What watch does Jean Todt fancy?

Go to the watch thread in Off Topic right now and look through that. I think that watch is in it.

 

That is a very special watch it's a Richard Mille,

The Company Richard Mille is a joint venture between Richard Mille, former President and CEO of Mauboussin Watch Company and Dominique Guenat, of Guenat S.A. whose company has been established in the watch business for more than 100 years, and Laurent Picciotto, the famous Chronopassion owner. Located in Swiss Jura region, the company was established in July 2001. Richard Mille is an ultra modern independent watch company that employs 25 professionals.

The Richard Mille Watch
The culture and love of mechanics in general, and of the automobile and aviation in particular, the passion for technical sophistication, have been at the origin of the manufacture of this modern, sophisticated, efficient, practical, powerful and reliable piece.
The drive for innovation and the technical choices required thousands of hours spent on engineering design (120.000 operations), validation, tests and adjustments. Every detail has been painstakingly attended to, every material has been tested. It adds up to more than 20.000 mechanical operations performed for each movement, made up of 267 components. ARCAP ( an alloy with great mechanical properties in terms of stability over time and resistance to deformation), as well as titanium and ceramics have been used.

The design and execution of this watch testify to an integral approach to the movement/case/dial. This means that everything has been designed by starting from a clean sheet, according to an extremely precise and rigorous specification, with the aim of completely integrating all the elements, like a formula 1 car where the chassis and the engine are both developed according to a single specification. For example, no casing ring has been necessary. All this explains the exceptional quality of fabrication.

Very ergonomical, with characteristic lateral ribs of improved rigidity, a large-size and easy-to-grip hand-setting crown, an easy and useful time, power reserve and torque indicator display, everything in this watch has been conceived to make life easier for its user. Moreover, all the sapphire glass has been given an anti-glare treatment.

The component reliability has been especially studied and tested (flexible and very shock-resistant tourbillon and barrel train bridges, since they were designed to be shock-absorbing) , special, rapidly rotating spring barrel designed to balance the supply of driving power by improving the gliding of the spirals, strengthened mainspring, optimized wheelwork with the toothing of the spring barrel and the center pinion with a profile of involutes gears, reducing friction and improving the clockwork movement, a new-generation, modular handsetting block facilitating after-sale service due to its easy access, requiring no complete dismantling of the hands and the dials, stiffened plate structure, particularly around the train, as in the car engines, thus avoiding the twisting that often affects the working of mechanical watches. Finally, a ruby wheel located in the hour-setting module allows the hand-setting stem to be operated gently and precisely.

The titanium screws characteristic of this watch allow phenomenal screwing/unscrewing torque, thus avoiding any damage to the screw that frequently occurs with a conventional screwdriver. The particular shape of the screwhead means only specialized approved retailers, who have the proper tools, can dismantle the watch. A copper washer under each screw allows optimum tightening without marking the bridges or plates. At the critical points, such as the crown wheel, wear-resistant washers, hardened and precision-ground, have been placed to protect the functional components. Thus, when being taken for servicing, these washers can be replaced as soon as any major wear and tear is noted.

The radical style reflects a temperament dedicated to powerful performance. Glamour is absent, there is no embellishment, no extravagance, but rather the confirmed determination to define a new vision of extreme luxury, of top-of-the- range watches. It is a Formula 1, with all the qualities of use and of reliability of a great G.T.

Over and above the technical features, each movement, manufactured by Audemars Piguet/Renaud &Papi and each watchcase are hand-finished, in the tradition of extremely sophisticated timepieces. Deburring, satin-finishing, removal of all imperfections, superfinished angles and polished lock represent the hand-finishing operations of this piece.

Finally this watch, which is available in white gold, pink gold, titanium or platinum, has been extensively developed over a long time, made reliable, tested and adjusted. All the faults or weaknesses have been identified and the necessary modifications or improvements have been made.

Concept/design : Richard Mille

Movement study/development: Giulio PAPI, Fabrice DESCHANEL, ( AUDEMARS-PIGUET/RENAUD&PAPI ) , Richard Mille

Movement manufacture : Audemars-Piguet/Renaud&Papi.

Watch-maker : GUENAT S.A. (Dominique Guenat, Partner )


The Technical Features of the RICHARD MILLE CALIBER RM 004
Dimensions of the movement:
Total height: 8.0 mm
Height of hands: 11.20 mm


Main Features:
Chronograph with column wheel
Split-second mechanism with improved fuction
Optimised minute counter
Torque sensor
Power reserve
Winding stem with neutral position
Rapidly rotating spring barrel
Involute wheel toothing
New type of escarpment
Ergonomic position of buttons


Other Features:

21600 A/h
72 hour power reserve


Display:

Hour in the centre
Minutes in the centre
Chronograph in the centre
Split-second mechanism
Minute counter
Power reserve
Torque sensor
Winding stem position indicator


The RM004 is available in:
Rose gold
White gold
Titanium


And about the price , let say about the same as a 360 Modena,

Regards,

Jorge
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just saw it's about 159.000 Euro. Waw.....

But i'd prefer the 360 Modena.

Thanks for this thread, always interesting to know such things.

greetings, vincent

 

I would take the 360 also.. I am just wondering if there are and cheap knock off's of them in Mexico???

 

I think I'd take the Modena too because it looks better. I doubt that made sense. The engineering that went into it is probably awesome, but you can tell that's exactly who designed it, engineers. I don't think it's nearly as stylish as it could be. But we're learning in engineering class that engineers don't like intricate curves and other fancy designs, it makes the math harder and things get complex. I see this as an excellent example of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid).

 

Doesnt look so simple to me! I like the watch. But, like most everybody else, I would take the 360 if I had to choose.