The Richard Mille RM 63-02 Automatic Worldtimer Brings a Golden World to Your Wrist with Just a Twist
In the new limited edition RM 63-02 Automatic Worldtimer, artisan watchmaker Richard Mille delivers all the technical functionality of a global wristwatch in its own inimitable, envelope-pushing style.
By Mike Espindle
Executive Editor
The appeal, romance, and demanding technical complexity of a true world-timer wristwatch are all simply undeniable. The ability to quickly glean accurate local times, worldwide, is a feat of mechanical engineering that transcends the skills of horology to speak directly to the profound universality of timekeeping itself. Despite the stringent technical hurdles, the idea is simple and pure: What time is it right now, anywhere?
Traditionally, word-timers have relied on pushers or a crown (or sometimes even two crowns) to set and adjust the appropriate time zone. However, for the innovative RM 63-02 Automatic Worldtimer released last week, Richard Mille united its movement and case teams to place the function directly on a rotating bezel, adding a new sense of elegant, behind-the-scenes simplicity to the job at hand.
Delivering the World…
Based on the entirely in-house developed automatic CRMA4 calibre (which carries a 50-hour power reserve), the RM 63-02 places the movement on a baseplate and bridges crafted from grade 5 titanium. On the dial side, an overlaying skeletonized bridge (treated with brush-finished black rhodium) provides a view into the movement’s gears and complexity, but also increases legibility.
The date is large, putting the 5N red-gold framed oval date aperture at 12 o’clock front-and-center, and adjusted by a dedicated pusher at 11 o’clock. That said, the house’s signature enormous hour indices, done in a tech-y font, compete for a perfect sense of focal interplay on the dial, as well.
The black rhodium bridge also gives a full view of the 63-02’s function selector disc. A signature Mille invention, the function selector allows the wearer to move between winding, setting, and a neutral position and is controlled via a pusher at 4 o’clock to avoid any missteps or mistakes when manipulating the protected crown.
As stated above, the “local” time zone specification is handled by a two-row flange of city names adjusted by the stunning 5N red gold bezel. The mechanism is mounted on small ball bearings and linked to a wheel that adjusts the hour wheel.
Why is this a big deal? Because a mere twist of the bezel not only puts you in the time zone of your choosing at the 12 o’clock position, but automatically adjusts the 23 other time zones listed on the inner bezel gauge. No pusher or crown work needed.
…And What a Beautiful World
The round 47mm case, of satin-finished 5N red gold with a polished grade 5 titanium case band, is as stunning as it is complex. There are 106 components to just the three-part case overall, with the bezel-driven time zone setting function requiring a dozen dedicated case components of its own.
However, with the bezel and two-row angled white-and-red city flange taking up a good portion of the top-of-watch real estate, the intricate dial itself wears fairly compact and sporty, and unmistakably Richard Mille, in its appearance.
If you’re worried about moisture slipping past its ingenious bezel mechanism, don’t be. The innovative time zone function has undergone over 5,000 full rotations of testing, with case seals tested every 1,000 rotations to ensure something you generally won’t find in fussier, more traditional world timers: 30 meters of water resistance.
Pricing & Availability
Available now, the new red gold RM 63-02 Automatic Worldtimer is limited to 100 pieces. For more information, including pricing, check out the Richard Mille website.