For those waiting for Baselworld 2013, amongst other brands bringing in their new watches, Richard Mille will be bringing in 2 new tourbillon models; the Panda and the Red Skull watches. Highlighting the themes on which the brand exercises it’s creative freedom, the Panda and Skull toubillon will certainly stand up to competition from other brands at the Baselworld event, like the Breguet Type XXII 3880 watch and the Harry Winston Historie deTourbillon 4 watch.
Hopefully, the blend between fine horology and fine jewelry is seen in plenty on the 2 new timepieces from Richard Mille, both of which are refined editions of previously created watch movements, and available in limited numbers only.
The Panda RM 26-01 watch is actually an advancement of the the RM 026 movement bought in last year. This year, it features a giant panda for aesthetic appeal, and those who like nature will certainly be interested. The panda has been of worldwide interest, primarily because of it’s friendly appearance, and also that it remains as one of the rarest species living on earth today. So much so, some consider the animal to be a global ambassador for endangered species. Coming to the watch, the animal has been recreated through black sapphire and diamond near the lower left portion of the Richard Mille watch, which generally creates it’s watches in the traditional vertical rectangular shape.
The casing of the RM 26-01 is made from 18K white gold, with the natural habitat of the panda comprising of bamboo trees and leaves painted by hand to their natural shade, but the use of yellow gold peaks out from in between, when one tries to spot the bark of these trees. The baseplate of this watch has been made from black onyx, which a naturally formed mineral made from silicon dioxide and cryptocrystalline quartz. While some of them are a combination of black and white forming patterns, the onyx seen here is a purely black variety. However, there will be only 30 of them available for sale in either white or red gold, as per consumer choice.
The Richard Mille RM 52-01 is also another advancement from an earlier introduced around the RM 052 movement. This is actually the 2nd skull themed watch created by the brand, after they launched the series in 2012. This edition from Richard Mille also shows what the brand has gained over the years, in crafting ceramics into aesthetic watches such as these. The base plate here, is a Black PVD coated grade 5 titanium plate, which fits in ideally for a much needed rigidity of the plate. The prominent skull featuring in naked skeleton design, has been crafted from 5N red gold, and is polished to a perfect finish. The casing of the time piece is TZP, which is a natural 95% yttrium-stabilised zirconium with an unique grainy finish. They house a hand wound mechanical movement, that has 19 jewels and, beats at 21,600 vph. The coating of the watches, on the case back and the front, are anti-glare sapphire crystal. The nano tubes noticed at the center, are built from carbon which protect the core movement from any impact that the watch may encounter from outside. For collectors, only a limited edition of 30 pieces will be available for sale. – Bornrich
