Subtlety isn’t exactly a paramount design trait when it comes to Richard Mille timepieces and honestly, fans of the brand kind of enjoy that. So when the time came for Richard Mille to release a new world timer back in 2015, everyone knew that they wouldn’t hold back – and they didn’t. The Richard Mille RM 63-02 World Timer is interesting in the sense that although it appears overly-complex, the brand designed it with practicality and ease-of-use in mind.
The release of the Richard Mille RM 63-02 World Timer also marked the introduction of the brand’s new in-house CRMA3 movement, which features swift integration of grade-5 titanium. Without getting into the technical details too much, it’s important to note that Richard Mille aimed to make this one of the fastest setting world timers available. This was achieved by removing the need for a pusher dedicated to utilizing the time setting function. Alternatively, the magic takes place at the bezel, which is set on ball bearings and is directly connected to the hour hand. After setting your home time at 12 o’clock, the watch will then be able to reference the time in 23 cities – all at a quick glance thanks to this incredible movement.
In addition, the opening of new boutiques allows us to provide even better service to our clients everywhere worldwide. Watches, like cars, need regular servicing and oiling, and we need all of Richard Mille owners to get the best service possible for a long time to come. This type of personal touch with a boutique is an indispensable part of what real luxury is about.Richard Mille’s stable of athletes really are that a dream team come true, and you could say he has a blessed knack for picking winners. Unlike a lot of brand-sponsored athletes, who do their stuff and pose for the decoration with the official watch, Richard Mille’s ambassadors put their watches through the very extenuating physical ordeals. Not only trophy athletes, these women and men are real-life crash tests for the watches themselves, testimonials that prove that the watches are formidably equipped to defy the G-force made by an expert golfer’s swing such as Bubba Watson’s, and the vibrations of a steering wheel inside an F1 car. In the event of Rafael Nadal’s RM 27-02 view, Richard Mille wished to make a tourbillon that may withstand the shocks and beating of a tennis match (with spin on his forehand around 3,288 rotations per second) yet weigh in at under 20 grams.The line-up of Richard Mille’s ‘friends’ and brand ambassadors includes high-profile athletes like Wayde van Niekerk and Yohan Blake; golfers Bubba Watson and Diana Luna; F1 drivers Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean; tennis ace Rafa Nadal and Alexandre Zverev; rally drivers Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier and martial arts miracle Jackie Chan; actresses Michelle Yeoh and Natalie Portman; celebrity chef Carlo Cracco; as well as Benjamin Millepied, a choreographer.
This kind of approach to practical design adjustment pushes the Richard Mille RM 63-02 World Timer beyond something that is just another “flashy watch.” It also shows that the brand is still interested in achieving new and interesting developments with the casual wearer in mind. Perhaps the most immediately recognizable feature is the heavily skeletonized dial layout together with internal rings for the cities and the innermost ring split between white and blue AM / PM indications.
Looking at the case back, we find an extremely prominent and heavy-duty 5N red gold and titanium rotor. From this angle as well,it’s also clear that as complicated as it is, the Richard Mille RM 63-02 World Timer was still designed with comfort in mind. That’s no surprise, as Richard Mille produces some of the most comfortable watches around. Still, the integrated rubber strap makes the 47mm size easy on the wrist, which is important if you find yourself traveling often and utilizing the world time feature to its fullest extent. Also, if you missed it before, one of the watch’s crowning features is its sapphire crystal coming in at 0.40mm thick. This is simply another sign of how playful Richard Mille can be when innovating through the use of sapphire.
So is the Richard Mille RM 63-02 World Timer the best watch to drag through airport security during your next intercontinental adventure? Probably not. While boarding your own Gulfstream G600 perhaps? Definitely. All jokes aside, this is an impressive timepiece that combines a great degree of material innovation with a new movement built on making the world timer complication easy to use.
