Last year ended with the horology disruptor, Richard Mille, hell-bent on delivering a distinctive ladies model, and deliver he did. Mille recently launched the RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman, a limited edition collection elegantly combining horological excellence and jewel-bedecked beauty.
Also a technical first for the brand, the watch features the self-winding automatic tourbillon movement, the Calibre CRMT1. Largely skeletonised, like the watchmakers in-house movements, the Calibre comes with an openworked baseplate, made of microblasted, PVD-treated grade 5 titanium, protecting the rotating tourbillon cage, and a gem-set rotor combining 5N rose gold with heavy metal and set on ceramic ball bearings. The Calibre is designed in a way to fit the narrow real estate of the case whilst also allowing room for the three different forms of creative expressions showcased on the dial.
Inspired by Art Deco and tribal art, the “Talisman” is the brainchild of seasoned veteran of the fine jewellery design world, Cécile Guernat. The timepiece is available in ten variations of ten different case adornments, limited to five pieces each. These adornments are a part of the three-part cases – each one portraying a different craft: jewellery, dial making and watch making. The fashioning of these cases involved 44 different stamping operations, 255 tooling operations, two days of adjustment for each component (bezel, caseband, and caseback) and more than five hours for the final glazing and polishing processes.
The watches are available in both rose gold and white gold cases, and delivered on white or black leather straps. The different permutations of the jewel-set bezels vary in the number, shape and size of stones used depending on the variation. The RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman is limited to 50 pieces and is priced at $425,000 per piece. (₹ 2,87,27,875 approx.)
