The story of Richard Mille
- Dylan John
- Nov 25, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 29, 2021
Richard Mille…, the fleeting name that most watch enthusiasts have heard of, yet very little have ever seen nor will they other than in images online.
The eponymous watchmaking brand first saw life in 1999 when its founder decided to embark on his dream project. The former director of jewellery division at Mauboussin partnered with Dominique Guenat and co-founded the company. This decision guaranteed the knowledge and watchmaking “savoir-faire” dating back more than four generations in the Guenat family that would be paramount to the success of the company.
Three major forces drove Richard Mille, his burning passion for motorsports and racing cars, his want to develop a single product that would be the watch of his dreams and the ambition to create a new ultra-high-end segment within the already high-end luxury watch market.
The relatively young brand has made considerable waves in the high-end luxury since its first model, the Tourbillon RM 001, launched back in 2001. This brand has taken a different approach to traditional luxury watchmakers, luxury watches convey the idea of expensive, Richard Mille on the other hand has decided that expensive wasn’t enough. Forget expensive and try exorbitant, many of the watches carry a six-figure price tag and certain models can even rank in the millions. Like many luxury watches, these prices can be explained by a multitude of factors ranging from low quantities of production to extremely high product costs and incredibly large demand.
The brand hasn’t been around for long but has made a statement as an avant-garde watchmaker, undeniably it has become a symbol of elite status and wealth with phrases like “a billionaire’s handshake”. Furthermore, the company slogan “a racing machine on the wrist” says a lot about the innovative vision and intentions that the company aims to follow in the coming years to stay at the pinnacle of watchmaking.
(309 words)
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