Often considered a rebel in the world of watchmaking, the Richard Mille brand asserts its fiercely innovative attitude with the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon, which proudly flaunts the sign’s horns – the emblematic gesture of an entire generation – a veritable school of thought.
The methodology employed to bring this iconography to life called for an extreme mastery of artistic expression.
The devil’s horns of the RM 66 are dominated by a flying tourbillon at 12 o’clock on which is engraved with the seal of the skull, a tribute to the RM 052, first watch to proclaim rebellion and the advent of non-conformity in Haute Horlogerie.
On stage, RM 66 reveals its entire rock universe. The hour markers, screwed to the upper flange, take the form of a guitar pick. Stretching like warheads, they plunge the look into the abyss of the Carbon TPT® and titanium case, revealing touches of gold through its openwork flange, echoing the gold inserts with a clou de Paris motif present on the caseband.
The architecture of the RM66 manual winding calibre showcases a fast-winding barrel providing a 72-hour power reserve positioned at 6 o’clock and a tourbillon at 12 o’clock. To ensure the greatest possible transparency, the grade 5 titanium movement, whose lines follow those of the hand, is highly skeletonised.
This is possible thanks to a complex mechanical solution rarely employed by Richard Mille to enhance the skeletonisation, a flying tourbillon with variable inertia. The absence of an upper bridge creates the illusion that it is weightless.
The horns gesture of the RM 66 is represented by outstretched index and little fingers, whilst the last phalange of the thumb holding the middle and ring fingers are visible from the back of the watch. Created by teams overseen by Olivier Vaucher, a renowned Genevan engraver, the openwork hand in 5N red gold is attached to the barrel bridge.
Microblasted, polished and finished entirely by hand, each component is the result of extremely careful craftsmanship.
Bringing the world of rock to life within the RM 66 called for quite a bit of technical ingenuity — 1,500 hours of research and development and nine months of work for the casing team. The extreme attention to detail is further revealed in the index points shaped like a guitar plectrum, extended by a lancet arch in titanium and the torque-limiting crown in the shape of a spider whose gothic-inspired segments embrace a synthetic ruby and its circular black rubber gasket.
*Information courtesy of Richard Mille