Richard Mille Watches at European Watch Co.

Richard Mille is an ultra-exclusive, ultra-high-end brand that started producing and selling watches just over 20 years ago. The annual output is extremely limited at roughly 4,000 pieces total. The scarcity and exclusivity of each model assures Richard Mille buyers of owning a virtually unique and highly desirable timepiece.

The brand was founded in 1999 by Richard Mille and his partner Dominique Guenat with the backing of Audemars Piguet and its development company Renaud et Papi. The brand’s stated mission is to push watchmaking to the extreme limits of technical innovation and design. Only 2 years later, in 2001, the RM001 launched to sensational success and the initial production sold out immediately at a price tag of more than 150,000 Euro each. Richard Mille was already 50 years old when the RM001 launched, making him one of the older, but also one of the most successful, entrepreneurs in the watch industry.

Owning a Richard Mille has been compared to wearing a high end sports car on your wrist, and a greeting with someone who owns one is jokingly referred to as ‘the billionaire’s handshake’. Richard Mille watches are extremely well made, using only the most innovative and highest quality materials and regularly feature sophisticated complications, such as the tourbillon. Richard Mille watches are intricately designed, yet robust and super lightweight at the same time. The brand’s association with superstar athletes, actors, and musicians has only served to elevate its status even further.

In just over 20 years, Richard Mille has produced more than 80 different references. Each model is produced in very small numbers, thus assuring the wearer of the ultimate level of exclusivity. While Richard Mille watches are ultra-modern in design and use the latest high-tech materials, the signature feature of most of its watches is the tonneau shaped case, a design that goes back to the early days of the 20th century and was originally launched by the French luxury house Cartier.

Felipe Massa, the former Brazilian Formula 1 driver, has long been associated with Richard Mille, while the most famous current brand ambassador is the Spanish tennis superstar, Rafael Nadal. Nadal has been wearing Richard Mille watches since 2008 and the close relationship between the two has led to numerous collaborations over the years, such as the development of, what was at the time, the lightest tourbillon in the world. In addition to athletes, the brand has also been embraced by musicians and actors like Drake, Pharell Williams, Sylvester Stallone, Margot Robbie, and others.

In the recent past, Richard Mille has been increasingly focused on the development of in-house movements. Initially, the brand relied largely on the cooperation of suppliers like Vaucher and Renaud et Papi (owned by Audemars Piguet) with Vaucher providing automatic chronograph movements and Renaud et Papi supplying tourbillions. Beginning in 2013, the brand started to bring production of more and more operations in house resulting in the 72-01 flyback chronograph launched in 2020 which was the first movement developed completely in-house.