RICHARD MILLE RM 60-01 Flyback Chronograph LES VOILES DE SAINT BARTH

Ever wondered how the other half live? Well, some of them are competing in epic sailing events with big f#ck off nautical watches worth hundreds of thousands of dollars strapped to their tanned wrists. Yeah, but are they really any happier than us I hear you ask? 

Err, yes they probably are – but before we start feeling sorry for ourselves remember this – all you need is a watch with say a 150 or 200Ms of water-resistance, some rudimentary snorkeling gear, a pair of clean boardies (trunks) and a smile. 

Then get to yourself to the nearest body of water and trust me you’ll be living the life of an adventurer. I know cos’ I do it regularly. ;)

And you certainly don’t need a timepiece like the monumental new RM 60-01, Richard Mille’s newest automatic winding flyback chronograph watch created for the Les Voiles de Saint Barth yacht race to accompany you but it sure doesn’t hurt to look and perhaps dream a little. 

Say hello to the RM 60-01, a Limited Edition of just 80 pieces, it’s a big watch – in every sense – not only big in stature – it measures 50mm in diameter, but big on features and with a commensurably big f#ck off price-tag to the tune of 210’000USD!

So what is powering such an epic watch? It’s an automatic winding movement with all the typical features: hours, minutes, running seconds at 3 o’clock and date – 

but also with: months, an annual calendar, a flyback chronograph with central seconds counter and 60-minute countdown timer at 9 o’clock, a 24-hour totaliser at 6 o’clock, a UTC function and variable-geometry rotor – cos you never know. 

The movement has a fairly modest power-reserve of circa 50 hours (± 10%) or 45 hours with the chronograph running. Actual power-reserve results will depend on how often the chronograph features are utilized. Regarding the RM 60-01 use of variable geometry to optimise it rotor’s winding motion.

This makes it possible to effectively adapt rewinding of the mainspring to the user’s activity level, in sporting or non-sporting environments. 

By adjusting the six-position rib, the rotor’s inertia is modified to either speed up the winding process in the case of casual arm movements, or to slow it down during sporting activities. 

In addition the movement’s base-plate and bridges have been crafted from Grade 5 Titanium then coated with black PVD. 

They were then duly subjected to intensive and complete testing to optimize their levels of resistance – as you do.

The RM 60-01 boasts three key functions: you have its flyback chrono activated using the pusher between 4 and 5 o’clock, the running chronograph can be reset without having to first stop the mechanism. 

This was originally developed for pilots in order to avoid wasting time (and therefore accuracy) due to stopping, resetting and starting the chronograph whilst crossing a navigational point. 

Then there’s its annual calendar - semi-instantaneous with automatic adjustment for months of 30 or 31 days, the oversize date is placed in a red-outlined horizontal aperture under 12 o’clock, while the month sits between 4 and 5 o’clock.

And finally the RM 60-01’s UTC function - its features a UTC hand that can be used either as a second time zone indicator, or in combination with the sun and the rotating bezel, to orientate the points of the compass. So what’s housing all that horological tech? 

More tech of course – a four-part case that was apparently very difficult to manufacture (no sh!t); after a turning operation lasting 1 hour and 40 minutes, no less than 800 milling operations lasting several hours were required. The case’s machining demanded nearly 11 hours of separate operations.

All these stages were vital to producing the characteristic ergonomics of the RM 60-01 which was also engineered to allow navigators and adventures to orientate themselves at sea, thanks to its rotating bezel with cardinal points (N, E, S, W), a measuring disc of 360° and a 24-hour scale. 

What differentiates the RM 60-01 from the other (lesser) ‘regatta’ watches is that it can be used for orientation in both the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres without any additional calculation required - simply by selecting the appropriate scale.

You might have noticed the watch’s locking-crown - in order to mitigate against any unwanted actuation due to accidental manipulation AKA bumping, RM developed a secondary locking crown that immobilises both pushers simultaneously with a simple turn. 

The red and green indexes respectively show whether the locking mechanism is in operation or deactivated. This complex, innovative mechanism is patented by Richard Mille. 

The 3 pushers, their components and the crown require 10 days of machining, during which they undergo numerous tests for water-resistance and quality control.

Thoughts? Any watch bearing an RM prefix guarantees two things; that it will be a technical tour de four, and that it will come with an eye watering price tag. 

This delivers on both counts. Tbh I merely touched upon the movement’s features mainly cos I would only be blindly parroting all the data – but tons more info. can be found on the RM website if you’re interested. 

You could argue that this new RM is nothing more than a vulgar display of horological technology brought together in cacophony of superfluous features? While busy is an RM signature, every last bit of clutter actually has a function. Btw check THIS out! 

But what do you think – this or a highly spec’d (992) 911 Turbo S?