These mechanics are presented to perfection by their case, produced using sapphire cut from a single block, in a process that required several years of research and testing in order to meet the highest standards of comfort and resistance. As meticulous in their craft as Felipe Massa in his own sphere, the engineers at Richard Mille have optimized the movement, finetuning its time-keeping precision and improving the operation of its split-seconds by reducing friction, and ensuring the long-term reliability of the caliber. This tourbillon movement also boasts indicators for the power reserve and torque, and a function selector. Comprised of more than 500 individual components, the grade 5 titanium RMCC1 caliber plays host to one of horology’s most exquisite complications: a split-seconds chronograph. Renowned by experts for its uncompromising technicality, at the very core of the RM 056 tourbillon caliber is a synthesis of the brand’s most exciting innovations. Today we are introducing the first model: the RM 056. To mark the occasion, Richard Mille has dedicated a special collection of RM 056 and RM 011 timepieces to Felipe Massa, appropriately named ‘10th Anniversary’. This collaboration, which became a deep friendship, is now approaching its 10th anniversary. Such triumphs included the manufacture of a carbon nanofiber baseplate, first tested with the RM 006 FM then used in a number of other models, as well as the processing of new materials such the Alusic cases on the RM 009 FM. A long-time test driver for Richard Mille watches, it was he who enabled the brand to initiate and accomplish astonishing feats in watchmaking development. But RMs aren't all flash.Brazilian Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa is the first sporting figure to have joined the Richard Mille family. To the ultra-online watch aficionado, the flex is as important as anything. (It's a rumor the brand denies.) Needless to say, many eyebrows are still arched, but RM can't keep its watches in stock-the exorbitant pricing has, ironically, become one of the brand's strongest selling points. Mille received so many inquiries that the number remained as advertised. Rumor has it that the origins of Mille's extravagant prices can be traced to his first advertisement, in the Financial Times, when a copywriter inadvertently added an extra “0” to the MSRP. The splashy debut spawned the first of many apocryphal Richard Mille stories. Here was an unknown name offering a timepiece more expensive than some of the most important Patek Philippes. The price back then was $135,000, which caused the watch world to raise an eyebrow. His first product, the RM 001 Tourbillon, was inspired by Formula One race cars, and its signature Tonneau-shaped case and incorporation of engineering methods developed for F1 immediately caught collectors' attention. Richard Mille, a French entrepreneur and designer, cut his teeth at Parisian jeweler to the stars Mauboussin before launching his watch brand in 2001. Seemingly overnight, a brand that was considered a curio among watch nuts has instead become one of the hottest and most recognizable watchmakers on earth. Fast-forward to 2021, and the very thing that once made the watch so rare-the eye-popping price-has contributed to its becoming a staple on the wrists of stars from Jay-Z and Drake to Rafael Nadal and Odell Beckham Jr. Richard Mille watches used to be considered an insider's secret in the horology world-so scarce, in fact, that they were often described as “the secret billionaire's handshake” on account of their six-to-seven-digit price tags.
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