Richard Mille has quite a history of expensive watches. (Recall the $690,000 it made—and replaced—for Rafael Nadal, or the $1.65 million RM 056 it developed in 2012.)
So it’s no surprise to see the extreme price tag of the third model in its line of sapphire tourbillon timepieces, the $2,020,000 RM 56-02 Tourbillon Sapphire.
The watch is special because its complex case design and extraordinarily intricate movement are forged out of pure sapphire and then suspended in air by a system of pulleys. It is built on the same fundamental design that Nadal’s watch used with the RM 27-01 when the company debuted a technology that suspended the watches’ interior mechanics transparently mid-air, making the whole thing appear weightless. The difference this time is that the base-plate is titanium and the case is sapphire.
Inside, the suspension cable is braided to .35mm thickness (the width of a fishing line) and then controlled by those pulleys posted to four points along the movement and additional posts along the side of the case. A ratchet at 9 o'clock lets you adjust the tension on the cables, while an arrow at 12 o'clock registers how tight the cords are.
Ten of them will be made, with sales starting in September. Call it the perfect look for anyone, Nadal or otherwise, who needs effortless domination over space.
Follow me on
Follow me on Facebook: Hannah Elliott
Follow me on Instagram: @HannahElliottxo
