Style Edit: Richard Mille drops the new RM 74-01 and RM 74-02 – the Swiss luxury watchmaker’s latest automatic tourbillon timepieces showcase two impressive new materials, Cermet and Gold Carbon TPT

May 31 , 2023

Richard Mille releases two new automatic tourbillon timepieces with a slimline aesthetic, RM 74-01 and RM 74-02. Photos: Richard Mille

Richard Mille’s two new watches push the technological envelope, incorporating an innovative new grey Cermet material and a twist on Carbon TPT, usually found in the chassis of F1 cars

The RM 74-01 and RM 74-02 follow in the footsteps of other innovative timepieces made by the Swiss luxury watchmaker, from the hypermodern RM 001 back in 2001 to the playful RM 88 Smiley

There’s only one thing better than a spectacular new automatic tourbillon timepiece from the undisputed master of high-end horological innovation, Richard Mille – and that’s two spectacular new automatic tourbillon timepieces from the one-of-a-kind Swiss luxury watchmaker.

Swiss luxury watchmaker Richard Mille’s latest horological feats, the RM 74-01 and RM 74-02.

The RM 74-01 and RM 74-02 represent two alternatives arising from the same inspiration. Powered by two versions of the same in-house automatic tourbillon calibre, both presented in ultra-skeletonised form, they come in distinctly different clothing, for a pairing with diverse looks built around the same beating heart.

Although the two RM 74 timepieces are both visual feasts, with a riot of intersecting, open-worked lines sitting atop the tourbillon carriage on their dials, they are dramatically different thanks to the different materials used to create them.

As with so many of Richard Mille’s watches, the materials are unique to the watchmaker. In the case of the RM 74-01, that material is grey Cermet, the material and its colour the result of many years of development by Richard Mille and microtechnology specialist, the IMI Group. Combining ceramic and metal, as its name suggests, Cermet adds high-performance ceramic inserts to a metallic zirconium matrix, meaning it’s as light as titanium but as hard as ceramic – the perfect combination for a hard wearing but wearable watch.

The RM 74-01 uses grey Cermet, a material that combines ceramic and metal.

The case of the 74-02 is made from another material that combines the desirable characteristics of two others, one that also represents a formidable technological achievement. Anyone who’s familiar with Richard Mille’s watches will know of the company’s development and extensive use of the remarkable Carbon TPT, a material found in the chassis of Formula One cars that’s made from thin filaments of carbon, and that combines extreme strength and unparalleled lightness with a beautiful, wood-grain visual effect.

Now, after a development process that’s taken several years, it has been combined with 24k yellow gold leaf to create the Gold Carbon TPT that adorns the RM 74-02’s case, caseband, baseplate and crown, presenting a dramatic interplay of black and gold elements.

RM 74-02’s Carbon TPT casing means it’s extremely durable and light at the same time.