RM 050
Calibre RMCC1
Manual winding tourbillon movement with hours, minutes, seconds, split-seconds chronograph, 30-minute totaliser, power-reserve, torque and function indicators.
Limited edition of 10 pieces
In this ultimate split-seconds chronograph, the brand has successfully made the optimised performance of every function completely reliable and repeatable under all conditions. The wealth of real-world knowledge gained with our sporting partners under extreme conditions contributed significantly to the development of this creation.
The RM 050 Felipe Massa, presented in 2012, embodies a new movement development that retains the very best of the original RM 008 while adding new advancements, bringing it to an unparalleled level of performance.
The RM 050 is not a simple exercise of merely reviewing the existing RM008 movement. The engineers at Richard Mille began by researching every possible manner to lower the movement weight by 20%, the equivalent of 10 grams, making the total movement weight a mere 9.5 grams.
The baseplate and bridges are created from grade 5 titanium, an alloy composed of 90% titanium, 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium. Often used in the aeronautic, aerospace and automobile industries, it offers great resistance to corrosion combined with high rigidity. Its light weight/high strength ratio when used in the baseplate of the RM 050 makes it an ideal choice as the foundation for perfect functionality of the going train.
Further development of the calibre with its skeletonised baseplate and bridges as well as innovative movement designs meant the creation of more than 400 new parts for the calibre. A fast rotating winding barrel, balance with variable inertia, function indicator, torque indicator and split seconds mechanism with improved performance are only a small selection of what this extraordinary movement has to offer.
In parallel to these aspects, the Richard Mille engineers have optimised the movement to the maximum, notably the precision and calculations of the long-term timekeeping aspects. The result is a beast of a watch at the cutting edge of what is possible.
A movement created at this level requires a fitting enclosure, and the case of the watch has also received the full attention of the engineers. It is composed of polymer composite injected with carbon nanotubes.
Carbon nanotubes are extremely resistant to stress (200 times more than steel) and very light. These nanotubes have the ability to absorb violent shocks significantly higher than that of carbon fibers due to their structure and unique geometry and their higher surface/volume equilibrium.