THE MECHANICS OF HAPPINESS
With an unexpectedly bold aesthetic, the new playful creation by Richard Mille is a concentration of positive vibes. A magical setting is combined with an extraordinary mechanism.
An Indian proverb says, “If you view everything in grey, move the elephant”. Richard Mille offers a luxurious alternative in the form of the RM 88 Tourbillon Smiley watch. A hand-painted gold smiley face dominates a festive scene on the dial. The emblematic yellow logo appears surrounded by elements symbolizing joie de vivre. Among them are a rainbow, a pineapple, a pink flamingo, and more. All these creations are microsculptures realized in gold by the talented engraver Olivier Kuhn. Each one required a major feat to complete. The cocktail glass, for example, is crafted using four gold components. The whole assembly made up of the umbrella, the 1.7mm high olive, the 0.4mm diameter grooved straw, as well as the bead-blasted glass at its base to suggest its freshness weighs only 0.4g.
To best integrate them, a new caliber, the CRMT7, was developed. In addition to the presence of a tourbillon, its particularity lies in its open architecture enabling the inclusion of miniatures by means of a second plate. This self-winding movement is equipped with the technical features adopted on the previous models, such as the grade 5 titanium bridges, the variable inertia balance, and the fast rotating barrel. The 50 examples of the RM 88 Tourbillon Smiley have a case in alumina toughened zirconia (ATZ) ceramic, a material renowned for its resistance to scratches, and red gold. The presence of a sapphire caseback offers an alternative view of the components of the complex mechanism, including the sun-shaped oscillating weight. A stunning creation in every detail!
