Along with Greubel Forsey, Richard Mille was one of the two new exhibitors at SIHH this year. Audemars Piguet is a long time SIHH exhibitor, being there since 1999. RM is connected to AP via the latter’s minority stake in RM, as well as the fact that all of RM’s complications are made by Renaud et Papi.
As is routine, RM introduced several pricey tourbillons along with an entry level automatic, interestingly there was also a particular watch shown but not publicised, that one will be unveiled later this year. One of the watches presented, the remarkable RM018 Hommage à Boucheron, was announced a few years but only recently completed. This movement of the RM018 uses wheels made from semi-precious stone, the cutting and polishing of which have delayed the delivery of this watch for two years.
Two specimens were on hand at SIHH, one with onyx wheels and the other Tiger Eye. The depth and variegation of colour of the stones is superb. 30 of these will be made, each with a different material for the wheels, making each one a piece unique. This is an incredible looking watch; it is jewellery taken to a whole new level.
Some time ago an industry executive who had heard of the watch told me that RM would never be able to get this watch to work, but Richard Mille, along with Renaud et Papi, triumph again. This triumph comes at a cost of course, which I believe is in the region of a million francs – that kind of pricing is a triumph in itself.
The primary new movement for 2010 is the ultra-thin tourbillon found in the RM017. Housed in a rectangular case, and ostensibly a dress watch, the watch measures a mere 8.7 mm at its thickest, with a movement only 4.65 mm high. The movement does not seem to have any unique construction details not found in other RM tourbillons, though over on the front the bridges holding the barrel and tourbillon cage are recessed into the dial, bringing it exceptionally close to the crystal.
Another new tourbillon is the RM022 Aerodyne. This is the GMT version of the RM021 Aerodyne tourbillon, which as its name suggests is inspired by aviation. A sapphire disc co-axial with the hour and minute hands displays the second time zone, with the button at nine advancing it by an hour with each push.
The base plate of this watch is fabricated from a honeycomb patterned titanium aluminide alloy with a carbon fibre central portion that holds the barrel and tourbillon bridges on the front. This alloy is light and very strong, and consequently has use in aviation, including as a material for turbines. Obviously this is overkill for a base plate in a watch movement but it looks improbably attractive and entirely different from the automobile-inspired RM watches.
The concluding watch is the RM028, an automatic, 300 m dive watch. This is the mass market version of the astronomically expensive and unbelievably large RM028 diver’s tourbillon chronograph. At 47 mm wide, the RM028 is a massive watch still, but smaller than its bigger brother. The proportions (wide bezel, small dial) and design elements (the sloped bezel and a giant crown) also make it look less large than it actually is.
It is a good looking watch with a strong design. Despite its size the titanium case is not excessively heavy, so it sits comfortably on the wrist. The case and bezel are complex constructions; I have never seen so many screws – 28 of them – on a bezel along with buttons at six and 12 that have to be pushed in order to rotate the bezel. And at about 1/7 the price of the RM025, this will be yet another accessible, and profitable, watch like the RM005 and RM010.