Richard Mille is rolling the dice on a retail location in Las Vegas. The Swiss watch brand will open its 15th store at The Shops at Crystals in Sin City this September.
The approximately 700-square-foot boutique will feature a series of limited edition timepieces and debut a new boutique façade for the company founded in 2001 by French businessman Richard Mille.
“All luxury products around the world need to be in Vegas,” said Dominique Gerente, head of sales for the brand. “It’s also the right spot for us, because a lot of foreigners know the brand and it’s good exposure. It’s a win-win situation.”
The décor of the boutique will be nearly identical to existing Richard Mille units, which employ accents of Makassar wood, Corian stone, leather, and steel. Showcases will feature antireflective glass (treated on both sides “so you can’t even really see the glass”).
The Las Vegas Richard Mille store will feature this movement-inspired sculpture.
But the mall-facing façade will boast a brand new metal-and-glass sculpture created by a French artist that “represents the insides of a watch—the movement,” says Gerente. Replicas of the sculpture will go in all future stores.
Despite the store’s slight real estate, a VIP area for celebrities and high rollers is planned. And speaking of fat wallets, Gerente says the brand is already in production on 10 special edition watches for the Vegas boutique that will boast a skull motif and hover in price around $700,000.
He’s convinced the lavish arm candy will vanish from the shelves faster than a $20 bill at a black jack table.
One of the 10 special edition skull watches that will be featured exclusively in the Las Vegas boutique.
“It’s an amazing market in Vegas,” Gerente notes. “We have those customers who are purely aficionados: They love the brand and are always looking for special things. But obviously, we have the big gambler club that loves our watches.”
Though the brand doesn’t pack the big label oomph of a Rolex or Cartier, he says that’s part of its allure. “Even though we are well-known in our own industry, we still have a long way to go. I travel a lot in South America to promote the brand…and I would never travel with a Rolex in wrist. I travel with a Richard Mille, no problem. That’s the beauty of the brand,” Gerente says. “And production is so limited; there are maybe 2,400 or 2,500 pieces made every year right now. So it appeals to people looking for something special.”
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