Style
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Luxury

STYLE Edit: Richard Mille’s newest timepieces, RM 74-01 and 74-02 – how the Swiss watchmaker brought Formula One, yacht and space shuttle technology to the world of horology

STORYSCMP Style Reporter
Richard Mille, the luxury watchmaker, combines hi-tech watchmaking science with innovative materials. Photos: Richard Mille
Richard Mille, the luxury watchmaker, combines hi-tech watchmaking science with innovative materials. Photos: Richard Mille
Style Edit

  • Richard Mille is the first and only watch brand to use cermet, which is almost as hard as a diamond and used in aerospace shuttles
  • Another exclusive material in the RM 74-02, one of two new In-House Automatic Tourbillons, is gold carbon TPT

When it comes to industry-first innovations, Richard Mille knows how to impress. It was the first watchmaker to use titanium and carbon nanofiber as baseplates in movements. Its signature carbon TPT material was originally developed for use in the world of racing – both on yachts and in Formula One cars – before the brand incorporated it in watches. These, in addition to its numerous feats of horological innovation, are part of what makes Richard Mille a force to be reckoned with.

The innovations in its latest RM 74-01 and 74-02 In-House Automatic Tourbillons,
which combine industry-exclusive materials with technically impressive movement engineering, only add to the brand’s reputation.

Advertisement
Richard Mille 74-01, where the bezels are made from cermet, which can usually be found in racing car brakes.
Richard Mille 74-01, where the bezels are made from cermet, which can usually be found in racing car brakes.

The most striking thing about the RM 74-01 and RM 74-02 lies in their material developments. The bezels on RM 74-01 are made from grey cermet, a material with a hardness that is comparable to that of a diamond (2,360 Vickers compared to diamond’s 2,400 Vickers). Cermet combines the lightness of titanium with the hardness of ceramic; it is also exceptionally resistant to corrosion or scratches, which is why the material can usually be found in racing car brakes and the external fuselage of aerospace shuttles. Richard Mille took years to develop the material in partnership with microtechnology specialist IMI Group, and now has exclusive access to it in the watchmaking world.

The Richard Mille 74-02 has a winding mechanism with a variable-geometry rotor that adapts to the movements of the wearer.
The Richard Mille 74-02 has a winding mechanism with a variable-geometry rotor that adapts to the movements of the wearer.

The RM 74-02 is crafted from yet another exclusive material – gold carbon TPT. As the name suggests, the material combines the composite carbon TPT with gold. The unprecedented combination was difficult to achieve – the properties of gold as an unreactive noble metal make it difficult to fuse with other materials.

The gold carbon TPT was eventually created after years of research, and is formed by alternating thin layers of carbon TPT with 24-karat yellow gold leaf at an angle of 45 degrees. The result is a striking material, with the dark carbon composite featuring gold striations laced throughout its body.