Much like the aeronautics and automotive industries, where R&D play an essential role, cycling is constantly evolving from a technical perspective. The collaboration between Richard Mille and Alain Prost, the four-time Formula 1 World Champion and co-founder of the Renault e.dams team, and their interest in cycling, gave birth to the all new RM70-01 calibre Tourbillon, featuring an unprecedented odometer.
The RM 70-01’s never-before-seen totaliser allows the cyclist to know how many kilometres they’d ridden since the beginning of the season. The pusher at 2 o’clock can select any of the 5 rollers of the odometer, whose readout is visible in a titanium window. Once a roller selected, pressing the pusher located at 10 o’clock advances the roller by one. The only effort required of the user is to add the day’s distance to the prior total.
The mechanism itself, however, is much more complicated. The first pusher activates selection of a roller, one of the five. Execution is confirmed by perfect alignment of the two yellow arrows. The second pusher incrementally rotates the roller, which automatically blocks, thanks to the carry mechanism. To avoid accidental manipulations, the complication has been fitted with a neutral position (N). Thanks to a spring-lock, the selection fork will be lined up straight, with an arrow at 2 o’clock pointing to N as visual confirmation that the mechanism is locked.
The RM70-01 manual winding tourbillon calibre offers a 70-hour power-reserve, visible at 5 o’clock, thanks to an indicator powered by a planetary differential. Its baseplate and bridges are made of grade 5 titanium. Titanium’s extreme stiffness enables the calibre to withstand the roughest of trails with ease. Nods to the realm of cycling abound, from the titanium Allen screws that fix the bridges, to the barrel ratchet, which recalls the design of forged wheel spokes, to say nothing of the tourbillon cage and dynamometric crown, evocative of a bicycle’s pedal.
The beautifully finished movement possesses tremendous depth. Both its vertical architecture—which lines up the barrel and tourbillon along a single axis—and its compact size were essential because of how much space the odometer occupies within the case.
Machined out of Carbon TPT®, the tripartite case is water-resistant to 50 metres thanks to two Nitrile O-ring seals. It is assembled with 20 spline screws in grade
5 titanium and abrasion-resistant washers in 316L stainless steel. Combining tonneau, rectangular and asymmetrical shapes, the case ensures the greatest possible comfort when worn on the right wrist, but also optimises legibility of the time when gripping a cycle’s handlebars.
Each buyer of the RM 70-01 watch - a limited edition of 30 pieces - will receive as a gift their very own bespoke road cycle. Developed by Alain Prost and Richard Mille in partnership with the Italian bikemaker Colnago, these individually numbered bicycles are made by hand and painted in the watchmaking brand’s colours.
