A couple of months ago we wrote about the RM 11-03 Jean Todt 50th Anniversary watch from Richard Mille which bore an unusual case.

Based on Richard Mille’s RM 11-03 flyback chronograph, it was notable for its very distinctive exterior – a blue and white variant of the Quartz TPT™ (‘Thin Ply Technology’, from creators Thin Ply Technology) material which Richard Mille introduced in 2016 in a red via the RM 27-02 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal. This composite is created by stacking together 600 layers of silica each 45 microns thick, which is then impregnated with the colour-of-choice’s resin, before being heated to 120 °C then machined.

Continuing down the TPT path, Richard Mille have launched a new RM030, which is 50mm x 42.70mm x 13.955mm worth of blue ceramic with white TPT quartz case band. The first RM 030 had a black TPT quartz case and gold accents.

Powering this is the skeletonised automatic Calibre RMAR1, which beats at 28,800VPH and has a power reserve of fifty-five hours. What is interesting about this movement is that it has a ‘de-clutching’ rotor system i.e. it automatically disconnects ‘off’ from the rotor’s winding mechanism when the spring is fully wound, preventing over-winding. The base plate and bridges are made of Grade 5 titanium, wet-sandblasted, and Titalyt-treated (an electro-plasma oxidation treatment which creates a crystalline oxide ceramic coating) for greater rigidity.

If you look at the dial, you’ll notice that apart from the hours, minutes, seconds, date, and power reserve indicator (at 9 o’clock), there is another indicator at 12 o’clock. This is what shows you whether the winding function is ‘disconnected’.

So you’re probably wondering about the name – ‘EMEA’ stands for ‘Europe, Middle East and Africa’, which means that it’s a limited edition for boutiques in these regions. Produced in a total of 100 pieces, it has an RRP of 163,500 EUR.

Categories: Limited Editions, Richard Mille, Watch Profile, watches