One of my big passions in life is going to the cinema and watching a brilliantly crafted movie. Even at University (well over 20 years ago) I was obsessed with cinematography, especially film noir. In fact, rather than follow my fellow students and write my dissertation about contemporary artists I chose to profile Cary Grant. I vividly remember my tutors were baffled by my decision at the time but it all worked out ok in the end. These days the film industry is dominated by product placement and watchmakers have jumped on the bandwagon. Virtually on a weekly basis I receive a press release portraying a celebrity wearing a new timepiece. I suppose personalities have always endorsed products however not to this degree. In my opinion luxury watchmaker Richard Mille has exploited this market very successfully. Recent ambassadors have included Sylvester Stallone, Natalie Portman, Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan.
A few weeks ago I published an in depth review of Richard Mille’s phenomenal RM-59-01 Tourbillon Yohan Blake. This watch is a great example of the company’s talents and felt very comfortable to wear. Normally people associate this brand with exceptionally lightweight, high performance sports timepieces. They are normally marketed at a very high price point so only discerning collectors and privileged brand ambassadors ever get the opportunity to own one. Fortunately and thanks to the enormous generosity of Malmaison in Singapore (http://www.thehourglass.com) I got access to a couple of these exquisite timepieces.
In contrast to the radical RM-59-01 Tourbillon Yohan Blake the RM-025 has a more conventional appearance. With a case size measuring 50.70 mm x 19.10 mm (excluding the crown) it also felt a lot chunkier than the RM-59-01. Personally I see that as a huge positive as I absolutely love large watches. Nevertheless it did feel lightweight to wear and sat comfortably on my wrist. Primarily this is down to the stylish design of the watch and choice of titanium with 18-karat red gold lugs.
The RM-025 is marketed as a divers watch although I would be curious to know who would actually wear a complication of this price ($565,500) for extreme water sports. I love the open worked skeleton dial exposing the incredible tourbillon mechanical movement. This characteristic gives the watch an unbelievably distinctive three-dimensional aesthetic. Other supreme features include a robust bezel (with contrasting red/black numerals and oversized crown. Overall the composition is outstanding and the finishing is unsurpassed.
Beneath the durable exterior lies a highly sophisticated manual winding tourbillon mechanical movement. The Caliber RM025 comprises 30-jewels and oscillates at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour. Each individual component has been masterfully hand crafted, polished, assembled in Switzerland and is visible through the sapphire crystal case back. Functionally the RM-025 features hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph, power reserve indicator (50-hours) and torque indicator. The timepiece is also water resistant to a depth of 300 metres.
The RM-025 comes with a black strap constructed from a material called Kalrez®, which is normally used in aerospace and pharmaceutical industry.
For more information about this watch visit Richard Mille’s website: http://www.richardmille.com
