This year’s SIHH 2011 international trade show is almost upon us and Richard Mille PR department has just informed yours truly at WorldWatchReview.com that tomorrow the Swiss-based maker of ultra-luxury timekeepers is going to present its ultra-thin Richard Mille RM 033 Extra Flat collection. The new family will comprise three versions: in rose and white gold, as well as one in extra-lightweight titanium. While the more expensive versions definitely look cool, it is the version in titanium that of more interest to us: the gold ones may look cool, but the one crafted from feather-weight grey alloy looks absolutely bad-ass in all of its mildly oversized glory.
Richard Mille
Richard Mille Automatic RM 030 with Declutchable Rotor
During the SIHH 2011 event, Richard Mille has presented its RM 030 model with a so-called “declutchable” rotor: a complication that, unlike a something as unnecessarily sophisticated as a tourbillon or a minute repeater, is not just nice to have but is actually quite useful for many reasons. Designed to slow-down the process of wearing-out of the self-winding mechanism, the declutchable rotor is what it is: a rotor that, colloquially speaking, disengages its “clutch” the same way an automatic gearbox declutches, um, automatically when you press on the brake pedal while stopping at a traffic light. In this particular instance, the winding system is physically disengaged from the winding barrel as soon as the estimated power reserve reaches the 50-hour mark.
Richard Mille RM 029 Automatic Big Date in Titanium
The 2011 Richard Mille RM 029 Automatic Big Date offers RM’s signature tonneau case, an expertly skeletonized movement, and an oversized date module. Soon to be available in three versions of its mildly oversized body, the RM 029, as always, is going to be -ahem- reassuringly expensive and deliciously exclusive: just what we like, right?
Richard Mille RM 010 Black Night
With its easily recognizable exterior, the 2011 Richard Mille RM 010 Black Night is an ultimate toy for a wealthy person who wants something extraordinary but doesn’t want to go either with something as ‘ordinary’ as a Patek Philippe or a Vacheron Constantin nor something as outrageous as a tourbillon-equipped Hublot. The only problem with it is that, for some far-from-obvious reason, the watchmaker decided not to sell the gadget in the United States, which is a pity.
Richard Mille RM 017 Tourbillon Extra Flat
For this year, Richard Mille updates their RM 017 collection with an even more technologically advanced hand-wound Tourbillon Extra Flat model that now comes in an ultra-thin case crafted from 18-karat red gold measuring less than nine millimeters from top to bottom.