Thanks to the growing popularity of Richard Mille watches, the RM brand has rapidly ascended to the pinnacle of the horology market. In just about 23 years of existence, the brand has grown to become one of the most popular luxury sports watchmakers in the world. 

From the onset, one of the main visions of the Richard Mille brand has been to revolutionize the luxury watch industry with innovative designs and cutting-edge technology. More than simply creating beautiful timepieces, Richard Mille has always sought to challenge the status quo and push traditional watchmaking boundaries. This is why the brand went for a distinctive tonneau shape, which sets them apart instantly from other luxury watch brands. Richard Mille has also prioritized the use of high-tech materials in all its watches. 

The company has stayed true to this vision and has rolled out several innovative watches with bold designs. Richard Mille has a unique design philosophy that focuses on creating timepieces that are both aesthetic and functional. These watches are so iconic in their design, that many high-profile celebrities proudly associate themselves with the Richard Mille brand. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at some of the most iconic watches from this watchmaker and the design secrets that set them apart. 

Design Secrets of the Most Iconic Richard Mille Watches 

Over the years, Richard Mille has released several noteworthy timepieces, each one with a unique story behind its design and at very different price points. As Richard Mille watch can be extremely difficult to source, we recommend searching Richard Mille for sale to find the top RM dealers with these limited supply watches.

Below is a selection of some of the most iconic Richard Mille Watches and the inspiration behind their design. 

Richard Mille RM 011

The Richard Mille RM 011 is arguably the most popular and most iconic watch from this watchmaker. The Richard Mille brand blew up shortly after this watch hit the market in 2007. As a result, the RM 011 is often referred to as the watch that put the Richard Mille brand on the map. This timepiece has managed to remain dominant in the ultra-high-end sports watch market 

The RM 011 is officially referred to as the Richard Mille RM 011 Automatic Flyback Chronograph Felipe Massa. That’s because the watch was designed in collaboration with renowned F1 driver Felippe Massa who has over 11 Grand Prix victories under his belt. 

Expectedly, the iconic design of this watch was inspired by the sophisticated engineering and design of F1 racing cars. Richard Mille ensured that this watch was both light and aerodynamic with the use of innovative proprietary materials such as NTPT carbon and titanium. These materials are famous for their use in aeronautical and automotive designs. 

The RMAC1 movement that powers this watch has also been engineered to a high level of precision to ensure that it delivers the absolute highest level of performance possible, just like the F1 race cars that inspired the watch’s design. Combining the spirit of watchmaking and racing is the main design philosophy behind the iconic design of the Richard Mille RM 011. 

Richard Mille RM 055

The Richard Mille 055 Bubba Watson takes direct inspiration from the RM 038, the tourbillon wrist watch designed in 2011 for American golfer, Bubba Watson. While golf may not be your first pick when you think of high-impact sports, a metal club hitting a hard golf ball generates a lot of force that travels up the player’s arm. Such vibrations can affect the accuracy of any watch that isn’t built to take it. 

For instance, Bubba Watson is famous for his powerful drives that have been known to exceed speeds of 188 mph. Such a powerful shot would shatter many standard sports watches or throw off their precision. Richard Mille has always taken pride in its ability to build powerful shock-resistant watches useful for high-impact sports. The Richard Mille RM 055 is another feather in that already well-decorated cap. 

The RM 055 is a highly technical creation built to be durable, and sporty. One significant upgrade of this piece over the earlier RM 038 is its new RMUL2 movement, built specifically to withstand accelerations of over 5000 g’s. It’s just the perfect shock resistance needed by powerful golfers like Bubba Watson. The latest watch in this collection (the Tourbillon RM 38-02 Bubba Watson) is built to withstand an even greater force of 10,000G. 

In creating this watch, Richard Mille also incorporated various innovative high-resistance materials. The bezel is made from alumina-toughened Zirconia, one of the hardest materials in the world. 

The symmetrical RM 055 casing is made from grade 5 titanium, covered by a white rubber material which was injected around the titanium components. This insulation protects the watch from vibrations while also making it more comfortable on the wearer’s wrist. 

Richard Mille RM 035

The Richard Mille RM 035 is often hailed for being extremely light. It’s the type of watch that could slip off your wrists and you’ll probably not notice for a while. This is exactly what the Richard Mille brand was hoping to achieve when the RM 035 was being designed. 

The Richard Mille RM 035 collection was born out of the brand’s collaboration with tennis legend Rafael Nadal. One of the goals of this partnership was to create a line of watches that could withstand the rigors of tennis matches without impeding the wearer’s performance. While the RM 027 was the first watch that came out of this collaboration, the RM 035 which was launched in 2011 is just as impressive. 

The first watch in the collection weighed just 4.3 grams. It was as lightweight as a plastic toy watch, despite being one of the most sophisticated watches in the world. It had a titanium movement and the case was made from a lightweight alloy of aluminum, magnesium and copper (known as alumagnesium). The RM 035 is often referred to as the Baby Nadal because it lacked a tourbillon, which is present in the RM 27 watch. 

The Richard Mille RM 12-01

The Richard Mille RM 12-01 is arguably the most visually intriguing Richard Mille Wristwatch. The watch is a demonstration of Richard Mille’s mechanical ingenuity and commitment to avant-garde designs. 

The watch stands out right away because of its unique casing. While the RM 12-01’s casing is identical to several other Richard Mille timepieces, it is made from an entirely different material, one that has not been used in any other wristwatch before it. 

The entire case of the RM 12-01 including the front bezel, back bezel and case band was cut from solid blocks of sapphire, and machined to perfection. According to the Richard Mille brand, it took over 1000 hours to produce the RM 12-01’s case. Perfecting the material and its sapphire structure took several years of research and testing just to ensure it could meet the standards of strength and comfort set by the company. 

Sapphire is a particularly durable and scratch-resistant material. But it isn’t the first choice for making Richard Mille wrist watches because of how difficult to carve it can be. One slip-up during the machining process and the entire block of sapphire might crack. 

It isn’t surprising that Richard Mille only made 5 pieces of this watch and it is one of the brand’s most expensive products. But by creating an All-sapphire wristwatch, Richard Mille demonstrated its ingenuity, mechanical prowess and boldness to venture where no one else would go.

Richard Mille RM 72-01

The Richard Mille RM 72-01 is another luxury sports watch that stands out right away on the wrist, further strengthening the brand’s reputation of crafting one-of-a-kind pieces. This time, the brand takes inspiration from the world of cycling. To create this watch, Richard Mille Collaborated with four-time Formula 1 World Champion Alain Prost. 

One of the primary design goals of this watch was to create a timepiece with a crown that doesn’t dig into the wearer’s arm when the wrist is bent to grip the handlebars of a bike. To achieve this, the RM 72-01 comes with a warped tonneau-shaped case, designed to bulge to one side. The watch is intended to be worn only on the right wrist. 

In addition to the ergonomic design of this timepiece, the RM 72-01 also featured a totalizer, designed to help cyclists track the distance they have covered on the bike. This revolutionary feature makes it a useful tool for the modern athlete. 

Conclusion 

As this article shows, every Richard Mille timepiece is characterized by thoughtful design backed by a specific philosophy. The brand is intentional about creating watches that are both aesthetically and functionally impressive. A Richard Mille watch is designed in close collaboration with professional athletes that can provide insights into the functional uses of these watches and help the brand adapt their design to make them fit for purpose. Richard Mille’s dedication to innovation and the use of high-tech materials also contributes to the iconic status of every collection and watch model that has been rolled out by the company so far.