This is a very simple idea… but you still had to think about it! Not content with offering the finest mechanical watch in the world, the Swiss watchmaker replica Richard Mille this time presents a watch which gives the illusion of being simple, surfing on the pop universe, colorful and incorporating the Smiley dear to the generation 80 (and the following) designed 50 years ago by Franklin Loufrani. But which ultimately turns out to be a very technical watch combining gold, PVD, platinum and above all an automatic skeletonized tourbillon caliber which required three years of R&D.
The Smiley: the mechanics of smiling
A yellow circle, two oval eyes, a wide upturned mouth, this is what stands out the most when discovering this new watch from Richard Mille. We indeed find the figure of the Smiley in microblasted yellow gold on the dial, but also on the crown, of this RM 88 Tourbillon Automatic.
Under the Smiley face of the dial, we then see a rainbow which shines with light reflections thanks to colored varnishes applied by hand contrasting with its anthracite rhodium plating. The cocktail glass is made from four gold elements. The whole made up of the umbrella, the olive (1.7 mm in height), the striped straw with a diameter of 0.4 mm – all polished – as well as the microblasted glass at its base to suggest its freshness weighs only 0.4g.
The gold flower that tops it has a mirror polish while its petals are brushed and rhodium-plated. The pink flamingo in red gold and its 0.2 g also required several operations: its base is microblasted, its eye made with the smallest existing setting bead, the surface which represents the grass and water is polished, everything like the wings whose feathers have been redesigned at the point of a Dégussit stone. Painted black with a brush after a metallic pink PVD treatment of the entire piece, the beak provides the final touch,” specifies Richard Mille in a press release.
A new “in-house” CRMT7 caliber
On the technical side this time, this RM 88 Tourbillon Automatic adopts a white ATZ ceramic and red gold case measuring 48.15 mm in diameter and 13.30 mm thick. The flange is in black PVD-treated titanium, set with diamonds and blue sapphires. ATZ is, after diamond, one of the hardest materials in the world. The caseband is in 18-carat 5N red gold.
The tripartite case is waterproof to 50 meters, thanks to two Nitrile O-rings. It is assembled using 12 grade 5 titanium spline screws and wear-resistant 316L stainless steel washers. But the great novelty of this replica watches concerns, in addition to its aesthetic aspect, the use of the “in-house” CRMT7 caliber which offers a skeletonized automatic winding tourbillon with hours, minutes and function indicator. The power reserve is approximately 50 hours, give or take 10%.
A movement that can be admired both from the front and from the back, thanks to the transparent case back. The RM 88 Tourbillon Automatic by Richard Mille is a limited edition of 50 pieces.