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Richard Mille is an extremely expensive and well-known watch manufacturer. The Richard Mille brand is one of the most exclusive and instantly recognizable companies in the world. Their watches are made with very distinctive designs and shapes that nobody else dares to use.
In general, the brand is a lot like marmite, you either hate it or love it. There isn’t much in between, which creates a lot of hype and discussion around certain watches. There are some people who couldn’t be paid to wear a Richard Mille whereas others cannot get their hands on what they want, no matter how much money they have.
Overall, Richard Mille watches generally cost $80k – $100k at the very budget end of the range. At the higher ends of the Richard Mille collection, tourbillon watches can cost several million dollars. These watches are uniquely designed, have outstanding movements, and are often made with the highest quality materials and gemstones.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, it is difficult to buy a Richard Mille even if you have the money. If you are a global celebrity, then it should be easy enough to get your hands on a brand new Richard Mille. However, if you’re just a very wealthy individual, you’ll likely have to go to the grey market. Here you will likely pay a 10% premium over list price to get your hands on what you want.
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Are There Cheaper Alternatives To Richard Mille?
Yes, for a start there are other luxury brands such as Franck Muller who will make designs somewhat similar to Richard Mille. These watches are also made to an incredibly high standard but will cost you somewhere in the low to mid 5 figures – rather than 7 figure sums.
If you’re looking for budget alternatives to Richard Mille, these are also possible to find. There are many Chinese and American brands that have designed watches of a similar style. It should be noted that these watches are nowhere near the mechanical quality of an RM watch (as you would expect). Of course, they look similar, but the movements and materials are much cheaper. These are a good alternative for anyone looking to buy something that looks very similar to Richard Mille but doesn’t have a spare $1.5 million under their mattress.
Alternative budget choices for a Richard Mille watch can be found below and all cost well under $300. Richard Mille watches are obviously vastly superior in every way, but at least the designs are somewhat similar.
Why Do Richard Mille Watches Cost So Much?
There are 3 main reasons why Richard Mille watches cost so much. These are brand name, quality of the watch and scarcity.
Firstly the RM brand name is very well established. People know that the design is unique, the materials are high quality, the watch has been engineered to an extremely high standard, and that they are able to resell this watch for a very high price.
The brand of Richard Mille will often place their watches on the wrists of athletes and other celebrities such as Rafael Nadal and 21 Savage.This allows the watch to be sold and resold at very high prices. As long as the watches are popular amongst celebrities and the elites of society, the brand will continue to be popular.
Richard Mille watches are also limited edition. When the brand releases a design and says that there will only be 50 pieces produced, you know that this is true. RM will never lie or run any sales, promotional discounts or produce more pieces. If you have number 1/50 of a specific design. You know that this will never be repeated.
Best Richard Mille Alternative Budget Watches Under $300
Tsar Bomba
You might not be able to say the name of the brand – Tsar Bomba, but that doesn’t stop it from looking like a Richard Mille. Whilst this watch is not a clone, it does come the closest to the real thing for a very good price. Costing in the region of $200, the Tsar Bomba is as close as you will get to a Richard Mille in terms of direct look, but can be purchased for a fraction of the price.
Of course, automatic chronograph watches are extremely expensive to produce and maintain, which is why the Tsar Bomba uses a Seiko quartz movement. As Seiko are one of the most reputable watch manufacturers in the world, you know that you are in safe hands, despite buying a Chinese watch. This movement will simply not break and will only require a battery replacement every few years, rather than an expensive service.
One of the overlooked features of this watch is the effort and detail that has been put in to the rubber strap. This genuinely looks and feels like the real thing.
Overall, if you’re after an inexpensive Richard Mille variation – this is by far your best choice.
Ciga Design
Ciga Design is a Chinese brand, but this watch is surprisingly good. It’s not the budget end of RM-style watches, however, it is very solid. It has both sapphire crystal (scratch resistant) and a Seagull movement! If you’re not familiar with Seagull movements, they are really accurate and reliable. They are made in China, so will never be as good as Swiss movements, but for this price, it’s certainly not a bad deal at all.
If that wasn’t enough, this automatic watch also has a 40 hour power reserve. So even if you don’t wear your watch for a day, you won’t need to wind it or change the time, it will be exactly where it should be.
Check The Price Of Ciga Design Watches On Amazon
Asorock
As you can see, from a visual perspective, this watch is very similar to a genuine Richard Mille. Much like the other alternatives featured, this is a quartz chronograph with a classic design. Asorock is quite an unusual brand which has been created by both a Zambian and a Nigerian, which at the very least is unique compared to other watch brands.
Although this watch is more expensive than the Chinese equivalents, it is made to a higher specification. As the watch uses sapphire glass, it’s going to take quite a lot to scratch this compared to mineral glass which seems to pick up scratches extremely easily.
Check Price On Asorock Website
Reef Tiger
Imagine if 10 years ago, somebody had told you that there was a tourbillon watch for under $500. You probably would have laughed.
With the Reef Tiger tourbillon, you can have the last laugh as it is a tourbillon watch, for under $300. It has a distinct oversized case and month/year/date markers. Not only this but if you’re not too fond of the design, there are a lot of other tourbillon models available too. Some of which look like Richard Mille watches others which look not too dissimilar to a Graham Chronofighter. Either way, you can’t deny that getting a tourbillon for this price is absolutely outrageous!
Check The Price Of Reef Tiger Watches On Amazon
Stuhrling
If you’re looking for a Richard Mille alternative with a circular dial, then Stuhrling could be the brand for you. This particular watch has a large 47mm case and is capable of running two timezones at once (left subdial).
Its automatic movement will mean that you don’t have to wind it or ever worry about replacing batteries. It will simply run from the power of your wrist. This particular model has a moon phase indicator at the 12 o’clock position which is always a nice feature. If you are not a fan of rose gold watches, fear not. This model is also available in yellow gold and stainless steel.
Check The Price Of Stuhrling Watches On Amazon
BoFute
One of the cheapest Richard Mille skull watch alternatives you will fine. Obviously when buying this watch, you’re paying for the look more than anything else. It runs using a simple Japanese quartz movement, which is exactly what you would expect for a watch that costs around $50.
Available in 3 color schemes, there is not a whole lot to choose from in terms of variety, but then again there aren’t too many other brands making Richard Mille style skull watches.
You can’t really go wrong with a Japanese movement for this price, so the Bofute variation of Richard Mille is decent value for money.
Check The Price Of Bofute Watches On Amazon
Pintime
Pintime is one of the few brands which gets the closest to looking like a Richard Mille watch. In fact, if you were to glance at this watch in the street, you would be forgiven for thinking that it was actually a real Richard Mille.
However, that is where the similarity ends. This watch is battery powered (although you can’t see that) so can’t really be compared to any of the automatic watches. With that being said, it’s available in around 10 different color combinations and costs under $50.
There really isn’t any competition in terms of price. This is the cheapest alternative possible that you will find if you’re looking for a Richard Mille or something similar.
Check The Price Of PinTime Watches On Amazon
SKOne
SKOne are a Chinese brand that have attempted to make an alternative to the RM052, which is the Richard Mille skull tourbillon watch. This is arguably the most iconic RM watch and is well known to anyone who is familiar with the brand.
The watch uses a Japanese miyota quartz movment, which is nothing special, but certainly accurate enough. Overall there are not too many alternative choices to a Richard Mille skull watch, so this take on the RM052 is pretty much the best you will find.
It doesn’t look exactly like an RM052, but is far, far, far cheaper at under $50.
Check The Price Of SKOne Watches On Amazon
Ingersoll – The Challenger
An established band, Ingersoll was once a very American company. Although the brand is not quite what it once was, Ingersoll is still certainly a well respected watchmaker.
The case design on this watch is excellent, as Ingersoll have not cut any corners in order to curb expenses. The bi-metal finish with stainless steel and rose gold makes the watch look a lot more modern and less tacky than the colorful alternatives which have directly tried to imitate Richard Mille.
Lastly, the movement in this watch is Miyota. Whilst Miyota are not the best and most accurate maker of automatic movements. They are still very reliable and will not let you down. This watch is somewhat expensive given the specification, but has a great deal of design put in to it and is made by a very respectable brand.
Check The Price Of Ingersoll Watches On Amazon
Richard Mille Alternative Over $300
FEICE
FEICE watches cost between $500-$700, so are quite a bit more expensive than other RM substitutes. In all fairness to FEICE though, they have created the best alternative to Richard Mille for a great price.
The reason why this watch costs more than the others is because of its design. FEICE has managed to mimic the case shape and size to a high degree of accuracy. Secondly, this watch uses an NH05 movement which is a Japanese automatic made by Epson and regularly used in Seiko watches. These particular movements are workhorses and well known for their reliability, as well as accuracy.
Therefore, this watch does cost more money, but it won’t be a watch which breaks after 2 years. In theory, there is no real reason why a Seiko would last any longer than this watch. At pretty much the only mid-range alternative watch to Richard Mille on the market, this is a pretty good deal in terms of value for money.
Check The Price Of FEICE Watches On Amazon
Summary
In conclusion you will not be able to match Richard Mille in terms of design and complexity of movement. Richard Mille is a proprietary watchmaker and produce fantastic designs with unusual movements. This research and development costs a LOT of money – which is why Richard Mille watches cost so much.
In summary, alternative watches to Richard Mille are going to use considerably cheaper movement within their like-for-like tonneau shaped cases. This is not necessarily even a bad thing, since quartz movements are very cheap to maintain and will last for at least a decade before needing replacement.
