Style Edit: Richard Mille presents its RM 30-01 timepiece with a new face in white ceramic plus

Publish date: 2024-05-09
Now, for 2024, a new version of the RM 30-01 expands the range of beautiful faces the model presents to the world. It comes with a bezel made from ATZ white ceramic, a remarkable material that uses aluminium oxide powder to boost its toughness. To make ATZ – full name alumina toughened zirconia – the powder is injected into tubes at absurdly high pressures, which makes it 30 per cent stiffer and almost completely impermeable. As a result, it has a hardness rating of 1,400 Vickers – stainless steel, for example, is typically less than 200 Vickers – making it incredibly difficult to scratch, as well as allowing it to retain colours with a high level of stability.Here, the material is used to construct a timepiece that’s dedicated to showcasing Richard Mille’s exclusive declutchable rotor system. First introduced in 2011 on the RM 030 model, it builds on the brand’s expertise in the high performance realm of automotive technology, with stars of racetrack and rally course acting both as sources of inspiration and close collaborators of the brand.

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The system uses a torque sensor to ensure that the rotor automatically declutches when the movement is fully wound to its full 55 hours of power reserve, ensuring that the watch is never overwound – but doing so without using the sliding flange that traditionally does the job, which can result in debris accumulating inside the movement. Conversely, when the power reserve falls to 40 hours, the clutch kicks back in and the watch starts winding again. The system has the advantage of keeping the torque steady and consistent, optimising the watch’s performance at all times.

The movement it powers here, calibre RMAR2, offers a host of other features alongside the souped-up rotor. The clean, futuristic lines of the RM 30-01’s dial highlight these features, foremost among them a set of dynamic power reserve, clutch engagement and function selector indicators, each of them illuminated by transfers in a different colour. The clutch engagement indicator appears at 11 o’clock, showing whether the rotor is winding or not. On the other side of the dial is an attention-grabbing oversized date indication at 4 o’clock. Right above it is the function selector, which is activated by a subtly proportioned pusher at 2 o’clock.

With the clean lines of both its dial and its classic, tonneau-shaped case, the RM 30-01 shows off the streamlined, ergonomic aesthetic that’s characteristic of Richard Mille’s timepieces. And the watch’s slimline, lightweight appeal isn’t just restricted to its looks: weighing in at just 96 grams, including the strap, it’s also a supremely wearable piece of horological art.

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