Richard Mille's materials: a permanent search for performance

Dec 17, 2015,08:24 AM
 


Dear Richard Mille passionates,



I thought it could be interesting to have a little recap about the materials that Richard Mille has been using in his watches.


Richard Mille always had in mind to start from what he liked and wanted a watch to be like before creating his models. The result is usually highly priced because he decided from the beginning that he didn't want (and maybe didn't need) to make compromises and to do things halfway.


In that context, it seems also that Richard Mille finds a special pleasure in using new materials for his watches. With curiosity, it is a matter of finding the way to work on them, create and set the right tools, but also to answer the question "does it bring something in terms of lightness and/or strength", which, of course has an impact on the movement reliability and accuracy. Hard Titanium or Alusic materials, for instance, prevent bridges and plates from bending or breaking, but also resist wear and tear of the case, while improving wearing comfort. The mechanisms can be shock resistant because of very strong materials containing the impact or softer materials absorbing it. Comfort becomes a very important element when you've experienced one of Richard Mille's watches.




THE CASE

Titanium Grade 5. Richard Mille began with this material. It is a very hard and light metal that resists corrosion well. The brushed finish of Richard Mille has a very nice look on Titanium (my favorite in the watchmaking world) and is less susceptible to scratches compared with Steel.



Titanium

Titanium


Brushed Titanium case

Brushed Titanium case




Silicon Nitride Si
3
N
4

It is a very rare material used in the RM011 and don't know much about it. I think it has been made in a very few pieces and may have been difficult (and expensive) to develop and use.


Silicon Nitride (RM011)

Silicon Nitride (RM011)





Nanotube Carbon polymer. For this material used in the RM027 for the first time, the very light and strong Carbon nanotubes are injected in a polymer resin.

NanotubeCarbon case (black)

Nanotube Carbon case (black)




Nanotube Carbon case (grey)

Nanotube Carbon case (grey)





Ceramic. ATZ (clear color) and TZP-N and TZP-G (different resistance). This is an alloy (95% Zirconium) that is more resistant than usual ceramic material, hence, helps make ceramic more resistant to shocks.


ATZ Ceramic

White ATZ Ceramic





NTPT (North Thin Ply Technology). This very new material used in recent RM watches is made of multiple layers of parallel filaments obtained by dividing carbon fibers. Each of these layers (30 microns thick) are impregnated with resin and woven to modify the direction of the weft by 45° between each layers. It is then heated to 120°C at a 6 bars pressure.

An average case is composed of 600 to 800 layers.


NTPT

NTPT





Quartz TPT. This new material was introduced 6 months ago in the new RM027-02 bezel and caseback. It is based on the NTPT technology but some Quartz layers have been introduced in the weaving process. it is another way of exploring material resistance and shock absorption.


Q TPT case

Q TPT case





Alcryn. It is a kind of rubber material used for making the crown collars.


Alcryn collar

Alcryn collar




THE MOVEMENT

Carbon nanofiber baseplate. It is a material we saw especially in the V2 specification of the first RMs e.g. RM002 and RM003. It offers the benefit of a very limited shape change when submitted to temperature variations which is very important to maintain the gap and hence, the pressure between wheels.


Carbon fiberbaseplate

Carbon fiber baseplate (RM002)


Carbon fiberbaseplate

Carbon fiber baseplate




Titanium (grade 5). This well known metal is used for its high rigidity and high resistance to corrosion. It is often used for cases but is much rarer in movement's construction due to the difficulty to work on it using normal tools.







ARCAP. It is well known for its antimagnetic properties and density of 8.9g/cm3. It is almost completely insensitive to large temperature variation and corrosion. You easily can imagine the interest of such properties as dilatation has an impact on the pressure between wheels. Such properties help maintain a constant distance between components, thus improving accuracy and reliability. It is used in the RM002 and the RM031 high performance caliber.


Arcap gear(RM031)

ARCAP gear (RM031)



Arcapfinishing (RM031)

ARCAP finishing (RM031)




ALUSIC. Aluminum Silicon carbide. It has a very high strength and resistance to wear and remains very light. It is much more expensive to produce than platinum as it has to be diamond cut because of its hardness. It is a material used in satellites and in the RM009. Too expensive to produce in a high volume, it is a material we didn't see much in RM watches. The case and movement of the RM009 weigh less than 30 gr.


Alusic baseplate(RM009)

Alusic baseplate (RM009)





LITAL. An Aluminum-Lithium (together with magnesium, copper and zirconium) alloy used in the RM027 movement. It is used in the construction of A380 aeroplane and satellites too. The special development duress on on Raphael Nadal's wrist made it a good test material to study shock resistance.


Lital (RM027)

Lital (RM027)



Aluminum 2000. It is used in the RM035's case. It is a 90% Magnesium and 8.9% Aluminum alloy, very light and resistant, used in F1 engine piston production.


Magnesium WE54. This 89% Magnesium alloy (with 6% Yttrium) is used in the RM038 Bubba Watson Tourbillon case. As always, lightness helps lowering inertia, thus decreasing consequence of shocks.


Carbon fiber flange. Used to craft the flange in most of RM's watches.


Sapphire. Used for the 1800 Vickers glass used in RM watches as well as replacing rubies in the movement (that's why they are white and not pink), except for the anchor pallets.

However, this material has also been used in the construction of the RM056 line where the whole case (and baseplate and even a wheel for the RM056-01 and RM056-02) are made of Sapphire. On the contrary to other materials Richard Mille uses, although it is hard, I'm "not sure" it is as shock resistant as other references. Nevertheless, it is the most impressive material, visually speaking, I was very impressed by its beauty as I'm preparing a review of the RM056-01.
 



 

Semi-precious stones. This is not per se a material made to enhance performance but more to add in a more unusual way stones decoration to the movement. When knowing what is at stake in such wheels in terms of inertia it is far from being an easy task to perform (needed 3 years of development). The RM018 Tourbillon "Hommage to Boucheron" is a unique piece. The mainplate was already made of a transparent Sapphire glass, before the RM056. The stone material is made of a mix of Tiger's Eye, Jasp, black Onyx and Diamond. (Thank you Colton for the reminder!)






THE STRAP

Aside from the usual crocodile leather straps, more exotic stuff is also available.


Polyurethane. Hypoallergenic rubber material


Kevlar fiber. It is the kind of fiber straps we saw first in Raphael Nadal's models and that became available for other models too afterwards.




CONCLUSION


We have seen many very interesting materials that had a significant impact on the reliability or the accuracy of a watch.

The harder the material is for the wheels, the less wear you usually have.

The lighter it is, the less inertia there is; with less consequence of movements and shocks.

At the same time, the material has to be able to absorb or resist shocks.

We don't always realize how hard it is to work on these materials and the research needed to imagine how we can use them in watchmaking.

They may not always be absolutely necessary but it feels so good when they are used.

Thanks to this brand for going this path not many explore.




Cheers,

Mark


_______________________



More posts: RM002RM003RM009RM011RM018RM027RM027-02RM031RM035RM038RM056RM056-01RM056-02

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Comments: view entire thread

 

Amazing to see it all listed..

 
 By: colton_d : December 18th, 2015-08:56
The evolution of the materials and methods are so fantastic to look back on.. another reason to track down that Monographie published a couple years back I think. Thank you for this in-depth summary Mark, and I eagerly anticipate your review on the 056-01... 

A huge work indeed

 
 By: Mark in Paris : December 21st, 2015-09:30
It has evolved in a very interesting way and I can't wait to see what's next. Thanks for mentionning the stones added to the wheels of RM references in the past, I could have indeed included them. Here is one of Andrew's posts about the Boucheron version ...  

Really impressive 8-O

 
 By: heartbreaker : December 21st, 2015-11:46
Thank you Mark for your inspiring article. My first reaction was to imagine how I would feel if I was in charge in a different Brand: well, I think I'd be [more than] a bit envying... My second reflection was about the Richard Mille salespersons: are you ... 

This is indeed the result of a hard work and a will from the founder

 
 By: Mark in Paris : December 24th, 2015-03:22
This is quite impressive indeed, especially in around less than 15 years. As concerning the salesperson, I imagine no they are not, at least not a majority but who knows... there are some enthusiasts in their teams. As for you 3rd thoughts, no I don't thi... 

GOLD NTPT CARBON®

 
 By: grahamhar : March 6th, 2016-04:08
GOLD NTPT CARBON® I have never been a fan of gold watches, but this could be something that might change that.

This is indeed a quite original layout

 
 By: Mark in Paris : March 10th, 2016-15:10
I wonder how it looks in live. I imagine much sportier than full gold but very decorative on a woman's wrist. Cheers, Mark

I'd love to see the new Richard Mille Gold NTPT Carbon / Quartz pieces in the flesh!

 
 By: AnthonyTsai : March 10th, 2016-19:25
And wonder which men's piece will be the 1st one! Btw, more details in our News Central forum here: www.watchprosite.com - AT ...