Richard Mille debuts its first women’s sports watch with the new RM 07-04 Automatic Sport,a collection of six colorful models with a new automatic skeletonized movement and a highly shock-resistant, 30.5mm-by-45mm lightweight quartz or carbon case.
The new Richard Mille RM 07-04 Automatic Sport comes in six color options with either a colorful quartz case or a black carbon case.
Richard Mille says it took three years to develop the new series. Many of its technical features were devised after consulting with six female athletes who described the comfort, features and aesthetics of their ideal watch for wear during and after their sporting activities.
The collection’s CRMA8 caliber, the most compact movement developed by Richard Mille, features the brand’s emblematic function selector.
Eliminating all pressure on the winding stem, the selector is linked to a push-piece at 4 o’clock and allows the wearer to easily choose from among the neutral (N), winding (W) or time setting (H) positions. A hand at 5 o’clock displays the active function.
The RM 07-04 Automatic Sport is shock resistant with a highly tested and demonstrated ability to withstand accelerations of over 5,000 g’s. Richard Mille ensures this rigidity by constructing the baseplate and bridges from titanium with black PVD and electro-plasma treatments. Richard Mille then satin-finishes, micro-blasts and bevels these components by hand.
The complete case construction of the series is water-resistant to fifty meters thanks to two Nitrile O-rings, twenty titanium spline screws and 316L stainless steel washers. Each watch is also lightweight at 36 grams, strap included.
Five of the new watches (creamy white, mauve, salmon, green and dark blue) are cased in Quartz TPT while one (black case, below) is made from Carbon TPT.
As each is made with multiple layers of parallel carbon fiber or silica filaments, each looks just a bit different from the others, even when finished with the same color. Richard Mille finishes each watch’s titanium crown with a satin-finishing that is then micro-blasted and polished.
In an unusual touch, Richard Mille says it created the specific colors of each RM 07-04 Automatic Sport case to “interact perfectly with those of the bracelets, the tips of the hands, or the flange, according to a palette of shades to which Richard Mille alone knows the secret.”
Measuring a wispy 1.75mm thick, Richard Mille’s new RM UP-01 Ferrari just surpassed (by .05mm) the recently released Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra as the thinnest mechanical watch available.
Richard Mille’s new RM UP-01 Ferrari
The new titanium watch reaches its record-breaking dimensions with its entire movement built within its case rather than atop a baseplate/caseback, the method used by Bulgari and previous record-holder Piaget.
The watch’s titanium-based Caliber RM UP-01 manual-winding movement is also encased within titanium and powers displays for hours, minutes and a function selector.
The watch’s going train, baseplate and skeletonized bridges are made with grade-5 titanium to create the watch’s impressive flatness – and strength. Richard Mille says its new watch will withstand accelerations of more than 5,000 g’s.
And with the assistance of engineers from Audemars Piguet Le Locle, Richard Mille developed a new type of strong escapement with a balance wheel in titanium that reduces the caliber’s thickness to only 1.18mm. Engineers fitted the extra-flat barrel with a super fine hairspring that still delivers a full 45 hours of power reserve.
To reach ultimate thinness, engineers also removed the winding stem. In its place, Richard Mille offers two wheels, one for function selection, the other to utilize the selected function, each integrated in the left side of the case.
“In this quest for absolute flatness, we had to offer a watch that, far from being a ‘concept watch’, was up to the task of following a user’s daily life, whatever the circumstances,” explains Salvador Arbona, Technical Director for Movements at Richard Mille.
On the 51mm by 39mm rounded rectangular case, Richard Mille minimized the need for sapphire, placing the clear, strong mineral only atop the red-handed dial and the regulator (balance wheel-spring assembly). (See specifications below for more detail).
Richard Mille’s new RM UP-01 Ferrari is a limited edition of 150 timepieces and is the first result of the partnership with the Italian racing legend. Price: $1.89 million.
Specifications:Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari
Movement: RMUP-01 Ultra flat manual winding with hours, minutes and function selector. Measures 1.18mm thick. The baseplate and bridges in grade-5 titanium (an alloy of 90% grade 5 titanium, 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium). New ultra-flat escapement, fast-rotating barrel (6 hours per revolution instead of 7.5 hours), regulator index eliminated with calibration via 6 adjustable weights located directly on the balance. 28,800 vph.
Case: 51mm by 39mm x 1.75mm titanium monobloc construction assembled using 13 grade-5 titanium spline screws and abrasion-resistant washers in 316L stainless steel. Surrounding the crowns, two black ceramic inserts protect the bezel from friction and ensure water resistance. The caseback and bezel are satin-finished, with polished bevels. Laser-engraved Ferrari prancing horse. Water resistance to 10 meters.
Dial: Time display, function selector located between 10 and 11 o’clock allows one to select the winding (W) or the hand-setting (H) function. Setting the time or winding the barrel is then possible by turning the second crown located between 7 and 8 o’clock.
Watchmakers have been multiplying their automotive and motorsports collaborations in recent years. Here, we review a few prominent timekeeping/racing alliances.
By Y-Jean Mun-DelSalle
In this final installment of our series outlining automotive-wristwatch partnerships, we highlight Girard-Perregaux and Richard Mille.
Girard-Perregaux
Girard-Perregaux has signed a multi-year agreement as the official watch partner of British automotive manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda and the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula 1 team. Both brands are commemorating milestones this year: founded in 1791, the Swiss watchmaker is one of the oldest fine watchmaking manufactures still in operation and celebrates its 230th anniversary, while Aston Martin marks its return to Formula 1 after a hiatus of over sixty years.
For the 2021 F1 season, Girard-Perregaux branding appears on Aston Martin F1 car rear-view mirrors and team uniforms. Girard-Perregaux’s and Aston Martin’s design teams have participated in high-level discussions on movements, esthetics, functionality, material usage and ergonomics.
Several limited-edition timepieces will be unveiled, the first of which was released last June.
The Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges Aston Martin Edition.
Revisiting a Girard-Perregaux legend, the Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges Aston Martin Edition is an 18-piece skeletonized high-end timekeeper with no dial or bezel. Three black PVD-treated titanium bridges appear to float between panes of sapphire crystal.
Back view of the Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges Aston Martin Edition.
The lightweight, 79-component tourbillon cage weighs in at only 0.25 grams, thereby reducing energy consumption, while the micro-rotor’s vertical flank is etched with the Aston Martin name filled with white luminescence.
In a world first, Girard-Perregaux introduces an innovative material never used before in watchmaking on its calf leather strap: a central insert in rubber injected with white gold.
“Rarely do we work with others to reinterpret the Three Bridges, explains CEO Patrick Pruniaux. “However, on this occasion, we have made an exception, mindful of Aston Martin’s prowess for design.”
Later in 2021, a second timepiece will be launched, from another of the manufacture’s iconic collections. We can also expect to see Girard-Perregaux clocks in Aston Martin road cars.
Girard-Perregaux has a long history of collaborations with the automotive universe. During the mid-1990s, then owner and car enthusiast Luigi Macaluso began a ten-year partnership with Ferrari, and together they produced the highly-successful Ferrari watches.
“Girard-Perregaux has had strong ties to the automotive world in the past, which we were keen to reactivate in a stronger way,” notes Clémence Dubois, Girard-Perregaux’s chief marketing and product officer.
Richard Mille
Calling its timepieces ‘racing machines on the wrist,’ Richard Mille is no stranger to the automotive world, with friends and partners like Jean Todt, Alain Prost, Felipe Massa, Sébastien Loeb and the Venturi Formula E team. The brand even owns an all-women LMP2 racing team.
After discussions for Richard Mille’s collaboration with both Ferrari’s racing and road car divisions were initiated last summer, this year it is partnering two F1 teams – Scuderia Ferrari and McLaren Racing – while continuing personal relationships with F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Mick Schumacher.
The Ferrari F1 SF21 is Scuderia’s 2021 Formula 1 race car.
The new multi-year tie-up extends from Formula 1, WEC endurance programs and Competizioni GT to the renowned Ferrari Challenge single-model championship for gentlemen drivers worldwide as well as for the Ferrari Driver Academy. Starting in 2022 Richard Mille will launch a series of watches bearing the famous Ferrari Prancing Horse logo, developed by Richard Mille’s team in Switzerland and Ferrari’s designers and engineers.
Ferrari F1 Racer Charles Leclerc, wearing the RM 67-02.
“Richard Mille has since its inception been viewed as the Formula 1 of watchmaking,” says Tim Malachard, Richard Mille’s marketing director. “The inspiration of materials and technology found in F1 being applied to produce extremely technical, ergonomic and light timepieces. It is also not a secret that those who like cars and motor racing are also fans of watches. Ferrari and Richard Mille share many common values, and many of our customers are owners of either brand, so another good reason to collaborate over the next few years.”
The RM 40-01 Automatic Tourbillon McLaren Speedtail.
To mark its fifth year of partnership with McLaren Automotive, Richard Mille launched the RM 40-01 Automatic Tourbillon McLaren Speedtail last May in tribute to the fastest road-going car the British carmaker has ever built, with a top speed of 250 mph. The watch is available in a limited edition of 106 timepieces to match the exclusivity of the 106 Speedtail hypercars.
The platinum and red gold winding rotor on the RM 40-01 is inspired by the Speedtail’s hood.
“There are many similarities between the way that Richard Mille and McLaren approach common design and engineering challenges, such as saving weight, reducing vibrational impact and minimizing resistance,” says Rob Melville, McLaren automotive’s design director.
The Speedtail is a streamlined hypercar that is the fourth car in McLaren’s Utimate range.
The watch’s lines mimic the car’s teardrop shape – significantly wider at 12 o’clock than at 6 o’clock – and its bezel indentations evoke bonnet openings while its pushers recall air outlets behind the front wheels.
The watch also debuts numerous firsts in a Richard Mille-manufactured automatic tourbillon: in-house power reserve display, oversize date and function selector complications. Richard Mille’s casing department required an unprecedented 2,800 hours over eighteen months to perfect the contours of the titanium and Carbon TPT case, with the conception of five prototypes before the optimum shape was reached.
As the case tapers between the bezel and caseback, Richard Mille developed an innovative upper crystal glass featuring a “triple contour” to protect the movement.
Y-Jean Mun-DelSalle is a freelance journalist and editorial consultant who has lived on three different continents. She meets with inspirational individuals in pursuit of excellence: emerging and established artists, designers and craftsmen, engaging entrepreneurs and philanthropists, and the movers and shakers of the world today. She contributes regularly to regional and international titles such as Artsy, Asia Tatler, Design Anthology, Forbes, Portfolio, Robb Report, Shawati’ and Vogue, shining a spotlight in particular on art, architecture, design, horology and jewelry.
Eliminating all pressure on the winding stem, the selector is linked to a push-piece at 4 o’clock and allows the wearer to easily choose from among the neutral (N), winding (W) or time setting (H) positions. A hand at 5 o’clock displays the active function.
The watch’s going train, baseplate and skeletonized bridges are made with grade-5 titanium to create the watch’s impressive flatness – and strength. Richard Mille says its new watch will withstand accelerations of more than 5,000 g’s.
