Chinese New Year 2019: Richard Mille Pop-up @ Mandarin Oriental Milano

China is a very important market for many luxury watches brands. For this reason, the Chinese New Year has officially become part of the festivities for most Swiss houses, including Richard Mille. To celebrate this occasion, the brand set up a pop-up at the Mandarin Oriental in Milan, a 5-star luxury hotel with modern and refined elegance and an oriental flavour which was recently opened in the heart of the city’s fashion district.

In the Milanese location, enthusiasts and collectors, as well as tourists and passersby have been able to admire and touch with their own hands the creations of the Swiss maison in an informal and ‘open’ environment.

In particular, two proposals for women customers took the breath away from the public who visited the pop-up. We are talking about two current models of the Richard Mille RM 07-01 automatic Ladies collection with diamonds.

Available also in white gold, white ceramic or TZP brown ceramic, with various versions of the dial (onyx, jasper, mother-of-pearl, etc..), on this occasion the model is proposed in two other combinations, definitely “insane:”

• In NTPT carbon with medium set diamonds on the bezel;
• In 18 K red gold with full set pavé diamonds on the bezel and a full diamond set 18 K red gold gourmette bracelet.

The latter is a real eye-catcher. A remarkable wristwatch jewel, with the perfect setting of diamonds even on the bracelet. The bracelet itself is handmade and all its components are finished by hand. Each link is microblasted, brushed and polished and its ergonomics is outstanding. The bracelet is in fact perfectly integrated with the case, light and able to offer great comfort to the wrist.

The NTPT carbon model, on the other hand, has a strong and intriguing character. Its three-part case, made by the Richard Mille case manufacturer, Proart, is water-resistant to 5 atmospheres. It is in NTPT carbon with diamonds set on the bezel and the central part in satin-finished 5N red gold.

NTPT carbon “a composite material produced by the North Thin Ply Tecnology” has long been a distinctive element in Richard Mille’s men’s collections. Today it reveals its feminine side on these two models where NTPT carbon is enriched by a precious stone setting, a Richard Mille exclusive.

Unlike gold, which allows the craftsman to create by hand, with his own tools, the sites and claws to fix the stones, the hardness and strength of this composite material require the use of specific numerical control machines equipped with diamond tools allowing to create the dense drilling required to make the “pavé” type of setting.

The hand-polished red or grey gold claws, which are produced separately, are inserted in the 0.25 mm sites – they can hold up to 250 diamonds, as for the case of the full set model. The perfectly levelled surface of the stones on each piece reveals the perfect mastery of this goldsmith’s art.

But these watches are not only highly precious and bold in their aesthetics. They also have a high-level mechanical content. Their movement, the CRMA2 Manufacture Calibre, is a skeletonised self-winding movement with hours, minutes, rotor with variable geometry and a power reserve of about 50 hours.

The skeleton plate and the bridges of the calibre are made of 5-grade titanium with a micro-penetrating electroplasm surface treatment which increases the rigidity of the entire complex, ensuring the flatness of the surfaces – essential for the perfect functioning of the gear train.

Another mechanical excellence is the rotor with adjustable geometry, which allows the automatic winding to adapt to the wearer’s activities.

The variable inertia balance guarantees great reliability in the event of shocks and during assembly and disassembly of the movement. The result is improved precision over the long term.

The patented crown-winding shaft system allows the entire movement to be fully protected against external influences, as the crown of the RM 07-01 is not connected to the heart of the movement. When connected to the case, it becomes impossible to move, but can be easily manipulated by the watchmaker. An ideal solution to preserve the longevity of the mechanism.

These unique creations, after acting as protagonists in the pop-up at the Mandarin Oriental hotel to celebrate the Chinese New Year, are available in the Richard Mille boutique in Milan, via della Spiga.

By Valeria Garavaglia