High Performance Certificate for the RM 031

THE RM 031 AND THE Richard Mille HIGH PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE

Introduced in 2012, The RM 031 is the result of a determined desire to create the world’s most consistent mechanical caliber with a variation of less than 30 seconds per month.

The Richard Mille brand is fully committed to the pursuit of performance. This approach has led the RM engineers to use materials with extraordinary physical properties sourced from sectors far-removed from watchmaking, such as aviation, the automotive industry and cutting-edge electronics. These worlds have inspired Richard Mille and enabled him to design calibers that are at once rigid and flexible, antimagnetic, resistant to high temperatures and corrosion-proof. A Richard Mille caliber must also be capable of delivering extreme performance. With this in mind, the gear trains are analysed to enhance the energy balance, the barrel torque diagrams are closely examined to achieve the greatest possible consistency, the winding solutions are optimised and the balances are constantly perfected for ever-greater regularity.

The RM031 is a manually wound caliber equipped with a direct impulse AP escapement, whose accuracy far exceeds a conventional escapement thanks to the direct action of the escape wheel on the balance. Beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour and linked to a double barrel, the regularity with which it splits time makes this escapement the key organ in the race for performance. However, as is the case with a car, this power is only useful if it can be perfectly transmitted to the wheels. As such, the Richard Mille movement engineers have focused on the watch’s transmission by giving the entire gear train a pressure angle of 20° on the teeth. This optimisation makes for excellent power transmission and therefore optimum performance. Their assembly on an ARCAP baseplate and bridges endows the movement with extreme rigidity and a high resistance to temperature variations and corrosion.

The AP escapement, the gear trains with their specific profiles and the architecture of the movement enable great consistency in the calculation of time, irrespective of whether the watch is at the height of its power reserve or within minutes of stopping. The movement operates in an environment under argon, a chemically inert gas with a high thermal insulation coefficient comparable to a vacuum atmosphere.

Thanks to these techniques, the chronometric performance of the RM031 is exceptional for a mechanical caliber, exceeding the expectations of the watchmakers themselves. The Richard Mille brand has even created an internal performance certificate to attest to the watch’s achievements. It can only be awarded to watches that have undergone 61 days of non-stop testing.

The 10 RM 031 timepieces have all been awarded a performance certificate signed by the inspector and Richard Mille. This certificate is accompanied by daily records of the watch’s performance, attesting to the extraordinary achievements of this exceptional creation.