Richard Mille RM 07-01 Colored Ceramic

Known for its men’s watches that combine technical know-how with innovative, cutting-edge materials, Richard Mille is rapidly and confidently gaining ground among women by creating watches that combine technical prowess with the pronounced femininity of the watch brand. And Cecile Gena, creative director and Director of Development at Richard Mille, is a man to thank in many ways for this.

Her 2018 debut collection, the RM 71-01 Auto Tourbillon Talisman, set the bar high with its effortless combination of appearance and functionality. The ethnic design of the watch, studded with precious stones, not only aesthetically distinguished them from the rest, but also served to demonstrate the delicate internal automatic skeletonized mechanism with a tourbillon. As a result, the watch became a flashing beacon of the watchmaker’s commitment to creating women’s watches, which confidently occupied the place of the highest watchmaking art.

The Bonbon collection, released less than a year later, rocked the world. Inspired by the world of sweets, the controversial collection touched on childhood nostalgia with miniature lollipops and candied fruits. It was unlike anything the brand had ever released before, angering many supporters. But the risk paid off: the entire collection was reportedly sold out within two days of its launch. Gena clearly guesses the desires of the audience Richard Mille, as she should be, being the daughter of Dominique Gena, co-founder and co-president of Richard Mille.

This year, the brand plunged headlong into the exploration of color, releasing a capsule collection of three watches. The RM 07-01 Automatic Colored Ceramics watches, released in a limited edition of only 50 copies each, open up new horizons for the brand thanks to a guilloched dial made of several materials with ceramic and rubber inserts with geometric patterns — a first for Richard Mille.

Says Genat: “My main source of inspiration was Memphis Design, the Italian design movement that became a real cultural phenomenon of the 1980s. Memphis revolutionized the creative energy of the design world; it broke the creative boundaries previously dictated by the industry and introduced new shapes, materials, and patterns. Explosive colors, rich decor, bold asymmetry… all this was completely new for that time. I thought about this when I was drawing the collection, and the design process was based on the idea of combining these colors in materials such as ceramics and rubber with a pattern.

We played with various geometric shapes and materials in the same way that we created an object in the Memphis movement. I quickly felt that the whole design concept would be deeply enriched by interweaving the craft of making guilloched dials into the design — this creates a new symbiosis of the ultramodern and traditional in watchmaking. The result is a watch that combines modern, elegant, playful and extroverted lines in a new form.”

“We all live in difficult times, when many important human values are under pressure, and the importance of traditions is often forgotten. I hoped that by creating a very modern visual code that includes the crafts of past centuries, this collection would become a joyful source of inspiration for how we can look to the future. We want to make sure that the brand always creates watches that are both highly technical and innovative, as well as unsurpassed and amazing,” the designer shares his thoughts.

Richard Mille is known for his intricate tonneau cases, delicate mechanisms, and bold use of color. The latter is a distinctive feature of the three new RM 07-01 Colored Ceramic models. Each of the three editions is made in a unique color combination: Pastel Blue combines light blue with turquoise accents; Pastel Pink combines purple and blue highlights; and Pastel Lavender is complemented by red and orange elements.

The three-part housing measures 31.4 x 45.23 x 11.85 mm. Although RM 07-01 is positioned as a women’s watch, its thickness and length are sufficient for any wrist. The colored models are made of pure ceramics called tetragonal zirconium polycrystal, which contains 95% zirconium dioxide. Richard Mille claims that this material is scratch-resistant up to 1400 Vickers units, which is stronger than sapphire. Creating complex bezel shapes requires a lengthy and complex machining and grinding process using a diamond tool. The middle part of the body is made of white gold, the supports are hand-polished, and the base plate and bridges are made of Grade 5 titanium, sandblasted.

The dial is made using a combination of traditional and modern techniques. It starts with a red gold rhodium center, and ends with a guilloche motif that the company describes as “partly botanical, partly sunburst, and partly art Deco.” This is the first time that Richard Mille, a modern brand, has applied guilloche to the watch face, but the unusual pattern gives this antique craft a modern touch. The center is surrounded by sandblasted ceramic inserts and rubber applications with geometric patterns of various interesting configurations and colors. The straps are two-tone, in harmony with the body elements: azure-lilac, coral-mandarin or olive-blue.

Sapphire glasses are installed both on the dial of the new Richard Mille RM 07-01 Colored Ceramics watch and on its back cover, and the rubberized crown protrudes from the side of the case around the 3 o’clock mark. The three-part housing is secured with a set of Class 5 titanium slotted screws with 316L stainless steel wear-resistant washers, and gaskets located between the various components of the housing provide the new RM 07-01 models with 50 meters of water resistance. Because TZP ceramics are more than 95% zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), they have many of the advantages of other types of ceramics, such as exceptional corrosion resistance and 1400 Vickers hardness.

The case has an automatic CRMA2 calibre with a free balance spring, which, according to Mill, guarantees greater reliability when exposed to shocks, resulting in better timing. The rotor moves on ceramic ball bearings, which optimize the plant’s system. The watch has a power reserve of 50 hours.

The ears of the new Richard Mille RM 07-01 Colored Ceramics watch are equipped with Velcro straps, each of which has its own contrasting color to complement the specific shade of the case. The RM 07-01 Pastel Pink model is equipped with a turquoise strap, the RM 07-01 Pastel Lavender model is equipped with a yellow strap, and the RM 07-01 Pastel Blue model has a pale red strap. All three different straps have a speckled pattern of contrasting color on the outer folding part of the Velcro fastener, and the junction point of the two ends is a loop with the signature “Richard Mille”, made of polished 18K white gold. The new RM 07-01 will be released in a limited edition of 50 copies of each color at a price of 163,000 USD.

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