RM 72-01 Lifestyle In-House Chronograph

Better-known for watches designed to perform in extreme environments, Richard Mille has taken a different approach with the RM 72-01 – which hasn’t prevented the brand from equipping its first in-house chronograph with an original, patented mechanism. In a conventional horizontal clutch mechanism, the fourth wheel drives the chronograph seconds wheel which, via a gear train, drives the chronograph minutes hand. Except the fourth wheel is the one that has the least available energy. In this new movement, torque is split across the chronograph counters by means of two oscillating pinions, mounted on rockers. The three independent time scales are coordinated by a six-column wheel. Torque transfer remains constant as the chronograph functionality is separated from the timekeeping functionality. To promote the launch, Richard Mille commissioned dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied to direct a short film to a soundtrack by Thomas Roussel, a member of the Richard Mille “family”. The RM 72-01 is available as four executions: grade 5 titanium (shown here), 5N red gold, black ceramic and white ceramic.