Richard Mille comes from Draguignan in the South of France. After finishing school, he spent a year in England learning the language before embarking upon a marketing course at the Besançon University Technology Institute (IUT). In 1974 Richard Mille joined French watch company Finhor as head of its export division. When the firm was bought by Matra he became export director for all of the group’s watch brands. In the 1990s he moved to Mauboussin, where he was made President of the Watchmaking Division and Director General of the Jewellery Division. It was there that he made the contacts that would enable him to create the brand that bears his name, and to create the watches of his dreams.
Richard Mille’s mission is to bring techniques and materials from innovative sectors like Formula 1 and aerospace into watchmaking, and to create extreme timepieces without compromise and without artifice. When he launched his RM 001 in 2001, success was immediate.
