Inside the Manufacture: Richard Mille’s Manufacturing Facilities In Les Breuleux

As silly as it sounds, a finished watch is the sum of over 500 work plans developed by designers and engineers, then processed into machining programs that specialists will shape using the latest generation CNC machines working in ultra-fine tolerances. At Valgine, multi-axis lathes and mills have been assembled in a dedicated room to meet all present and future needs. Operating at the task, these tools calibrated to the brand are perfectly suited to precision work to perform in small series. But if these bikes are perfectly optimized and able to read the computer sequences corresponding to a specific toolpath, the eye of the specialist is nevertheless essential for the perfect functioning of the whole. And it is not uncommon to see technicians edit a program on the keyboards of the machines to complete a cutting work and thus improve the finishes or correct the tolerances.
 

At Richard Mille, the machining of cases changes depending on the materials used. The production is quite large, but very far from that of traditional brands, it does not require the use of stamping, the conventional method of forming the cases for a production volume. Here, machining, wire cutting (electrical cutting see photo bellow), Jet cutting or forming composites with cooking under overpressure chamber, are the rule.
 

In some cases, scrap materials can be huge as some small parts are machined in the mass of an imposing metal bar.

 

It's a bias that depends on the material because it is ultimately what dictates its rules to ensure the best robustness to the finished product.
 

Then, these components are machined to the final dimensions and receive the holes. These operations are obviously controlled, and small imperfections and deburring are done by hand with a cutter.
 

It should be noted that the possibilities are endless at Richard Mille and it is necessary to have employees experienced in all tasks, able to adapt and observe depending on materials, and control defects.
 

And because it must also be able to adjust shades of materials together, the factory carries out a colored surface treatment of glasses and bezels with some versions with paintings ceramide that are ultra-resistant to scratches and temperatures that are usually used in in the automobile and weapons industry (motor lacquer-polyamide ceramide).
 

The finished case, ready for assembly and the caliber in spare parts remain to assemble before being finally associated with one another.
 

At each stage, many quality checks are carried out.
 

Once the cases have been mounted they check the water resistant and the perfect assembly of the elements constituting the movements these are gathered to be associated with each other.
 

Once placed in the middle, the functions of the movements are controlled, and the hands of the watch set. The sapphire glass is then placed, and the bottom screwed to the middle part.