Richard Mille’s RM 07-01 – a series of self-winding women’s watches featuring the brand’s slimmest tonneau-shaped case – now has two new models using Carbon TPT in their construction. The RM 07-01 Automatic Starry Night features gem-set star motifs, and the RM 07-01 Automatic has a sensuous chain-link bracelet arrayed in gold and Carbon TPT.
Carbon TPT, which stands for “Thin Ply Technology,” was developed by North Thin Ply Technology primarily as a strong, durable and light material for demanding industrial applications, as in sails and racing yachts. However, Richard Mille, the co-founder of the brand, realised its potential in watchmaking. Its surface has beautiful damascene patterns and a moiré sheen. Its matt aspect intensifies the sense of warmth to the touch. Its extreme lightness makes the watch wearable daily.
Richard Mille signed an exclusive deal with the manufacturer who set up a dedicated 300-square-metre production facility at Renens, Switzerland. Sourcing the martial is one thing, working with it is another. The watchmaker had to figure out how to machine such a hard material, as none of their existing tools or techniques could accomplish the task. The martial now features regularly on Richard Mille watches.
The RM 07-01 Automatic Starry Night has a Carbon TPT bracelet weighing just 29 grams. This watch displays an all-new bezel setting, aptly named ‘Starry Night’ in a nod to the heavenly bodies. Its profile is gracefully enhanced with diamonds.
This watch is another example of the brand’s mastery of machining Carbon TPT. Unlike gold, which an artisan can shape with their tools to make prongs for holding the gems, the hardness and resistance of Carbon TPT require specialist CNC machines equipped with diamond bits to provide the mitraillage for the setting. Hand-polished prongs in 5N red gold are produced separately and then embedded in the many stone settings of varying diameters. These hold fast the piece’s 181 diamonds.
The RM 07-01 Automatic combines a bezel and caseback in Carbon TPT with a caseband in 5N red gold. This watch offers a new take on the curb-chain bracelet whose hand-finished links weave together Carbon TPT and 5N red gold. In every respect a voluptuous bracelet, it offers a play of matt and shining effects, along with suppleness and extreme strength.
Both models are driven by the in-house Calibre CRMA2 displaying the hours and minutes. The skeletonised automatic movement was developed specifically for the RM 07-01, and it features a variable-geometry rotor. Both models feature crowns in red gold.
The RM 07-01 Automatic Starry Night and RM 07-01 Automatic, with their much-loved size and sensuous shape, combine feminine beauty, comfort and technical prowess.
