In my interview with him last year, Richard Mille, founder of the eponymous haute horlogerie watch brand, made clear that despite his watches’ reputation for high-tech masculinity, he was committed to developing a distinctive identity for his ladies’ models as well ? one that did not sacrifice horological excellence for jewel-bedecked beauty but elegantly combined the two. With the recent introduction of the new RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman ? his brand’s first watch with a self-winding tourbillon movement, and one definitively designed for the fairer sex ? Mille proves to the watch world that he’s serious.
The Richard Mille RM 71-01 is inspired partially by African tribal art.
The RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman ? the brainchild of Cécile Guernat, a seasoned veteran of the fine jewelry design world brought on board to be Richard Mille’s Ladies Collection Director ? is offered in 10 variations of its slim, curvilinear tonneau case and openworked dial, all equipped with the in-house-made automatic tourbillon and luxuriously glazed with an array of diamonds, mother-of-pearl, onyx, and black sapphires. The model derives the name “Talisman” from the African sculptures and tribal art masks that served, along with Art Deco influences, as Guernat’s primary influences on its case and dial designs. Fashioning the three-part cases, which measure 52.2 mm by 34.4 mm in diameter and 12.5 mm thick, required 44 different sta...