Insider: Richard Mille RM 028 Brown PVD Titanium. A Massive Diving Watch That is Great Looking But Not for Everyone.
The first diving watch for Richard Mille was the RM 028 Diver released in 2010 with several renditions that followed. In 2012, the most striking and colorful Richard Mille Diver RM 028 was released in a non-limited run —but knowing how Richard Mille works, maybe no more than 100 pieces or so were made— and featuring a brown PVD titanium case with orange and blue accents on the bezel and secured by a bright orange rubber strap. With its signature three-piece titanium case measuring 47 mm in diameter and 14.6 mm in thickness, the rotating bezel is formed by three layers that are connected with 22 eight-point-star-shaped screws —which means that the bezel cannot be dislocated by impact.
Things You Need to Know
Its bezel is fitted with a very unique safety feature that prevents rotating the bezel inadvertently during a dive. Equipped with a double-push button security mechanism, the bezel will only rotate if both the button at the 30-minute mark and the blue arrow raised buttons are pressed simultaneously while rotating the bezel in a counterclockwise direction.
The RM028 is truly a diver's watch as it complies with all the norms set by the ISO 6425 for diving watches. Waterproof to a depth rating of 300m/1000ft, this watch is the perfect companion for your next underwater adventure. With a dial made of sapphire crystal with a thickness of 0.40 mm, the base plate of the movement can be appreciated on the dial side. Additionally, there is a date aperture at 7 o'clock.
Just as required on any diver's watch complying with ISO 6425 norms, the watch is fitted with a screw-down over-sized crown that is very easy to unscrew with or without gloves. The crown is made of titanium and comes with a red rubber middle ring for protection.
The sapphire crystal on the watch has an anti-reflective coating on both sides that provides the perfect clarity for good readability inside and outside of the water. The rubber strap is soft and comfortable and it's fitted with a titanium tang buckle with the Richard Mille name on it.
The Movement
The Richard Mille RM 028 Brown PVD Titanium just like all other RM 028s, comes with a display case back allowing for a full view of the gorgeous skeletonized automatic calibre RMAS7 with adjustable rotor geometry. The calibre has a power-reserve of approximately 55 hours and according to Richard Mille, the exclusive design of the calibre allows the rewinding of the mainspring to adapt to the user’s activity level. By adjusting the setting of the rib’s placement, the rotor’s inertia is modified to either speed up the winding process in the case of leisurely arm movements, or slow it down when sporting activities are performed. As a result, this invention allows the movement’s winding mechanism to be optimized and personalized to the owner’s lifestyle.
On the Wrist & Pricing
On the wrist, the Richard Mille RM 028 Brown PVD wears really big and more like a 50 mm watch. However, the watch wears quite light with a total weight of only 130 grams, thanks to its titanium construction. While this watch doesn't feature the tonneau shape that makes Richard Mille watches immediately recognizable, its striking color combo and design makes it easily recognizable by those that are real savvy watch connoisseurs.
While this watch is really nice, its color combination along with its massive thickness and sharp lugs, makes it a watch very difficult to wear for almost everyone that doesn't have a wrist larger than 7.5" in circumference. Now, if you own a Louis Vuitton Marc Newson backpack in orange like the one we have here, look no further as this watch is the perfect match for it.
Sticker Price $95,000 USD. For more info on Richard Mille click here.