Richard Mille is determined to support Les Voiles de St Barth by releasing a new 80-piece limited edition, the RM 60-01 Regatta Automatic Flyback Chronograph Les Voiles de St Barth, a proof of its long-term commitment to one of the world’s leading regattas. With no event this year we deemed it the obligation of Richard Mille to donate all the proceeds of the sale of this new RM 60-01 to local causes in St Barths. Veering from serene to extreme, Les Voiles de St Barth Richard Mille has always stood out as a state-of-the-art Rendez-vous for top-notch competitiveness and record-breaking technology. Richard Mille was there right from the start in 2010. Over its first decade, the competition welcomed tens of thousands of sailors and close to 500 boats from the four corners of the world —on average 80 crews competing in seven classes each edition.
Due to this success, Richard Mille decided to set a new course in 2019, nailing its colors to the mast as title sponsor for the re-baptized Les Voiles de St Barth Richard Mille. The RM 60-01 Regatta is specifically designed for sailing regattas and competitions with all the useful and essential functions that a skipper could need. In particular, it has a unique three-dimensional rotating bezel that shows the cardinal points and enables sailors to find their direction without a compass.
Its main asset, being able to orientate on both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres without any calculation. The UTC hand is placed pointing towards the sun. Then the rotating bezel —for the first time in Carbon TPT— just needs to be set in order for the UTC hand to indicate the local hour displayed on the bezel. The compass headings North, South, East, and West, therefore, align themselves with the actual direction on the Earth’s surface. This adaptability anywhere on the high seas is what sets the RM 60-01 apart from other “regatta” watches. Located at 9 o’clock, the hand is replaced by a skeletonized 60 minutes-marked disc. The pilot can read minutes elapsed but also remaining minutes.
The case features a unique four-part structure extremely difficult to make. The system is completed by the incorporation of the titanium horns in the case assembly. 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. The caseband is in titanium with Carbon TPT inserts. The pusher-caps protector is also in Carbon TPT.
The case measuring 50 mm in diameter by 16.33 mm in thickness is water-resistant to 100 meters ensured by two Nitrile O-ring seals. The case is assembled with 46 grade 5 titanium spline screws and abrasion-resistant washers in 316 L stainless steel.
By using the pusher between 4 and 5 o’clock, the running chronograph can be reset without first having to stop the mechanism. This was originally developed for pilots in order to not waste time —and therefore accuracy— from stopping, resetting, and starting the chronograph whilst crossing a navigational point.
While the chronograph function is activated, the hours and minutes show up the elapsed time thanks to the counter at 6 and 9 o'clock, the seconds are indicated by the central hands.
The RM 60-01 features a UTC hand that can be used either as a second time zone indicator or in combination with the sun and the rotating bezel to orientate the points of the compass. It can be easily adjusted using the pusher at 8 o’clock.
The Richard Mille RM 60-01 Regatta Les Voiles de St Barth is powered by the automatic movement calibre RMAC2 calibre with an autonomy of circa 55 hours. A flyback chronograph and oversize date display at 12 o’clock together with its month indicator make it the perfect companion for the high seas. A 60-minute countdown timer at 9 o’clock combined with the 24-hour totalizer at 6 o’clock adds to the nautical mindset. With the regatta’s colors flying high, the superb flange in turquoise highlighted with Les Voiles de St Barth Richard Mille logo on the case back, the RM 60-01 Automatic Flyback Chronograph Les Voiles de St Barth can truly claim pride of place as a watch for the Seven Seas. The watch is available in a limited edition of only 80 pieces.
Sticker Price $210,000 USD. For more info on Richard Mille click here.
