Richard Mille
Richard Mille studied marketing in Besançon, France before he started work at Finhor, a local watchmaking company in 1974. By 1981 Finjor had sold to Matra and Richard Mille stuck with the brand to manage the watchmaking business. The business included other brands like Yema and Cupillard Rième. Mille did well with Matras brands and eventually the watchmaking brands were sold to Seiko. Mille stayed with Seiko before leaving in 1992. Upon his departure he started working with Mauboussin to start and manage a new division of theirs in watchmaking. He stayed with Mauboussin for several years before leaving his position (even though he was a shareholder). Then in 1998, he discussed with Dominique Guenat a partnership together in order to enhance and launch their plans for a new watch brand. With the support of Lucien Tissot, a lawyer specializing in the watchmaking industry they began their partnership in 1999. The brand drew a partnership with Guenat S.A. Montres Valgine and APR&P (Audemars Piguet, Renaud et Papi. They spent several years planning the design concept and determining the direction they wanted to go before they founded the Richard Mille watchmaking brand in collaboration with Swiss watchmaking manufacturer Audemars Piguet. This occurred in 2007 and AP became a shareholder at the same time. Three years later the first timepiece was revealed. The pieces began to sell well and the brand took off.