Richard Mille Men's Series RM 006 high quality replica watches

How much effort has this brand made to achieve the ultra-light tourbillon

People often say: "Rome was not built in a day", and this is also true in the innovation and development of high-end watches. People are amazed at the record-breaking ultra-light RM 27-05 tourbillon watch of 11.5 grams (excluding the strap). Looking back, we can see that the brand has been studying ultra-light and durable high-end watches since 2005.

Unlike traditional high-end watches, which are defined by precious metals and heavy weight, RICHARD MILLE has taken a different approach, just like the racing cars in the F1 arena are constantly pursuing lighter weight and more aerodynamic structures. The ultra-light watches made by the brand with cutting-edge materials and special structures have brought a new trend.

RM 006--The stepping stone of ultra-light tourbillon

Tracing the history of RM ultra-light tourbillon, it can be traced back to 2004, when Richard Mille accepted a challenge from Formula One driver Felipe Massa. At the time, Philippe wanted a watch that could withstand the high impacts of the F1 track, but was also lightweight and easy to wear.

In 2004, the RM 006 Felipe Massa, weighing only 43 grams (including the strap), became the brand's first luxury replica Watches named after the Brazilian racing driver and featured a new movement baseplate made of nano-carbon fiber, a technological breakthrough.

The technical achievement of the RM 006 is obvious to all and has a lasting influence on the brand's collections. It was the lightest mechanical watch in the world at the time and the first watch to use a nano-carbon fiber baseplate, which also led to the widespread use of nano-carbon fiber baseplates in the RM Tourbillon series.

This technological experiment promoted progress in the field of watchmaking and now also brings new possibilities to the watchmaking industry. Developed specifically to withstand the intense acceleration and vibrations of the F1 Grand Prix, this timepiece laid the foundation for a series of high-end watches dedicated to the pursuit of lightness, and began Richard Mille's watch works that can be written into the history of watchmaking under the name of Felipe Massa.

-RM 009 – 29 grams, an ultra-light tourbillon that goes down in history

The original 43 grams of the tourbillon watch had already made history, but only one year later in 2005, the brand once again overturned its own record. The RM 009 brought a new challenge to Richard Mille's engineers: reducing the weight of the case. When it was launched, the RM 009 Felipe Massa became the lightest tourbillon watch ever (29 grams without the strap), equipped with an ALUSIC® case and a skeleton movement made of aluminum-lithium alloy (two global innovations).

The brand wanted to prove that a watch weighing only 29 grams was a real challenge for watchmaking technology. The case is made of strong and lightweight ALUSIC®, an industrial material usually used in the manufacture of satellites, but the brand uses it in a unique and creative way to reveal their unknown beauty. Richard Mille Rafael Nadal replica

The movement is made of aluminum-lithium alloy. Originally used only in the aerospace sector (particularly the Airbus A380), this alloy is composed mainly of lithium, aluminium, titanium, zirconium, silicon, chromium, zinc and manganese. The lithium gives the alloy many properties, optimizing its strength and elastic modulus while reducing its density. In fact, the density of this special material is 2.6, while that of titanium is 4.9. What also makes the aluminium-lithium alloy stand out from other aluminium alloys is its excellent corrosion resistance.

The aim of experimenting with different materials was to overcome the challenges of creating a mechanical watch that was the lightest at the time, while creating a tourbillon that could withstand vibrations, accelerations, decelerations and shocks, in order to be a reliable partner for Felipe Massa during test drives, practice and Formula 1. The goal was finally achieved, and the RM 009 also reflects Richard Mille's commitment to the use of high-tech materials and the pursuit of perfection in watches. The spirit of uncompromising has always run through the development of the brand.

Mr. Richard Mille said: "When the brand first used titanium alloy for the tourbillon, ALUSIC® alloy for the case, and carbon fiber for the bottom plate, we were challenging the general public's perception of value. Titanium watches are not suitable for luxury timepieces because they are not heavy enough. But as time goes by, people's mentality changes rapidly; amateur watch enthusiasts soon take a new look at our lightweight watches that combine top technology."

-RM 027--First collaboration with the King of Clay
Five years later, after Felipe Massa, another person who was destined to write his name in the history of RICHARD MILLE appeared. He was Rafael Nadal (hereinafter referred to as Nadal), who later became a famous Spanish tennis player. Nadal has become one of the most watched tennis players with his fixed finishing movements, left-handed racket, and the label of the King of Clay. However, it must not be an easy task to convince him to wear a watch to participate in the game. replica Bell & Ross BR-X5 watches

"I remember clearly the day in 2008 when Richard contacted me to discuss a collaboration. It was incredible for me at the time because I had never worn anything on my wrist. In 2010, he came to see me in Mallorca and everything fell into place. He first gave me a heavy platinum watch as a joke. You can imagine my reaction, but he soon produced a prototype of the RM 027: a watch with surprisingly light and beautiful lines", Nadal recalled.

Following the RM 006 (42 grams without strap) and the RM 009 (29 grams without strap), the RM 027 weighed less than 20 grams including the strap, making it the lightest tourbillon watch in history at the time, and it also opened the way for the cooperation between the brand and the King of Clay, Nadal. In addition to its ultra-light weight, the watch had to withstand hours of repeated impacts on clay courts and the resulting hundreds of g-forces, a true test for a tourbillon movement.

Rafael Nadal, a close friend of the brand, wore this watch, which he calls "like a second skin", to win every time he played. This included the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, but before that, it was he who inspired the brand to break through challenges again and again!

The baseplate of the RM 027 Tourbillon watch is made of titanium and LITAL® alloy. The addition of lithium, a lightweight element, to the alloy mix provides excellent rigidity without adding unnecessary weight. The end result was another lightest tourbillon mechanical watch in the world at the time, with a movement weighing only 3.83 grams.

The case of the RM 027 watch is made of a high-carbon composite material with perfect flexibility and shock resistance, providing safe protection for the tourbillon movement inside the case. The integrated bottom ring and caseband make the watch lighter. The watch mirror and carbon fiber bezel and flange have excellent hardness and torsional rigidity.

-RM 27-01--Lighter, stronger and innovative one-piece structure

After the RM 027, another ultra-light iteration was born - the RM 27-01 Tourbillon watch. This is a watch that fully demonstrates the brand's adherence to the concept of lightness and strength. This watch weighs only 18.83 grams including the heaviest strap. It broke the record when it was launched in 2013 and overcame a huge challenge.

The RM 27-01 movement is a combination of outstanding engineering and technological innovation. Richard Mille was determined to create a watch with a movement suspended in the center of the case, and this complex and unique watch is the result of the brand's hard work. Inspired by suspended civil engineering infrastructure, Richard Mille wanted to apply these construction methods to a watchmaking space of only a few tens of millimeters. The baseplate of the RM 27-01 is fixed to the case by four braided steel cables with a diameter of only 0.35 mm. The combination of rigidity and flexibility is responsible for protecting the movement, which weighs only 3.5 grams, thanks to the baseplate and tourbillon bracket made of grade 5 titanium alloy, and the barrel and transmission gears made of aluminum-lithium alloy.

These cables are tensioned by tensioning devices located at 3 and 9 o'clock and 4 pulleys at the four corners of the movement that act as tower bridges. Each cable is fixed to the tensioning device, then passes through the upper pulley to connect to the movement, and finally returns to the lower pulley and connects to the lower flange. After the cable is threaded, the watchmaker then tightens the cable by rotating the central ring of the tensioning device with a special tool.

Securing and tensioning these cables is an extremely complex process: too much tension could cause the cables to break and come loose at any time, damaging the movement; too little tension could cause the movement to resonate with it, affecting the chronometric performance. Thanks to the movement structure suspended in the middle of the case, this exceptional movement can withstand acceleration shocks of more than 5,000 g.

The RM 27-01 is equipped with a one-piece caseback and its case is mainly made of carbon fiber. Its black-grey color is due to the high content of carbon nanotubes inside. The end result is a watch that is fully resistant to shocks and scratches, while also meeting the wearing comfort that Rafael Nadal attaches great importance to during competition.

-RM 27-05 - 11.5 grams that makes history

RICHARD MILLE's pursuit of ultra-lightness once again reaches a new climax in 2024. In May this year, the launch of the RM 27-05 Rafael Nadal Flying Tourbillon also brought this legendary Richard Mille series to a new level. The watch weighs only 11.5 grams and can withstand acceleration shocks of more than 14,000 g, setting a double record for manual tourbillon buy replica watches.

Reducing its weight is the unremitting goal of the RM 27-05 watch project, and the result is amazing technical parameters. The movement is based on the ultra-thin RMUP-01 movement with a 55-hour power reserve and is equipped with a flying tourbillon with a vibration frequency of 3 Hz. The PVD-treated titanium alloy base plate adopts the best hollowing and hand-polishing, even the hidden parts are meticulous. The bridge plate is also made of grade 5 titanium alloy and Carbon TPT® carbon fiber material, which is even lighter. The movement is only 3.75 mm thick and weighs only 3.79 grams.

“The base of the tourbillon is equipped with ball bearings, which guarantees its performance while eliminating the need for a bridge. Making the barrel float also meets our need for lightness. The extreme thinness of the baseplate (0.72 mm is less than 1 mm thick) required us to develop an ultra-thin movement while extending its visual depth. As a result, the barrel has a unique beauty during the pressing process, a masterpiece of traditional craftsmanship”, shares Salvador Arbona, Technical Director of Movements.

Richard Mille spared no time in creating the RM 27-05 Rafael Nadal Flying Tourbillon, with more than 4,000 hours of work devoted to the design of the movement and case. This rigor marks a return to the collection’s roots, with a rethinking of watchmaking craftsmanship that has always been the main theme in all stages of the development of this watch series. There are no screws between the movement and the case. The entire assembly is housed in a one-piece caseback/middle case part, closed by a flange and bezel. The entire assembly is pressed onto the movement, securing it firmly in place.

One of the key benefits of this watch is the new composite material Carbon TPT® B.4, which was developed over a five-year period with Swiss partner North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT™). Carbon TPT® B.4 is an optimized anisotropic material that allows the case to be machined into thinner cross-sections. Compared to its predecessor, Carbon TPT®, this new composite material has a 4% higher density, 15% higher fiber stiffness and 30% higher resin strength. These exceptional values ​​allow the watch to be lighter overall without sacrificing stiffness.

For optimal strength, the fibers in the Carbon TPT® B.4 layers are interlaced at a specific 70-degree angle. This choice of material ensures a strong structure while achieving optimal proportions, weight, performance and stiffness. Therefore, following the weaving method of Carbon TPT® B.4, an X-shaped ridge is made inside the caseback and the movement is placed on it. The entire body, including the case, is fully simulated, and the movement is finally mounted on 6 support points 500mm away from the caseback, thus enhancing the rigidity of the watch. This X shape is clearly visible on the entire case, while allowing the bezel, flange and one-piece caseback to maintain their excellence in all situations.

Thanks to bold and unique innovations, every gram of weight saved in creating the RM 27-05 RAFAEL NADAL Flying Tourbillon watch adds meaning to the birth of this unparalleled watch.

The weight of time has since been presented in a new dimension, and the brand's record has reached 11.5 grams, but we know that this is by no means the end. In the pursuit of excellence and breakthroughs, RICHARD MILLE is never afraid. They don't create miracles, they are the synonym of miracles themselves. https://www.chronowrist.ru