Luxury watchmaker Richard Mille has made headlines with its latest design — RM UP-01 Ferrari — measuring 1.75 mm in thickness. It is now officially the world’s new thinnest watch.
The Swiss brand unveiled the design on 6 July 2022, and the unimaginably thin timepiece beat the previous record holder by a mere 0.05 mm. Richard Mille partnered with Ferrari for this slim and sleek design, which not only defines modern mechanism and functionality but also embodies the two brands’ premium class and technical prowess.
Here’s more about the Richard Mille RMUP-01 Ferrari
The watch face and dial
Known for statement robust watches, such an ultra-thin watch comes as a surprise from the house of Richard Mille.
The face of the RMUP-01 Ferrari represents the dashboard of a car and is all bezel. Measuring 51 mm across and 39 mm in breadth, the timepiece has an elegant sapphire-covered central dial that shows the time and is flanked by two integrated crowns on the right — one winds the watch while the other is a function selector. On the left is a balance dial and Ferrari’s iconic logo. The watch shows hours, minutes and seconds.
But don’t judge the sturdiness by its delicate look. The ultra-slim Calibre RMUP-01 Ferrari features a movement plate tested to withstand accelerations of over 5,000 Gs with a power reserve of 45 hours.
To put things into perspective, the world’s thinnest watch is so thin that its leather strap is thicker than the watch.
The movement plate mechanism
Taking a different route than Bulgari and past record-holder Piaget, Richard Mille has assembled the entire movement plate within the case instead of a case back which also acts as a baseplate.
Measuring 1.18 mm in thickness, the movement plate is developed jointly by Richard Mille and Audemars Piguet Le Locle. The two watchmakers developed a “new type of escapement with a balance wheel in titanium that drastically reduces the calibre’s thickness whilst providing the same security as a conventional Swiss anchor escapement,” mentions the official website.
In a traditional design, the guard pin and safety roller, which protect the lever from shock, add the maximum height but the mechanism in this watch is different. The website mentions, “The new patented, ultraflat escapement eliminates both parts and resituates the banking function directly on the anchor fork. To do so, the fork itself was elongated and its horns modified.”
The movement features 23 jewels and has dimensions of 41.45 x 28.85 mm. And if these premium features aren’t enough, the world’s thinnest watch is also water-resistant up to 10m.
Limited edition timepiece
Only 150 units of this limited-edition timepiece are to be available for sale and come with a price tag of USD 1.88million. That is quite a high jump from Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Ultra which was sold at USD 407,000.
However, in the horological sector, such records are created quite frequently. In fact, Bulgari broke its own record to create the world’s thinnest watch as many as eight times.
(Main and feature image credit: Richard Mille)
The post Richard Mille and Ferrari create world’s new thinnest watch appeared first on Prestige Online – Singapore.
