The Richard Mille RM16-02 popped up in my Instagram feed last week on the wrist of its ambassador and professional fencer Miles Chamley-Watson. But instead of seeing him in his white breeches with a sabre in hand, Chamley-Watson was stylishly dressed and photographed next to an equally gorgeous woman in a Brutalist architectural décor. Photographed by Emma Panchot, the whole scene emanates coolness especially when you zoom in on the two new Richard Mille timepieces on their wrists.
Let’s start on the outside and work our way in. There are two models – one that is housed in a grade 5 titanium case with micro-blasted satin finishing and polished bezels, and the other in a new sporty Terracotta Quartz TPT® color. The ultra-thin cases measure 36 mm x 45.65 mm in diameter (10% smaller than previous rectangular models), which certainly will get noticed on the wrist, but that’s the whole point.
The next thing that catches the eye is the skeletonized movement that has been open-worked into a maze of intricate interlacing of titanium lines that play on the light in a seemingly chaotic, yet intriguing way.
Powered by the new skeletonized Calibre CRMA9, this movement marks the 15th in-house movement from the French watchmaker and was designed specifically for these two timepieces. The skeletonised grade 5 titanium baseplate has been microblasted and coloured with a grey electroplasma coating that covers the entire visible surface of the watch, while the minutes bridge stands out with its black PVD coating. The work that has gone into this mechanism is off the charts with 67 openings of varying sizes, all of which include chamfered edges.
Turn the watch over and the magic continues with an entirely new platinum and titanium bidirectional oscillating weight that has been redesigned to sit in harmony with the movement thanks to its open-worked apertures and geometric semi-octagonal form. The rotor is mounted on ceramic ball bearings for efficient winding of the 50-hour power reserve.
Back to the dial and the hour markers are of particular note as they run through the visible parts of the movement, creating an interesting pattern that leads the eye into the mechanics and the exceptional finishing of the individual parts.
The watches are finished with integrated rubber straps – brown for the terracotta version and cream for the titanium model – which have been designed for ultimate comfort on the wrist. This is something that Richard Mille always does really well, which is essential today as comfort is definitely the new cool.
These two timepieces are the latest iterations of a long line of RM 016 timepieces that were first released in 2007 and have been continually updated and experimented with in terms of materials and designs. They attest to the brand’s continual talent at creating cool timepieces that seduce the serious watch collectors as well as those who just can’t get enough of the horological style.
