different" has become the foundation of the Richard Mille brand.

Having a highly recognizable exterior design is not enough. Richard Mille watches also need a strong enough inner "core".

In the beginning, Richard Mille's watches used movements produced by Audemars Piguet Renaud \u0026 Papi (APRP).

APRP was co-founded in 1986 by Dominique Renaud and Giulio Papi, former employees of Audemars Piguet. Its main focus is the design, development, and production of high-end complex movements, and does not produce finished watches.

The behind-the-scenes technology of many big brands comes from APRP. According to incomplete statistics, they include Audemars Piguet, Lange, IWC, Chanel, and Cartier.

APRP was originally called "RP", but in 1992, due to financial problems, Dominique Renaud and Giulio Papi sold most of their shares to Audemars Piguet, which was fully controlled by Audemars Piguet, thus changing its name to "APRP".

In 2001, after two years of preparation, research and development, design, and production, Richard Mille released the RM001, the first watch in the brand's history.

At that time, the tourbillon was not as "bad as the street" as it was later. With its unique barrel-shaped case, sapphire dial and other design elements, Richard Mille's watch became an instant hit as soon as it was launched.

The technical power behind their early watches came from APRP.

In fact, for a long time, what Richard Mille was able to produce independently was only exterior parts such as watch cases, and the core movement still needed to be outsourced.

In other words, after more than ten years of hard work since its establishment, Richard Mille finally became a company that can produce watch cases.

However, Audemars Piguet holds nearly 80% of APRP's shares. According to the contract between them, half of the high-end movements produced by APRP must be supplied to Audemars Piguet, and the other half can be taken out. As Audemars Piguet's biological son, APRP must give priority to satisfying Audemars Piguet. needs.

This is embarrassing for Richard Mille who has no R\u0026D capabilities at this time. After all, they are also in a competitive relationship with Audemars Piguet. Once Richard Mille's brand develops well, maybe One day we will no longer be able to take movements from APRP - or APRP will be clever and sell defective products to Richard Mille, delaying the delivery time...

This will definitely put Richard Mille in big trouble, so he still needs to plan ahead.

In the original time and space, just this year, in order to cooperate with APRP for a long time, Richard Mille almost sold 10% of their shares to Audemars Piguet and became Audemars Piguet. "Godson"...

Even further, some of Richard Mille's stores are also operated by Audemars Piguet.

But now, they have another option, which is the VMF movement that is about to be acquired by the Gucci-Hermès Group.

In fact, in the original time and space, Richard Mille later also used VMF movements. After all, even if they sold 10% of their shares, they knew that eggs cannot be put in one basket.

At that time, the three major buyers of VMF movements were Parmigiani Fleurier, Hermès and Richard Mille.

Now, before Richard Mille took the initiative to sell his shares to Audemars Piguet, Hadhra Payne, the senior vice president in charge of the watchmaking business of the Gucci-Hermès Group, approached Richard Mille and said that after acquiring VMF, they could provide Of course, the prerequisite for Richard Mille to provide stable supply is that the other party needs to "reasonably" transfer a part of its shares to them.

It can be said that the two parties hit it off immediately. After all, VMF itself produces top-notch movements, which are fully in line with Richard Mille's positioning, and the sales channels and customer groups of the Gucci-Hermès Group in the luxury goods industry are completely "Tailor-made" for Richard Mille.

It can be said that compared to Audemars Piguet, Gucci-Hermès Group is a more ideal "godfather" candidate for Richard Mille.

And who is the boss of Gucci-Hermès?

That is one of the richest people in the world with the noblest bloodline - His Royal Highness the Duke of Devonshire, who has a history of hundreds of years of top aristocracy in England!

If you can make this serious "proud man of heaven" wear a Richard Mille watch on a daily basis, your status will be firmly supported immediately. What else can be better than this? Advertisement?

Therefore, Richard Mille did not hesitate much and immediately agreed. They will sell 25% of their shares to the Gucci-Hermès Group at a low price, and the watches they will launch later will begin to use VMF movements.

But there is only one condition, and that is that His Royal Highness the Duke of Devonshire needs to wear Richard Mille watches in some public places.

In fact, a large part of Richard Mille's later success was due to its successful marketing. They sponsored many activities and invited the biggest celebrities to endorse Richard Mille's watches. The strong character is established.

It can be said that it is a dream for Richard Mille to have such an "endorsement" by such a top aristocrat and rich man.