Watch This Space

Peter Harrison, CEO of Richard Mille EMEA, is the English gentleman at the core of the brand

- Carlos Pedroza

IT’S BEEN 18 YEARS since Richard Mille launched the brand under his name, with his partner Dominique Guenat.

They both shared a passion for watches, racing and cars, and both knew the inside out of the luxury industry and the watch sector. Their watches meant a revolution for the industry. A design revolution from the movement to the case, with a strong drive for functionality, performance and experimentation. The watches left clients, and the industry, blown away.

Since then, only 38,000 pieces have been made. That’s just over 2,100 watches per year, with some editions limited to eight pieces. It’s a true luxury item, one of those products that are so rare and unique that they are set apart from mainstream luxury.

As a proud independent, Richard Mille has built a brand from scratch, gaining the respect and admiration from…well, everyone. We had the opportunity to sit down with Peter Harrison, CEO of Richard Mille EMEA, during which he gave us some insights on what the future holds for the brand and how the luxury industry is looking in 2019.

In 2019 Richard Mille presents a very playful side with the Bonbon collection.

It’s a great thing about having a brand that is 15 years old not 150 years old. If you are 150 years old with all the grandfathers looking over your shoulders then you have to make it round, you must have two hands, you can’t do this kind of thing. We are young, we have an average age between our clients of around late 30s. It is nice that there are 300 watches. There are around six or seven watches per boutique around the world. There’s a reasonable chance that a lady who buys one of these watches will never find another lady wearing one.

Is closing distributors and opening your own boutiques a global strategy?