Watch, Richard Mille RM 07-01 Automatic Ladies Jade Limited Edition with White Ceramic and White Gold Open Link Bracelet.
It’s an exciting time to be a woman in Saudi Arabia. In the past year alone, the Kingdom has welcomed women into sports stadiums for the first time and declared they no longer need to wear abayas or get permission from male guardians to travel, seek education, medical services, or work. Just last month, Saudi Arabia hosted its first-ever (women’s only) fashion week, spurred by the changes sweeping the nation.
The most monumental cultural shift in the Kingdom, however, is the lifting of the decades-long driving ban, which prohibited women from getting behind the wheel. Last September, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud officially issued a historic royal decree that will allow women to legally drive by June 24. Shortly thereafter, ride service apps Uber and Careem announced they will start recruiting women drivers in Saudi Arabia; meanwhile, a number of all-women’s car showrooms for a brand-new fleet of drivers began popping up across the Kingdom. The ground-breaking move signaled a remarkable victory for Saudi women, particularly activists who have been campaigning for the overturn of the ban since the 1990s. For the first time in the country’s history, women are receiving the same rights as men. And it’s about time.
Watch, Richard Mille RM 017 Tourbillion in Red Gold with Princess Cut Diamonds.
It’s women such as the free and empowered Saudi Arabians who serve as the muses for Richard Mille‘s luxe collection of ladies’ timepieces. (The brand was even the first to support the aforementioned first-ever Arab Fashion Week, held in Riyadh earlier this year).
Using modern technology combined with high-tech materials such as TPT Carbon, the Swiss watchmaker’s namesake timepieces are revered by celebrities such as Margot Robbie and Michelle Yeoh. Though the brand is typically associated with hyper-masculinity, the label’s ladies’ watch line, which debuted in 2005, features a range of technical and innovative timepieces that encapsulate the free spirit of an empowered woman.
Watch, Richard Mille RM 07-01 Automatic Ladies with Gem-Set Carbon TPT®.
Committing to a female clientele is imperative to the brand, which sponsors the women-only automobile race Rallye des Princesses. Jewel-encrusted, mechanical timepieces come in the same tonneau-shape case as the men’s watches, but are tailored to fit a female’s wrist as women deserve striking and cutting-edge watches, too. In fact, Richard Mille even dubbed 2014 as the “year of the woman”.
Featuring a range of high-octane timepieces that blend both fashion and function, the collection comprises a number of distinct styles such as the RM 07-01, a sleek, supremely elegant piece crafted with a refined touch of diamonds, the RM 017 Tourbillon, featuring the brand’s first and only rectangular case, and the RM 51-02 Tourbillon Diamond Twister, a jewel-encrusted watch which resembles a swirling, shimmering galaxy in its structure.
Available in 18 karat red or white gold and surrounded by precious gems such as diamond, onyx, pearl, and jasper, Richard Mille’s designs are an ideal companion for a woman on her journey to a brighter future. Because if 2014 was the year of the woman, then 2018 is undoubtedly the year of the Saudi woman.
Richard Mille boutiques can be found in Riyadh and Jeddah, and around the region in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, and Istanbul.
Watch, Richard Mille RM 07-01 Automatic Ladies with Red Gold Medium Set Case and Red Gold Bracelet.
Photographed by Mann for Vogue Arabia, June 2018.
Timepieces supplied by Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons.
