The sixth edition of the sailing race 'Les Voiles de Saint Barth' will get underway on April 14th, 2015. Over 1,000 yachtsmen and women of 20 different nationalities—including some of the biggest names in sailing such as Loïc Peyron and Terry Hutchinson—will compete during a week of racing in an electric atmosphere. In celebration of the brand’s role as principal partner for the sixth year in a row, Richard Mille unveils a new limited edition RM60-01 Automatic Flyback Chronograph Regatta 'Les Voiles de Saint Barth'. This new 100-piece limited edition will be available exclusively through Richard Mille authorized retailers in the Americas and it will be revealed publicly for the first time during next week’s regatta.
The new Richard Mille RM60-01 Flyback Chronograph Regatta 'Les Voiles de Saint Barth' features the 2015 competition colors in a combination of extreme performance, cutting-edge technology, a clear artistic vision and respect for watchmaking tradition. In Saint Barth, 70 of the Caribbean’s most beautiful yachts and their crews set their bearings for the port of Gustavia in Saint Barth for this sporting and festive event, among one of the most anticipated in the region. Following light and technically challenging winds on Tuesday and Wednesday, the last two days of the race were livened up by a warm twenty-five knot wind with strong gusts which even saw one yacht losing its mast.
The timepiece is driven by the Richard Mille calibre RMAC2, an automatic flyback chronograph caliber in grade 5 titanium, which facilitates navigation thanks to its unique three-dimensional rotating bezel featuring a wind rose and a graduated 360° 24-hour disk. Its operating principle relies on two key pieces of data: the local time and the position of the sun in the sky. By simply pointing one hand at the sun and at the local time on the bezel, the latter will indicate the compass points in both the northern and southern hemispheres without the need for any prior calculation. When set in this manner, the compass headings North, South, East and West on the bezel will be correctly aligned with the actual direction on the Earth’s surface. What differentiates the RM 60-01 form other similar types of watches is its ability to orientate within the northern as well as southern hemispheres without any additional calculations. To calculate one’s location, the UTC indicator is directed towards the sun using the UTC pusher located at 9 o’clock and then the bezel is turned so that that the UTC hand lines up with the actual local time engraved on the bezel’s circumference.
The massive titanium grade 5 case measuring 50 mm in diameter and 16.33 mm in thickness, features a unique four-part structure. The system is completed by the incorporation of horns in the case assembly. The four-part case of the RM 60-01 is very difficult to make. After a turning operation lasting 1 hour and 40 minutes, no less than 800 milling operations are required, taking several hours. Machining demands nearly 11 hours of separate operations. It is followed by a meticulous quality control procedure that takes a full day for each case. The 3 pushers, their components and the crown of the RM 60-01 require 10 days of machining, during which they undergo numerous tests for water-resistance and quality control, followed by the manual brushing and polishing of the entire case. All of these stages are vital in producing the characteristic ergonomic quality of Richard Mille watches.
Specifically designed for competitive sailing, the RM 60-01 'Les Voiles de Saint Barth' features a patented locking crown as an additional safety precaution, as well as the chronograph pushers that have a special quick locking and releasing mechanism. On the crown, locking —red arrow— and unlocking —green arrow. To activate the flyback chronograph pushers, one requires only a quick turn of the secondary crown, thus avoiding possible accidental changes of the chronograph readout.
The beating heart inside the new 'Les Voiles de Saint Barth' is the Richard Mille Calibre RMAC2 automatic movement with hours, minutes, running seconds at 3 o’clock, oversize date, month, annual calendar, Flyback chronograph with central seconds counter, and 30 minute countdown timer at 9 o’clock, 24 hour totalizer at 6 o’clock, UTC function and adjustable rotor geometry. When fully wound the calibre provides a power reserve of 50 hours. The components of the movement are in grade 5 titanium with black PVD coating and the movement features 62 jewels, an Elinvar balance spring and Rubifix transparent escapement wheel jewels. As usual, the beautiful calibre is fully visible via the display case back.
This new Richard Mille available in a limited edition of 100 pieces is fitted with a beautiful gray bluish rubber strap with the traditional Richard Mille clasp.
Sticker Price $160,000 USD. For more info on Richard Mill click here.
