Three years ago, Cécile Guenat, now Ladies’ Collection Director, was first asked to join the company and design new creations. The challenge proved irresistible for the young woman who earned her spurs in the world of fine jewellery. After graduating from the Geneva School of Art and Design (HEAD), she gained experience with a jeweller in Lausanne, then with a London jewellery designer, where she created collections for a number of Couture houses and branded designs.
"We are known for our incredibly technical, high-performance watches that draw inspiration from the automotive and aeronautics industries, even though women’s watches have represented a considerable percentage of our sales for several years now", sys Richard Mille. " That said, we needed a modern, creative and talented young woman to inject new energy into our status quo and take the women’s collection to new heights. It was Cécile Guenat, the daughter of my friend and business partner Dominique, who met this challenge by overcoming technical obstacles, freeing herself from consensus and establishing a unique and resolutely contemporary style".
Inspirations
"My work is the fruit of very different influences", confides Cécile Guenat. "In designing this collection, I drew not only on Art Deco, but on the Tribal arts—masks, African sculptures, etc. — whose impact on all great modern and contemporary artists has been enormous. The contrasts, geometry, and sacred character of these objects fascinate me all the more because they prefigured today’s design through the fusion of content and formThe notion of a collection took shape very early in the initial sketches."
Thus emerged a number of interpretations, with ten different variations on the case and dial. The 10 variations on the setting bring together different textures, diameters and faceting, finding free expression all over the case - of white or red gold - and bezel of the watch, whereas the caseback is engraved with matte bands.
Each dial, a mere 0.9 mm in thickness, is hand set with mother-of-pearl, onyx and diamonds. This component is an immense technical challenge because of the many different finishing operations required: sandblasting, polishing, setting... and all this in a very small area arranged on several levels. The dials evoke two distinct universes: one more plant-based and the other more urban.
Innovation
The RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman abolishes the distinction between jewellery and its case. The movement, dial and case maintain an aesthetic, technical and visual dialogue in each version.
With this horological tourbillon, the brand inducts the Calibre CRMT1, its eighth, in-house calibre. This automatic winding tourbillon movement with hours, minutes and variable-geometry rotor offers a 50-hour power reserve. The baseplate protecting the tourbillon’s rotation remains open to preserve transparency. Skeletonised and tonneau-shaped, with a thickness no greater than 6.2 mm and a weight of just 8 grams, the Calibre CRMT1 is clothed in titanium.
