Richard Mille, the indispensable name of exotic models, introduced its new model designed in collaboration with Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ). The limited production model that redefines the concept of “travel watch” stands out with its vibrating alarm feature.
A perfect example of pushing the limits of functionality and performance, which is the basis of Richard Mille’s philosophy, the model incorporates all the values of high-end watchmaking from complex design to superior ergonomics.
The second fruit of the Richard Mille and Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) brand partnership, the model focuses on the concept of travel. The most important feature of the model is the alarm function. However, contrary to the usual, this function warns the user in an extremely quiet and elegant way. By the way, this is not the only paradox in the design of the model. Meanwhile, vibration, which is perhaps one of the most important problems in the history of watchmaking, gives life to the alarm feature of this model and manages not to disturb anything including the Tourbillon. Unlike the Minute Repeaters, which are inspired by cathedral gongs, the ‘silent’ alarm function is unnoticed by anyone except the person who wears the watch. Whether you’re at an important meeting that requires intense concentration or in a quiet business class cabin, the RM 62-01 informs you in the most elegant way possible with a vibrating alarm. The model’s user-friendly design combines the ‘travel watch’ and ‘alarm watch’ concepts under the same roof in its most refined way.
When it comes to Richard Mille, high-tech solutions are inevitable. Well, operating two features like the vibrating alarm and the Tourbillon in the same case was a perfect task for the brand.
Inspired by early vibrating cell phones, the alarm system has a weight in solid gold, akin to an automatic rotor. The fact that the weight resembling the rotor does not harm any other function of the watch, including the Tourbillon, was achieved after a long period of R & D and many prototypes. The RM 62-01 is the most sophisticated Richard Mille ever built, in terms of both development and technical architecture as one of their watch constructors worked on this full time for five years, sometimes with the help of an additional watch constructor, with progress meetings every two weeks. The model is equipped with 816 separate parts, including 2 barrels, 7 hands, 11 displays, and a Tourbillon cage.
As with every Richard Mille model, functionality has been at the forefront for the RM 62-01. The second time zone indicator, large date window, power reserve indicator, and Tourbillon features are included in the sapphire crystal dial. Equipped with free-sprung balance, the operating frequency of the Tourbillon is set to 3Hz. The large date window is at 12 o’clock and the 70-hour power reserve is monitored through the indicator at 11 o’clock. The functions of the vibrating alarm feature are placed in the lower half of the dial. Adjustable to the nearest minute on a 24-hour basis, when the appropriate function is selected, the alarm has three indicators of its own: on/off, AM/PM and a power-reserve indicator. The RM 62-01 is also the only alarm to be wound, not by rotating the crown, but simply by pressing the pusher—12 times suffices to fully charge the alarm’s power reserve.
Aviation has a special place for Richard Mille... The brand owes many of its breathtaking innovations to its experience in this field. This has not changed for the RM 62-01, as the collaborative company became the Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ). The RM 62-01 follows in the footsteps of the 2016 RM 50-02 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph ACJ, from which it inherits its distinctive lines. However, where the RM 50-02 reverberated with the whiteness of the jumbo jet, the RM 62-01 appears inspired by the smooth depths of dark wood paneling from a bespoke cabin interior designed by Sylvain Mariat, Head of ACJ Creative Design. The sapphire glass, shaped like an airplane window, crowns the many indicators, which remain easily legible thanks to their color codes and strong contrast. The extra-wide diameter titanium crown recalls a jet turbine, whilst the pushers evoke the profile of pylons connecting the engine and wing.
The RM 62-01 has a double bezel, a feature that it also sports on the case back. Resting on a satin-polished titanium bezel, the second bezel is milled from a block of Carbon TPT® to a thickness of just 1.8 mm. The choice of these materials transcends merely aesthetic considerations: the titanium/ Carbon TPT® pairing provides optimal weight to stiffness ratio in the functional context of the RM 62—01. This combination ensures that vibrations produced by the alarm will be transferred to the wrist and deflected from the movement, which is thus protected by the structure of the watch itself.
The list price for the model is CHF 1,200,000.
