The difference between Richard Mille and every other watch manufacturer that works with brand ?ambassadors? can perhaps best be summed up in a visual from the sporting world of tennis. Picture a Grand Slam final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Federer?s left wrist is bare; his signature Rolex is hastily strapped on only in the event of victory, to hoist the trophy for the assembled legion of photographers. Nadal, on the other hand, is wearing his Richard Mille timepiece throughout the match, as he has throughout the tournament. The watch that he wears to kiss the trophy will be a watch that has been through the same gauntlet that Nadal himself has endured to win a championship.

Richard Mille RM-25-01 Adventure

Richard Mille, the founder and namesake of the watch brand, once stated that he makes ?extreme watches for extreme conditions,? and that the only condition he insists upon from an athlete before signing him or her to an endorsement deal is that the athlete must wear the watch while playing his or her sport ? the only such deal in the watch industry, as far as is known. It?s unsurprising when one considers the brand?s philosophy of creating time- pieces that are made to be worn and used ? in some cases, very hard used ? despite their often stratospheric price points. And some of the most exclusive and hard-to-get models come by that status not entirely through their materials, their limited numbers or even their use of traditional high-horology elements l...