RM 07-04 is the first women’s sports watch by Richard Mille and combines ergonomics and ultra-lightness, performance and resistance, extreme skeletonization and architectural aesthetics. With a total weight of 36 grams, strap included, the RM 07-04 is the lightest, boldest and most energetic in this new range of watches. Three years of development were needed to create the RM 07-04 Automatic Sport and the CRMA8 caliber as many challenges had to be met: developing a new very compact and skeletonized in-house automatic movement, guaranteeing shock resistance at 5000g’s, perfectly integrating the case with the movement so the internal workings are visible. The extreme finishing magnifies the elegance of this uncompromising mechanism.
Manufacturing the components for Richard Mille’s RM 07-04 in grade 5 titanium with black PVD and electro plasma treatments confers great rigidity on the entire assembly, as well as precise surface flatness, essential for perfect functioning of the gear train. Grade 5 titanium is a biocompatible, highly corrosion-resistant and remarkably rigid alloy, which enables the gear train to function effortlessly. The alloy is 90% grade 5 titanium, 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium. This combination further increases the material’s mechanical properties, which explains its frequent use in the aerospace, aeronautics and automotive industries. These components are satin-finished, micro blasted and beveled by hand. Richard Mille subjected each component to separate and extensive validation tests to ensure they met rigorous strength requirements.
The case of the Richard Mille RM 07-04 is made from Quartz TPT® for five watches and from Carbon TPT® for one watch. These materials are exclusive materials to the brand in watchmaking with a unique appearance. Their remarkable damascene surface displays extremely regular yet totally unique striations, as they are composed of multiple layers of parallel filaments obtained by dividing carbon fibers or silica threads. Quartz TPT® fibers are generally used for very high-performance applications due to their resistance to high temperatures, their strength and their transparency to electromagnetic waves. Fibers are aligned in layers no thicker than 45 microns and saturated in resins developed specially for Richard Mille. These layers are then stacked using an automatic positioning system that changes the orientation of the fiber between each layer by 45°.
Images courtesy of Richard Mille
