Although founded less than two decades ago, Richard Mille’s watch brand has established a reputation for being a trailblazer in the horolosphere — priding itself on having one of the most distinctive aesthetics in the watch industry, blurring the lines between sporty, industrial, futuristic and playful.
The latter is often seen in its choices of color, which range from black to pastel pink. But for the latest edition of the RM 21-02 Tourbillon Aerodyne, the Swiss watchmaker has toned down the use of color to reveal a stark white version that displays the textures of the materials that have been used in its construction.
Capitalizing on engineering materials from fields far from watchmaking, with the aeronautics industry exerting a strong influence, the latest interpretation of the caliber has been reimagined in a white and black color combo, featuring Carbon TPT (a material whose use ranges from the automotive industry and plane fuselages to Formula 1 machines), Quartz TPT and titanium for the bezel and caseback, respectively. Its case is water-resistant to 50 meters, and is forged with 20 spline screws made of grade 5 titanium with abrasion-resistant washers in 316L stainless steel, further highlighting the brand’s engineering ingenuity.
The piece’s signature tonneau-shaped case measures in 42.68 x 50.12 x 14.30 mm, with a skeletonized display powered by the manual winding tourbillon movement with hours, minutes, function selector, oversized Arabic numerals and colorful indicators for the power reserve and torque indicators. The movement features a baseplate in honeycombed Orthorhombic Haynes 214 with Carbon TPT and a black PVD treatment to highlight its original construction.
The alloy’s honeycombed geometrical pattern was originally the subject of research by NASA for applications on supersonic aircraft wings.
Limited to 50 pieces, the new RM 21-02 Tourbillon Aerodyne is available exclusively at Richard Mille boutiques and will carry a $928,000 price tag.
