After flying across France on a private jet with the innovative watch creator Richard Mille, it was obvious that this trim, smiling, bespectacled Frenchman in his sixties doesn’t just make wildly expensive, highly sought-after watches. He’s a star—who simply loves to have fun.
But in his case, “fun” involves creating some of the most distinctive watches in the world and hanging out with friends who incidentally happen to be some of the most successful and influential people in the world—in some of the most exclusive destinations in the world.
The fact is: Mille is a true original whose character combines passion, creativity, precision, style, business savvy, craftsmanship, originality, self-assuredness, and an infectious joie de vivre better than anyone I’ve ever interviewed. Since his innovative watches are now some of the most coveted (and expensive) timepieces on Earth, he’s not going to stop anytime soon.
The RM60-01 Regatta Flyback Chronograph is way more than just another sailing watch
He’s actually just getting started. As a longtime race car lover, he began making mechanical watches for Formula 1 drivers that could withstand the shocks and G-forces of a race. Brazilian Formula 1 star Felipe Massa was the first of many to wear custom-made Mille watches. But Mille didn’t stop there.
“I opened up to different sports—golf, tennis, sailing—in addition to motor racing because I hate to be prisoner to one system,” he adds. “And I love the challenge of making high-performance watches for different sports.”
When he and his team turned to making a watch for Grand Prix yacht racers, they ended up creating one of the most technologically advanced mechanical sailing watches ever made. The limited production RM60-01 Regatta Flyback Chronograph lists in the $150,000 range and is also awarded to winners of the Les Voiles de Saint Barth regatta, sponsored by Richard Mille every year.