With International Women’s Day celebrated on 8 March, Richard Mille picked an opportune time to release it’s first women’s sports watch. We’re not sure if its coincidental but admittedly, the timing of the release of the Richard Mille RM 07-04 Automatic Sport could not be any better.
As a brand that has always leveraged on the expertise of high-level sportsmen and women as its partners, Richard Mille has gained valuable insights into the development of its timepieces and movements. The Richard Mille RM 07-04 Automatic Sport is no different as it boasts the insights of six inspiring and highly-individual female athletes.
In developing its first women’s sports watch, Richard Mille roped in Aurora Straus, Margot Laffite, Nelly Korda, Nafi Thiam, Yuliya Levchenko and Ester Ledecká to share their experiences and develop and define the attributes of this watch. Respected competitors in the world of motorsport, golf, track and field and snowboarding, the ladies front this new coveted timepiece.
Built To Perform
According to Richard Mille, the RM 07-04 Automatic Sport has been developed to adapt perfectly to the constraints of the various disciplines and arenas the ladies compete it. As such, the timepiece asserts pure performance and technical sophistication. However, in ensuring these capabilities, Richard Mille watchmakers were pushed to the limits of their technical expertise.
A total of three years of development were needed in creating the RM 07-04 Automatic Sport. The reason for this is that the timepiece offered many challenges, chief of which was the creation of a new, highly-compact skeletonised automatic movement. The movement also needed to guarantee high shock resistance and seamlessly integrate the exterior into the movement whilst leaving the workings completely visible.
Powering the timepiece is the CRMA8 calibre, a new in-house automatic movement with hours, minutes and a function selector and a 50 hour power reserve. To ensure the rigidity of the assembly, the baseplate and bridges utilised grade 5 titanium, supplemented by a black PVD treatment. To earn its sports credentials, the movement underwent a series of rigorous tests to confirm its resistance to 5,000 g’s of acceleration, a major feat for the most compact of all the calibres developed by Richard Mille.
Polished angles, milled sections, micro-blasted sinks and satin-finished surfaces were hand finished to enhance the elegance of its mechanics. The function selector complication, emblematic of the brand, prevents stress on the winding stem. Combined with a Quartz TPT pusher at 4 o’clock, a simple press allows the user to choose between the neutral (N), winding (W) or time setting (H) positions.
Colourful Styles
The identity of the Richard Mille RM 07-04 Automatic Sport is further imbued through its colour palette. Characteristically for Richard Mille sports watches, the colour combinations of these ultra-durable technical composites exude energy, strength and emotion. Depending on the version, each case is crafted of Quartz TPT or Carbon TPT, both do not in any way alter the intrinsic characteristics of these materials, namely their lightness, their non-allergenic properties, and their resistance to shocks, UV rays or wear.
Colour choices include black for the Carbon TPT whereas the five Quartz TPT models are offered in cream white, mauve, salmon pink, green or dark blue. Lightweight at 36 grams including its Velcro strap, the new RM 07-04 Automatic Sport is designed for everyday wearability and is suited for intense sporting activity.
Assertive in every way – ergonomically, visually, technically and in terms of its performance – each watch in this collection exemplifies Richard Mille’s continued focus on women’s watches where elegance and refinement are combined with ultra-high performance and sporting prowess.
Richard Mille RM 07-04 Automatic Sport Price & Specs
Case 30.5mm x 44.95mm in Quartz TPT or Carbon TPT
Movement Calibre CRMA8 Skeletonised Automatic-Winding
Price USD185,000
(Images: Richard Mille)
