.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This prototype RM008-V2 is both extremely impressive and highly desirable. The dial with its yellow seconds scale and seconds hand and the green detailing of the power reserve sector and infill of the hour and minute hands provides a great aesthetic to this super-complicated Richard Mille historic model.
The RM008 is one of the most complicated wristwatches that Richard Mille produced in the early years. Pairing a split-seconds chronograph and a tourbillon, the important pink gold prototype offered here was the culmination of the 5 years worth of engineering calculations needed before reaching the prototype stage of development. From that point, it took a further 8 months to assemble the first watch.
The RM008-V2 movement comprises over 500 parts and, unsurprisingly for Richard Mille, has some very high-tech components. The RM008-V2 was the fourth model of the Richard Mille collection to use a carbon nanofiber baseplate, made possible by the technological advances made in the experimental limited edition RM 006, followed by the RM 002-V2, RM 003-V2 and RM 004-V2 watches. The baseplate is made from an isotropic composite material created from carbon nanofibres moulded under a high pressure of 7,500 N/cm2 and at a temperature of 2,000˚C. This resulted in a material with high mechanical, physical and chemical stability in all directions. Equally impressive is that the energy consumption of the split-seconds mechanism was lowered by approximately 50% compared to other regular split-seconds by reducing friction from the use of titanium for the gear wheels and levers. This had the added advantage of improving the performance of the chronograph to the point of virtually eliminating the ‘jump’ often seen when starting a chronograph mechanism.
The chronograph is started and stopped by pressing the pusher at 8 o'clock and the hands are reset by pressing the pusher at 10 o'clock. The split-seconds chronograph is activated by pressing the pusher at 4 o'clock. By pressing the pusher again, it will allow the split seconds hand to rejoin the chronograph hand. Accidental overwinding, which could cause damage to the winding stem (or alternatively create too much pressure on the barrel spring), is controlled thanks to the torque limiting crown feature created by Richard Mille. The power reserve for the RM008 is of approximately 70 hours, which equals to almost six days, a satisfying amount of time considering the other complications on this remarkable timepiece.
The RM008 is one of the most complicated wristwatches that Richard Mille produced in the early years. Pairing a split-seconds chronograph and a tourbillon, the important pink gold prototype offered here was the culmination of the 5 years worth of engineering calculations needed before reaching the prototype stage of development. From that point, it took a further 8 months to assemble the first watch.
The RM008-V2 movement comprises over 500 parts and, unsurprisingly for Richard Mille, has some very high-tech components. The RM008-V2 was the fourth model of the Richard Mille collection to use a carbon nanofiber baseplate, made possible by the technological advances made in the experimental limited edition RM 006, followed by the RM 002-V2, RM 003-V2 and RM 004-V2 watches. The baseplate is made from an isotropic composite material created from carbon nanofibres moulded under a high pressure of 7,500 N/cm2 and at a temperature of 2,000˚C. This resulted in a material with high mechanical, physical and chemical stability in all directions. Equally impressive is that the energy consumption of the split-seconds mechanism was lowered by approximately 50% compared to other regular split-seconds by reducing friction from the use of titanium for the gear wheels and levers. This had the added advantage of improving the performance of the chronograph to the point of virtually eliminating the ‘jump’ often seen when starting a chronograph mechanism.
The chronograph is started and stopped by pressing the pusher at 8 o'clock and the hands are reset by pressing the pusher at 10 o'clock. The split-seconds chronograph is activated by pressing the pusher at 4 o'clock. By pressing the pusher again, it will allow the split seconds hand to rejoin the chronograph hand. Accidental overwinding, which could cause damage to the winding stem (or alternatively create too much pressure on the barrel spring), is controlled thanks to the torque limiting crown feature created by Richard Mille. The power reserve for the RM008 is of approximately 70 hours, which equals to almost six days, a satisfying amount of time considering the other complications on this remarkable timepiece.