Cover Alexandre Mille, CEO and son of Richard Mille (Photo: courtesy of Richard Mille)
Alexandre Mille, CEO and son of Richard Mille (Photo: courtesy of Richard Mille)
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Richard Mille’s son and the Swiss watch company’s brand director talks to Tatler about how he’s making his mark on the business, why it’s hard to increase production, and why they don’t have ambassadors
Meet Alexandre Mille, brand director of the audacious Richard Mille watches, and son of Richard Mille himself. Though not born to this role, Mille’s atypical education in law, film, and the arts honed his analytical eye and passion for translating vision into form.
In a talk with Tatler, insights emerge on respect fuelling Richard Mille’s success, meeting unprecedented demands for the brand, and the value of organic partnerships over typical branding. We also glimpse his thirst for knowledge—from alternate histories to the boundless horizons of science fiction. Here, he shares his unconventional path now charting the future course of one of horology’s most daring brands.
Above A watchmaker working on the RM UP-01 Ferrari (Photo: courtesy of Richard Mille)
A watchmaker working on the RM UP-01 Ferrari (Photo: courtesy of Richard Mille)
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What is the biggest strength you bring to the business?
That I was never raised and educated to become what I am today. That may not be a strength for other brands, but for Richard Mille, it’s different. The first time I [started working in] the luxury world, I was 27 years old. I [had been] to law school, and [then] to cinema school to graduate as a film director. But in those [subjects], I was taught to analyse everything and understand it [from an artistic point of view]: how to analyse text in a movie and translate that into emotion. When you’re a brand director, how can you take your inspiration, an emotion, and translate it into a watch that will be understood by everybody?
When I entered the watchmaking industry, I realised that was exactly what my dad was doing. He had all the inspiration in the world, but he translated it with the use of material, shape and components.
Above Freediver Arnaud Jerald wearing the RM-032 (Photo: courtesy of Richard Mille)
Freediver Arnaud Jerald wearing the RM-032 (Photo: courtesy of Richard Mille)
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What’s a common mistake made in the watchmaking business?
My mum brought up me and my siblings to be fulfilled emotionally and to be nice with people: to always be respectful. In business, there’s a real lack of that. One of my dad’s successes is that he’s always been very respectful and that opened a lot of doors for him to explore [new ideas] to create different watches.
What is the biggest challenge Richard Mille faces today?
The main challenge is a lack of stock due to very low production. The number of watches we have produced since we launched 22 years ago is lower than the number of watches some brands produce in a year. The recognition of the brand is growing every year, but the production is not following that trend, sadly. If there’s one thing we don’t want to mess with, it is the quality of the product. But this is a good problem to have; we are not complaining. We also don’t want to give off the feeling that we are doing this on purpose. We are doing our best to optimise production.
Above RM UP-01 Ferrari (Photo: courtesy of Richard Mille)
RM UP-01 Ferrari (Photo: courtesy of Richard Mille)
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Richard Mille doesn’t really have brand ambassadors. What’s the strategy behind that?
We don’t want to [have brand ambassadors; instead we] enter partnerships and friendships. When I say friendships, it means that, more often than not, there are no contracts with these people. So there’s never a marketing aspect in our minds. Sometimes we meet [an artist or athlete] and decide to work together. Most of the time we try to have athletes who wear our watches and help to develop them. The idea is to make the watches suffer a bit; to push the boundaries in terms of watch development. I will give you an example: my sister [and I] met Arnaud Jerald, a [world champion] freediver, and really loved him. We put a watch on his wrist so that he could go diving with it and, trust me, we learnt a lot about our own watches. It’s one thing when you test in a lab and another when you do it on a ship. That’s the biggest strength of our friendships; we bring our watches to the battlefield and learn from it.
What book do you like to recommend to watch lovers?
One of my favourite books is Le Matin des Magiciens [by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier]. I love it because it is part research and part fiction. [The book challenges readers’ viewpoints on historic events.] So it goes back in time to explain things that people [once] called witchcraft. And if there is something I would recommend in general, it is to read every single book from [French comic book artist and writer] Moebius. He is my favourite artist in the world.
As the Regional Editor for Watches and Jewellery and Editorial Content Lead for Tatler GMT, Amrita Katara specialises in luxury watch and jewellery coverage across Asia, with expertise in editorial strategy, feature writing and interviews with industry leaders. Her past roles span luxury lifestyle media and client partnerships. Based in Mumbai, Amrita’s work bridges global trends and Asian market insights.
