s the mountains disappeared under a curtain of fog, reducing visibility to barely a few metres and forcing skiers to switch to a cautious snowplough, one person slalomed effortlessly between the mounds of wet snow. Johannes Thingnes Bø was in his element. The Norwegian biathlete, five-time Olympic champion and twenty-time world champion showed why he is the uncontested master of his discipline, grinning and giving tips to the journalists struggling to keep up: “Feel the slope. Follow your body’s natural movement.” Easier said than done. The sound of skis banging together followed Johannes as he whooshed towards Courchevel.

The Richard Mille Ski Clinic team with guest journalists and biathlon champion Johannes Thingnes Bø (blue jacket, centre).

It’s early spring and Richard Mille is hosting a Ski Clinic at the luxury French resort – a chance to bring together the two “extremes” of its family of athletes, from two-time Alpine combined world champion skier, Frenchman Alexis Pinturault, to freediver Arnaud Jerald, also French and the world record holder with a free dive of 122 metres.

There were no new watches to show; simply a celebration of the Franco-Swiss brand’s sporting heritage. Established in 2001 by Richard Mille and Dominique Guenat (owner of Montres Valgine), competitive sport has been hardwired into the Richard Mille brand from its earliest days. Mille himself is a huge Formula 1 fan and in 2004 signed his first partnership with a champion, the Brazilian driver Felipe Massa. Together they developed the ultra-lightweight RM 006 Tourbillon, a sold-out limited edition of 20.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, one of the greatest sprinters of all time with two 100m Olympic titles and five 100m World Championship titles, wears her RM 07-04 Automatic Sport.

This experience was the foundation on which Richard Mille has built a stable of more than 40 leading sportsmen and women, such as tennis player Rafael Nadal (since 2010), golfer Cristie Kerr (2014), rally driver Sébastien Ogier (2016), footballer Didier Drogba (2019) and sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (2023). As well as athletes at the top of their game, the brand supports rising stars such as 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk (2016), Olympic gold medallist and heptathlete Nafissatou Thiam (2018) and showjumping champion Flore Giraud (2021).

Designed to be worn during competition

Signing up brand ambassadors from the world of sport isn’t new, so what is it about Richard Mille’s strategy that sets it apart? “The relationship we have with them,” insists Amanda Mille. “We don’t consider them to be ambassadors. They are partners. We’re there for them, in good times and bad. We don’t drop an athlete because they’re injured or on a losing streak. Family sticks together!”

Amanda Mille

These family values remain strong, even after Richard Mille’s decision to retire in 2022. The next generation has arrived: Amanda and Alexandre Mille are in charge of commercial strategy and partnerships; creation and development are in the hands of Maxime and Cécile Guenat.

Amanda Mille is quick to include the brand’s sporting partners in this family group. “It’s a family affair. We grow together with the good and bad sides, and that’s our strength. We like to forge strong, lasting connections.” The brand makes a point of recruiting athletes who will wear their watches during competition. “We’re not looking for wrist shots. We want athletes who will use our watches and test them in real-life conditions, even if that means breaking them. Their feedback drives us to continue evolving our products.”

A lifetime in three minutes

Freediver Arnaud Jerald has used and abused his fair share of watches. Not from knocks and shocks (that’s Alexis Pinturault’s department!), but because of the conditions inherent to his discipline: sand, heat, humidity, salt and most of all underwater pressure put strain on the mechanism. We caught up with him at the hotel pool, where we managed to float and hold our breath for 1 minute 45 seconds – putting his world record of 3 minutes 35 seconds, at a depth of 122 metres, into perspective.

The RM 032 on his wrist is the watch he wore when he set his three world records. Despite receiving dozens of offers, he reached out to Richard Mille. “I’m young [28] and freediving is a niche sport,” he explains. “Richard Mille is a young niche brand. I really liked the innovative designs but more than anything I was looking for a partnership on a human scale. One that would actually contribute to my performance.”

“You disconnect from time when you freedive. Three minutes feels like a lifetime.” Arnaud Jerald

Jerald is currently working with engineers on a new model that will be specifically adapted to his sport. “I need a tool which I can take with me in this extreme and complex environment.” While he can’t consult his watch underwater, because of the near darkness, he uses it to time training dives and to bring himself back to reality on surfacing. “You disconnect from time when you freedive. Three minutes feels like a lifetime. Emotions — fear, love, joy — are ten times more intense underwater.”

The RM-032 of French freediver Arnaud Jerald, world record holder at 122 metres.

His watch is akin to a lifebuoy that lets him reconnect with time on terra firma and measure the time dilation that happens underwater. It’s the polar opposite of skier Alexis Pinturault’s experience of time. Having sustained a knee injury last season, he wasn’t able to join us in the pool or on the slopes, but was happy to be interviewed comfortably seated at our hotel.

“Time is what you have to beat, again and again,” he insists. “In Alpine skiing, everything from materials innovation to technique, from the physical effort to mental preparation is geared towards gaining a few hundredths, even a few thousandths of a second. It’s an all-embracing quest.”

His RM 67-02 is part of the answer. Slim, ultra-lightweight and built for speed, it has raced with him for his latest victories as well as for his six crystal globes, world titles and Olympic silver medal. All that’s missing is Olympic gold, which he fully intends to add to his “collection” as soon as he has recovered from his ligament injury.

Belgian heptathlete Nafi Thiam, a rising star in her discipline which combines seven track and field events, wears her RM 07-04 Automatic Sport.

Long-term commitment

Some accidents have a lasting impact on an athlete’s career. In November 2020 the Franco-Swiss racing driver Romain Grosjean was trapped inside his burning car after crashing through a barrier at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Emerging after what seemed like an eternity, he then retired from F1 racing. Following the accident, the sport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale d’Automobile, enforced a ban on drivers wearing jewellery and watches during races. Grosjean still wears his RM 50-01 and now competes in IndyCar and Endurance events in the United States. No injury or career end could persuade Amanda Mille to abandon her “children” for the simple reason that “when you love someone, you can’t let them go.”

The RM 50-01 worn by Franco-Swiss racing driver Romain Grosjean.

The brand continues to welcome new members into its already extended family, not just from sport but from a variety of fields. Actors John Malkovich and Michelle Yeoh, singer and producer Pharrell Williams, choreographer Benjamin Millepied and chef Christophe Bacquié are all part of the fold. “We want to go on pushing boundaries, creating a space for creativity,” Amanda Mille declares.

Asked whether the brand is open to partnerships in other disciplines, Amanda Mille insists, “We have to click. We want good vibes, that’s all. As long as we stay young at heart, but with maturity, I’m sure we’ll meet lots of new people in places no one would ever have imagined.” See you on the slopes next year?