STYLE Edit: Richard Mille launches rock ‘n’ roll watch RM 66 Flying Tourbillon – this limited-edition timepiece shows off the brand’s inventiveness with a skeletonised dial and unconventional layout

Feb 28 , 2023

The RM 66 Flying Tourbillon timepiece embodies the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll. Photos: Richard Mille

Swiss luxury watchmaker Richard Mille just launched the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon, drawing inspiration from rock ‘n’ roll with its ‘devil’s horns’ motif rendered as an eye-catching skeletal hand

The case blends gold with the brand’s own Carbon TPT material and the timepiece took 1,500 hours of research and development to create, with just 50 pieces available

Since it was established in 2001, Richard Mille has gained a stellar reputation among watch lovers for zigging where others zag. Proudly avant-garde, the company constantly pushes horological boundaries, taking risks no other brand would consider and drawing inspiration from a range of unconventional sources, particularly the world of high-performance sport.

The RM 66 Flying Tourbillon timepiece draws inspiration from rock ‘n’ roll.

Now you can add rock ‘n’ roll to that list of unusual inspirations, in the form of the new RM 66 Flying Tourbillon. Taking pride of place at the centre of its dial is a 5N red gold rendering of the “devil’s horns” sign, a fist with the index finger and pinky outstretched, that has been a symbol of rock ‘n’ roll rebellion for decades. That dial, as ever with Richard Mille, is skeletonised, something that’s been literally echoed in the skeletal, bony form of the hand at its heart.

The spirit of rock infuses other aspects of the watch, too: the hourly indications are shaped like guitar plectrums, while the grade five titanium crown comes with a gothic aesthetic, taking the shape of a spider.

The RM 66 Flying Tourbillon boasts different symbols of rock ‘n’ roll, like a fist with the index finger and pinky outstretched.

The watch is eye-openingly unconventional in its layout, too. Where most watches display their tourbillon carriage at six o’clock, the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon inverts the usual arrangement, with the flying tourbillon with variable inertia appearing at 12 o’clock, and the 72-hour power reserve moved to the bottom of the dial.

The case of the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon blends gold with the brand’s own highly distinctive Carbon TPT material, created from stacks of carbon filaments for a beautiful grain-like effect. The grade five titanium case band, meanwhile, features 5N red gold plates with a Clous de Paris motif resembling the belts of punk musicians.

There are only 50 pieces of the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon available.

Originally conceived by Richard Mille’s creative and development director Cécile Guenat, the RM 66 Flying Tourbillon only came into being as the result of about 1,500 hours of research and development. It’s yet another example of the Swiss luxury watch company’s absolute dedication to innovation and its uncompromising perfectionism, and as such it’s available in a limited edition of 50 pieces.

In other words: this one’s strictly for rock stars only.

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