Richard Mille’s latest timepiece wants to lure you to the dark side. Dubbed the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon, the 42 mm watch places the “devil’s horns” at the centre of its skeletonised dial. The gesturing hand, which is ubiquitous in heavy metal, hard rock and beyond, was forged from polished 5N red gold and holds the watchmaker’s RM66 manual-winding movement in its fingers.
A team led by Genevan engraver Olivier Vaucher painstakingly finished each devil’s horn by hand. The infamous icon is housed within a curved, tonneau-shaped case made of grade 5 titanium. The not-so-heavy metal is coloured black, naturally. The bezel and caseback, meanwhile, were crafted from an exclusive combination of carbon and gold leaf known as Gold Carbon TPT.
The horns aren’t the only nod to rock ‘n’ roll: The index markers on the dial resemble guitar plectrums, the titanium baseplate features palm-like gold details and the “goth” crown is topped with a skull. The watch will withstand the liveliest of concerts, too. The baseplate and bridges reportedly underwent intensive testing to ensure resistance to drops and scrapes.
As for the calibre RM66, the fast-rotating barrel is positioned at 6 o’clock and the flying tourbillon at 12 o’clock. This is a first for Richard Mille. As collectors know, the free-sprung balance better counters shocks and the effects of gravity. The skeletonized movement also provides you with an impressive 72-hour power reserve, while the tripartite case offers a water resistance of 50 metres.
Designing the menacing timepiece was no easy feat, of course. It reportedly required 1,500 hours of research and development, then more time to actually make it.
“Between its development and finalisation, we spent more than 200 hours on this piece, in addition to the 12 hours required to machine and finish a single crown,” Richard Mille’s technical director for cases Julien Boillat said in a statement. “Polishing titanium is much more difficult than polishing gold or steel.”
Limited to just 50 pieces, the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon is exclusively available at Richard Mille boutiques for US$1.1 million.
Previously published on Robb Report.
