Richard Mille’s new watch for women employs high jewellery techniques

When it comes to creating watches for women, Richard Mille doesn’t shy away from the sharp technicality and futuristic design codes which characterise its unisex pieces. The Swiss watch brand, which has included watches for women in its traditionally male output since its inception, has ramped up the selection in the last decade, intertwining advanced technical functionality with a play on tough materials and intricate high jewellery techniques. The RM 037 Red Gold Snow Set is a case in point.

A reinterpretation of the RM 037 model, it puts the skeletonised movement at its heart, with the juxtaposition of textures on the rotating discs an elegant foil for the sparkling contours of the case. Present are familiar design motifs, with the distinctive curves and bridges of the calibre here envisioned through a high jewellery lens.

When coupled with the technically accomplished snow setting technique – which closely sets diamonds, ranging in size from a miniscule 0.5mm to 1.6mm, into prongs so slender as to be invisible – the seemingly random pattern of the stones endows the face with a brilliant refraction of light. Extremely difficult to execute, thanks to the stones’ varying sizes and the need for them to fit to a micron’s precision, the result is dazzling.

This new piece is the latest chapter of a story which began in 2001 with the introduction of 17 timepieces. ‘For a long time, I wished to launch my own brand. I wanted to create a new business model, far removed from traditional marketing strategies, something totally original,’ Richard Millle has noted in the past. ‘My goal was to create a new, ultra-high-end luxury segment within the high-end watch business, and I was very eager to know what could come of it.'

INFORMATION
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A version of this article appears in the October 2021, 25th Anniversary Issue of Wallpaper* (W*270), on newsstands now and available to subscribers – 12 digital issues for $12,£12,€12.