Richard Mille - RM 21-01 Tourbillon Aerodyne

1 0 Tuesday, 27 April 2021 Edit this post

The combination of bold design and exceptional materials makes Richard Mille timepieces truly unique. In its relentless quest for innovation, the Swiss brand design watches that can resist the most extreme conditions thanks to advanced mechanical engineering solutions and materials drawn from the world of aeronautics and Formula 1 that offer lightness and resistance.

The new RM 21-01 Tourbillon Aerodyne is the latest demonstration of this daring approach to watchmaking.

Richard Mille RM 21-01 Tourbillon Aerodyne

The complex structure of the case in 5N red gold is reinforced with an exoskeleton in Carbon TPT, used for the bezel and pillars.

Originally developed for the sails of racing yachts and then used also for F1 car chassis and in aeronautics, this composite material has exceptional physical properties but also a distinctive appearance. The undulating pattern is due to the fact that it is composed by multiple layers of parallel filaments obtained by dividing carbon fibers.

These layers, with a maximum thickness of 30 microns, are impregnated with resin then woven on a special machine that modifies the direction of the weft by 45° between layers. After being heated to 120°C at a pressure of 6 bars, NTPT is then processed using special CNC machine in Richard Mille’s ProArt case factory.

The striking look of Carbon TPT layers nicely complements the warm tones of gold and the royal blue honeycombed motif of the baseplate.

The orthorhombic honeycomb structure is made of Haynes 214, a nickel-chromium-aluminium-iron alloy, and treated with blue PVD. Thanks to its properties, the RM 21-01’s baseplate can offer unsurpassed stiffness, an extremely low thermal expansion coefficient and exceptional torque resistance.

For the bridges, Richard Mille opted for grade 5 titanium, due to its superior rigidity and excellent corrosion resistance. The barrel and tourbillon bridges, consisting of four arms on an openwork circular base edged in gold, are seated in the central crucible of the plate lending them mechanical properties ideally suited to the rotation of these moving parts, while allowing the beauty of the tourbillon to be admired.

Finished with a PVD treatment in 5N red gold with hand-polished anglage, the hand-wound Calibre RM21-01 beats at 21.600 vibrations per hour and offers an autonomy of 70 hours. The power-reserve indicator is placed in lieu of the number at 11 o’clock, while the torque indicator is symmetrically positioned at 1 o’clock. This makes it possible to know the barrel-spring’s tension and thus optimise the movement’s functioning.

At 4 o’clock we find the function selector, operated by a pusher integrated into the centre of the crown. By pressing it, it is possible to switch from the Neutral (N) position to Winding (W) or Hand-Setting (H).

Measuring 42.68 x 50.12 x 14.30 mm, the tripartite case is water resistant to 50 metres / 165 feet, ensured by 2 Nitrile O-ring seals. The case is assembled with 20 spline screws in grade 5 titanium and abrasion-resistant washers in 316L stainless steel.

A limited edition of 50 pieces, the new Richard Mille RM 21-01 Tourbillon Aerodyne has a price of CHF 750,000 excluding sales taxes. richardmille.com