Richard Mille’s partnership with Ferrari is already breaking records. The venerable Swiss watchmaker unveiled its latest timepiece recently, the RM UP-01 Ferrari. The new model has a claimed case thickness of just 1.75 mm, thanks to which it has unseated the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra as the world’s thinnest mechanical watch.
The RM UP-01 Ferrari is the first timepiece to come from the multi-year partnership Richard Mille embarked on with the legendary Italian marque last year. And what a way to kick things off. It would appear the brand, which is best known for its robust sports watches, is viewing the collaboration as a chance to do something completely new and outside the box.
The new timepiece’s cushion-shaped face, which measures 51 mm across and 39 mm top to bottom, is basically all bezel and has been designed to look like the dashboard of a sports car. It features a small, sapphire-covered central dial that displays the time and is bordered by two integrated crowns (one is a function selector, the other winds the watch) on the right and a balance dial and Ferrari’s iconic Prancing Horse logo on the left. From top to bottom, the face and equally stripped-down caseback measure just 1.75 mm thick when sandwiched together. That makes it 0.05 mm thinner—or just shy of three percent slimmer—than Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Ultra, which was only released earlier this spring.
Put another way: the new watch itself is so thin that its leather strap is actually thicker.
Unlike its other ultra-thin peers, Richard Mille and Ferrari’s watch is powered by a distinct movement, not one built into its caseback. The manually wound RMUP-01 movement, which was developed in collaboration with Audemars Piguet Le Locle, features an ultra-flat escapement and 23 jewels. It may only be 1.18 mm thick and weigh 2.82 grams, but it can withstand acceleration up to 5,000 Gs and has a power reserve of 45 hours. Almost as impressive is the fact that the watch that encloses it is water-resistant up to 32.8 feet, though it’s hard to imagine anyone who buys it won’t take it off before taking a dip.
The RM UP-01 Ferrari will be limited to just 150 examples and will sell for US$1.88 million (about RM8.3 million) when it finally goes on sale. That’s significantly more than the US$407,000 the Octo Finissimo Ultra commands, but after three months it’s no longer the world’s thinnest watch. However, Bulgari has already set and broken its own record for the world’s thinnest watch eight times.
Previously published on Robb Report.
