Must See: Richard Mille’s New High Jewellery Watch – RM HJ-02

RICHARD MILLE is celebrating 20 years of women’s watchmaking with the RM HJ-02, a new automatic tourbillon presented as 12 unique pieces across four colour families of pink, violet, blue and green.

Completely spectacular, each watch features 1399 precious and ornamental stones, from rubies, sapphires, and emeralds to Paraíba tourmalines, malachite, and mother-of-pearl, with close to 700 hours devoted to gem-setting alone. The accompanying campaign is equally glamorous, featuring a cast of women including Michelle Yeoh.

Michelle Yeoh for Richard Mille

The collection represents a more jewellery-focused direction for the watchmaker, with the colour, placement and geometry of the stones informing the design. Across the case, buckle and even the movement itself, gemstones become part of the watch’s architecture.

At the centre of the RM HJ-02 is a new in-house automatic tourbillon calibre developed alongside the case, with the movement, case and gem-setting conceived as a single design exercise over more than three years of development.

Richard Mille RM HJ-02

Drawing on Art Deco influences while retaining the technical language and aesthetic for which Richard Mille is known, the RM HJ-02 merges high jewellery and horology, resulting in a beautifully intricate and collectable wearable design object.

by Felicity Carter