Kong's post introduces the Richard Mille RM 031, a timepiece designed to achieve the world's most consistent mechanical caliber, aiming for a variation of less than 30 seconds per month. This article delves into the brand's engineering philosophy, which integrates materials and concepts from aviation and automotive industries to enhance performance. The RM 031's internal performance certificate, awarded after 61 days of rigorous testing, underscores Richard Mille's commitment to chronometric precision.
12 July 2013 - Introduced in 2012, the RM 031 is a timepiece that
combines watchmaking tradition with pioneering concepts. Despite its
orthodox design, it is the result of a determined desire to create the
world’s most consistent mechanical caliber. This is a highly ambitious
goal that demands a variation of less than 30 seconds per month from the
RM 031, which is far more difficult to obtain than the more traditional
daily accuracy rates.
The Richard Mille brand is fully committed
to the pursuit of performance. This approach has led the RM engineers
to use materials with extraordinary physical properties sourced from
sectors far-removed from watchmaking, such as aviation, the automotive
industry and cutting-edge electronics. These worlds have inspired
Richard Mille and enabled him to design calibers that are at once rigid
and flexible, antimagnetic, resistant to high temperatures and
corrosion-proof. A Richard Mille caliber must also be capable of
delivering extreme performance. With this in mind, the gear trains are
analysed to enhance the energy balance, the barrel torque diagrams are
closely examined to achieve the greatest possible consistency, the
winding solutions are optimised and the balances are constantly
perfected for ever-greater regularity.
The RM031 is a manually
wound caliber equipped with a direct impulse AP escapement, whose
accuracy far exceeds a conventional escapement thanks to the direct
action of the escape wheel on the balance. Beating at 36,000 vibrations
per hour and linked to a double barrel, the regularity with which it
splits time makes this escapement the key organ in the race for
performance. However, as is the case with a car, this power is only
useful if it can be perfectly transmitted to the wheels. As such, the
Richard Mille movement engineers have focused on the watch’s
transmission by giving the entire gear train a pressure angle of 20° on
the teeth. This optimisation makes for excellent power transmission and
therefore optimum performance. Their assembly on an ARCAP baseplate and
bridges endows the movement with extreme rigidity and a high resistance
to temperature variations and corrosion.
The AP escapement, the
gear trains with their specific profiles and the architecture of the
movement enable great consistency in the calculation of time,
irrespective of whether the watch is at the height of its power reserve
or within minutes of stopping. The movement operates in an environment
under argon, a chemically inert gas with a high thermal insulation
coefficient comparable to a vacuum atmosphere.
Thanks to these
techniques, the chronometric performance of the RM031 is exceptional for
a mechanical caliber, exceeding the expectations of the watchmakers
themselves. The Richard Mille brand has even created an internal
performance certificate to attest to the watch’s achievements. It can
only be awarded to watches that have undergone 61 days of non-stop
testing.
Days 1 to 15: the first test is conducted when the
movement is completely assembled. For 15 days, the caliber is subjected
to COSC tests based on the extremely strict criteria of the movement
manufacturers. Their exacting attention to the test results ensures an
average variation of less than one second/day from the watch’s first
beat.
Days 15 to 30: once it has been approved by the COSC and
the Richard Mille engineers, the watch is cased-up at Renaud & Papi.
New tests are then performed on their premises to check the power
reserve, functions, winding, assembly and finishes. For 15 days, the
caliber is put through gruelling tests to confirm its chronometric
regularity after casing-up. Any variation in time calculation over 15
seconds will result in the timepiece being completely dismantled.
Day
30 to 61: after months of testing, the watch arrives at the Breuleux
Manufacture, where the final phase of testing begins. The RM 031, placed
at the heart of a cyclotest, rotates on its axis once a minute for 31
days. Every day, at exactly 9.30 am, the watch is removed from the
cyclotest after 24 hours of uninterrupted operation. The watchmaker
winds it and compares the time given by the watch to that indicated by
the atomic clock, using atomic time as his reference. A photograph is
taken at that specific moment as visual evidence of the concordance
between the two times. After 31 days, the average monthly variation is
established. Calibers whose average variation exceeds 30 seconds are
fully dismantled and reassembled, then tested for another 61 days.
Having successfully passed the validation phases, the calibers guarantee
watches whose average variation will not vary by more than one second
per day.
The 10 RM 031 timepieces have all been awarded a
performance certificate signed by the inspector and Richard Mille. This
certificate is accompanied by daily records of the watch’s performance,
attesting to the extraordinary achievements of this exceptional
creation.
The RM 031 is a symbol of the mechanical performance pushed to the extreme.
Press Release
This message has been edited by Kong on 2013-07-16 09:55:45 
