Richard Mille RM 72-01’Lifestyle’ Flyback Chronograph

Richard Mille‘s latest flyback chronograph uses the company’s first fully internal movement.

No other watch brand represents exclusivity better than Richard Mille. It has a history of more than 20 years since its establishment. It has achieved many technical milestones-the wearing of a tourbillon watch. Just to cite a recent example, it is a well-known professional tennis player Rafael Nadal. Almost all other tourbillons I can think of are dangerous, but they are actually destructive (usually speaking, they are quite delicate devices, but the peculiarity of Richard Mille overthrowing expectations is Tourbillon, stuff).

However, sometimes due to the incredibly huge cost, these technological achievements are sometimes difficult to see. Many narratives of Richard Mille watches are related to the fact that only a handful of watch lovers can afford it – in fact, this ratio is essentially the same as the term “affordable” Irrelevant. The main function of a watch is actually to send a signal to a highly specific socioeconomic group (as a euphemism for the “super rich”), and Richard Mille has been very astute for many years and can retain one of its important aspects. Formula One and aerospace-inspired designs have made them a reality and continue to make them instantly recognizable (and, it must be said, sometimes slavery and fictional imitations).

In fact, the manufacturing of his watch follows a model similar to that of a Formula One race car, which influenced Richard Mille’s design and material selection-the idea is to manufacture machinery that hardly considers unit cost The number of devices is very limited. (Although the design is deliberately anti-classic, it is largely a traditional luxury model: it takes a long time, and it costs nothing.) Like F1, you don’t necessarily have to make each The component F1 team has historically sourced power plants from professional suppliers. Therefore, Richard Mille purchased a movement with manufacturing capabilities from partners to meet the required performance and aesthetics. standard. Usually, RM’s suppliers are Vaucher and Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi. This strategy is a huge success for RM – the movement is after all the core of its swiss replica watches usa and an important aspect of its aesthetics.

Generally, RM avoids falling into the trap of thinking that making everything in-house is an essential element of success, but at the same time, moving internally within the brand’s brand has an undisputed portfolio of prestige. This year, RM produced the first internal movement CRMC-1. This is a flyback chronograph with a new dual-tilt pinion clutch system and debuted in the RM 72-01 “Lifestyle” chronograph.

RM refers to RM 72-01 as a unisex watch (although I noticed that actual watch enthusiasts, regardless of gender, like to wear whatever they want; the obsession with gender-specific product categories in high-end watches seems to be increasing every day Dinosaurs) and will be available in four different case materials when it is launched on the market: titanium, 18k rose gold or black and white ceramics.

In many ways, this is a classic luxury Richard Mille design. With his iconic tonneau-shaped case, the protruding front panel screws are designed with five splines to ensure that the slotted screws cannot achieve visual symmetry. The design also distributes the torque (more or less) evenly over the entire diameter of the screw, rather than on the narrow edge of a conventional screwdriver slot. (Actually, they look like bolts in this respect, although the basic difference between bolts and screws is that the former is used with a nut to connect two unthreaded components, while the screw engages with the thread in the screw Component itself). The situation is 38.40 x 47.34 x 11.68 mm; at first the thickness of the latter seems to be out of proportion to the visual impression you get from the watch, but I think the feeling of greater thickness may come more from the aesthetics of the case because of the case The bezel and back cover, as well as the very strong crown and chronograph buttons, are larger than the actual thickness. Of course, RM does not seem to be addicted to any form of deception, such as not including the crystal thickness that is flush with the curved upper surface of the case.

In the traditional side clutch system, the power of the chronograph comes from the fourth wheel of the movement. The wheel usually rotates once per minute, so from the perspective of gear transmission, it is very simple to use this wheel to drive the chronograph second hand. The disadvantage of using it to drive a timing train is that the fourth wheel is the wheel farthest from the barrel (the next wheel is the escape wheel), so it is the wheel with the least available spare energy. This means that opening the chronograph will inevitably result in a decrease in the swing of the balance wheel, which may have an adverse effect on rate stability; although in a sophisticated and adjusted lateral clutch chronograph, the drop in amplitude is usually minimized to a certain extent Degree so that the problem is more abstract than the actual problem.

Despite this, watchmakers have been trying to use the backup clutch mechanism for decades-this is why we finally adopted the side clutch and tilt pinion system-perfect Richard Mille (Richard Mille) new movement uses two An independent drive system, in the form of two independent inclined pinions, in the seconds and minutes chronograph, the new movement draws energy from different parts of the movement.

CRMC-1 uses a dual tilt pinion system to divide the load. The chronograph second hand is still driven by the fourth wheel of the moving train; however, the chronograph minute hand is driven by the wheels in the movement. The movement drives the hour and minute hands and is connected to the barrel, so no power is transmitted to the fourth wheel, escape wheel, lever and balance wheel. Of course, the second clutch system will add another friction load, but because the principle of motion is directly driven by the rotation of the barrel, the actual power loss is negligible.

Just because the asking price is too high, it is difficult to talk about and evaluate Richard Mille (Richard Mille) watches without involving the question of whether it is worth it. Although in this case I always remind people of old saws, if you want a Lamborghini and you really can afford it, the question is not “is it worth it?” but “what color?” Richard The same is true for Richard Mille. The benefits of RM (which has been around for many years) are undoubtedly a unique combination of the following: technical watchmaking, case technology and movement suspension technology (it is undeniable that RM has first-class shockproof technology; few brands The owner is willing to put one of his tourbillon watches on the floor to show its shock resistance, just like Richard Mille did, let alone tie it to the most powerful tennis ball ever On the wrist of one of the athletes, it combines an undeniable unique design with a very strong socioeconomic reputation. (By the way, James Stacey of Hawkeye pointed out to me that the numbers on the dial are 3, 8 and 11, “Bible” Genesis Chapter 3, verses 8-11, God asked Adam and Eve if they ate apples… One wonders if RM is against the brand for the rich and sexy among us Attraction makes a subtle self-conscious comment!)

Since the brand was founded, I have been following the brand. In the past few decades, some interesting things have happened-Richard Mille’s design language has begun to define more and more Modern classicism form. I think a successful revolution tends to become an institution, which is an inevitable feature of its success, but this new trend seems to show that the company likes its games as always and adds an interesting and thoughtful new dimension to the company. The watchmaking industry of Richard Mille.

Richard Mille RM 72-01 Lifestyle Flyback Chronograph: case, available in black or white ceramic, titanium or 5N rose gold, with matching crown and buttons; size: 38.40mm x 47.34mm x 11.68mm, water resistance Is 30 meters. Three-part shell structure, fixed by five-spline RM screws; sapphire crystal glass front and back. Movement, RM caliber CRMC-1, flyback chronograph with seconds, minutes and 24-hour totalizers, with column wheel control system and double tilt pinion clutch system. The function indicator shows the position of the crown and the semi-momentary date. Frequency is 28,800 vph, running 39 jewels, with copper beryllium free suspension adjustable mass balance and fast rotating barrel; power reserve 50 hours. Automatic winding system, platinum rotor runs in ceramic bearings.