Richard Mille

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Perini Navi yachts and the design of the RM014: on the importance of detail and finish!

Richard Mille had little interest in the yachting world until, on a trip to Italy and Viareggio, he was able to see the yachts at first hand and meet Fabio Perini. Between the two men, they found a common set of beliefs in excellence, a passion for design, detail, and manufacturing something to the highest attainable level.

Richard set out to produce a watch that was the embodiment of the yachts and used elements and details of the yachts to dictate the design and look of the watch. This truly is an ocean racing machine for your wrist.



From the face of the watch: it is obvious that the engraved lines represent the decking that is common to all Perini Navi yachts. The blue bezel ring mirrors the blue of the hull. However, the design detail goes further than that.

The influence for the hands came from a yachts? cleat that holds the ropes for the sails:





The detailing on the bridges of the winding barrel and the tourbillon both resemble the pulleys for the sails:









and the inspiration for the wings of the winding barrel bridge can be seen in the boom for the sails from the Maltese Falcon:





The influence for the winding crown is taken directly from the rope winches found on board the yachts. It should be noted that the winding crown on the watch I was wearing will be changed to one that more closely resembles the yachts. The black lines will go, and the top of the crown will have three small rubber lines in white.





The newly designed screws that hold the case together (and the bridges to the main plate) are from the posts holding the integral structure of the yacht:





Use of carbon fibre, PVD coating of some elements, polished lateral ribs, all influenced from the yachts? Absolutely!

PVD coated door hinges with polished screw heads for the doors on the Maltese Falcon. Note the carbon fibre strut for the yacht?s construction (on to which the door hinge is fastened); carbon fibre is used for internal structural integrity of the cabin area and for keeping the weight down. Carbon fibre is also used in the mast construction of the Perini Navi yachts.



Running along the yachts are polished stays holding the masts, that directly mirror the polished lateral struts on the side of the RM014 case:



Note how the design of the backplate for the tourbillon and drive chain, a sculpture of a yacht?s sails and spinnaker (remember the pictures of Paz and Squall):



Is a shock resistant (tourbillon) escapement necessary?



When ocean racing on a yacht, you, your arm, and your watch receive constant buffeting, so?. yeah! Oh, and just look at the finish on the single arm bridge that holds the tourbillon cage; the polishing reflects the ?7? and the hour hand.

Finally, showing that some shapes and curves are universally ?true?, a carbon fibre table from the aft deck of the Maltese Falcon:



This truly is a stunning watch and I am absolutely smitten?

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