Richard Mille is introducing a brand new limited edition – and it’s like nothing we have seen before. Taking its inspiration from the rock ‘n roll lifestyle of the 1960s, the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon from Richard Mille is surely one of the most extravagant pieces to exist in the current collection. 50 pieces are available.
The case
First things first, the Richard Mille RM 66 Flying Tourbillon has a pretty sizeable case, measuring 42.70 x 49.94 x 16.15 mm. While the front and back of the case uses Carbon TPT for a rougher aesthetic, this is balanced out by the precious sheen of 5N red-gold plates sitting between the Grade 5 titanium caseband. These plates feature a clou de Paris pattern, which aim to evoke the sharp edges characteristic of punk belts.
Credit © Fabien Nissel
Credit © Romain Lenancker
The crown
Meanwhile, the ruby-set titanium crown evokes the shape of a spider. The crown also has other qualities. The torque-resistant crown automatically disengages when the tension of the barrel is optimal, thus eliminating any risk of over-winding. Due to the difficulties of polishing titanium, each crown on the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon takes 12 hours to finish.
Credit © Fabien Nissel
The dial
The dial of the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon is full of visual cues sure to appeal to musical fans of the brand. For one thing, the unusual hour markers imitate the shape of guitar plectrums. Rather than attaching to the dial as one might expect, Richard Mille screw these indices to a bevelled inner titanium bezel. Due to the black PVD coating on this inner bezel, bevelling is an incredibly delicate operation that must be executed with great care.
Credit © Romain Lenancker
Yet this is not the most exciting part of the new RM 66 Flying Tourbillon, which brings to life the vision of Creative and Development Director, Cécile Guenat. The showstopper of her latest creation is the skeletal 5N red-gold hand, which appears to be holding the whole calibre in its grasp. We’ve seen this skeletal theme before, for example in the RM 052 Tourbillon Skull. This skeleton motif is a nod to the manufacture’s mantra of living life to the fullest. Meanwhile, the crafting of the five fingers is the work of Genevan engraver Olivier Vaucher.
Credit © Fabien Nissel
The calibre RM 66
Beneath this work of art, we find the main event: the calibre RM 66 manual winding calibre. At 6 o’clock, underneath the red-golden palm of the hand, the watch showcases the fast-winding barrel providing the 72-hour power reserve. This barrel revolves every 6 – as opposed to every 7.5 – hours. Wearers of the watch can also admire the calibre via the sapphire crystal caseback.
Credit © Fabien Nissel
The flying tourbillon: Visibility is everything
Meanwhile, the flying tourbillon unconventionally sits at 12 o’clock (it’s fair to say that most traditional manufactures favour the 6 o’clock position). There is an explanation, however: the watch flips the movement by 180 degrees in order to offer pride of place to the tourbillon.
Credit © Fabien Nissel
For as much transparency as possible, the watchmaker take extra steps. Richard Mille opts for a flying tourbillon with variable inertia to enhance skeletonisation. Thus, the tourbillon cage lacks an upper bridge – hence ‘flying’ tourbillon. This aesthetically accentuates the qualities of the highly skeletonised RM 66.
Credit © Fabien Nissel
RM 66 Flying Tourbillon: Price and availability
Last but not least, only 50 pieces of the Richard Mille RM 66 Flying Tourbillon are available. The extraordinary timepieces comes on a jet-black rubber strap. The official retail price of this rock ‘n roll masterpiece is 985,000 Swiss francs, excluding VAT.
Credit © Fabien Nissel
Savoir-Fair
Credit © Fabien Nissel
FEATURES
| BRAND | Richard Mille |
| MODEL | RM66 Flying Tourbillon |
| REFERENCE | RM 66 |
| CASE MATERIAL | Bezel and caseback: Carbon TPT Caseband: Grade 5 titanium, 5N red-gold inserts |
| DIMENSIONS | Width: 42.70 mm Length: 49.94 mm Height: 16.15 mm |
| WATER RESISTANCE | 50 m (~5 bar) |
| DIAL | Grade 5 titanium baseplate |
| STRAP/BRACELET | Black rubber strap |
| MOVEMENT | RM 66 |
| MOVEMENT TYPE | Manual winding |
| POWER RESERVE | 72 hours |
| FREQUENCY | 3 Hz (21,600 vph) |
| FUNCTIONS | Hours, minutes, tourbillon |
| PRICE | 985,000 CHF – limited to 50 pieces |