Richard Mille has released a limited edition of four new colored sapphires. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in the RM 07-02 Automatic Sapphire series, which has steadily expanded its colored sapphire lineup since 2015 with pink sapphire, green sapphire, and blue gem-set sapphire.
While transparent sapphire cases have been available from several brands over the years, Richard Mille replica has a unique position when it comes to sapphire cases with vivid colors. Recently, Hublot has been following suit with even more colorful sapphires. Richard Mille has been producing synthetic sapphire made from aluminum oxide (chemical formula Al2O3) in case form using the Kyropoulos growth process, in collaboration with its Swiss partner Stetler AG for technical assistance. Starting with the RM 056 Tourbillon Split Seconds Chronograph Sapphire in 2012, the brand has made bold investments in introducing a variety of sapphire cases to its collections over the past decade, so it can be said that it has already accumulated sufficient manufacturing know-how.
In order to process a sapphire block with a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, the second highest after diamond, into a single, delicate case, precision in the micron unit is required. Since reprocessing and reuse are not possible if even one corner is not aligned properly during the assembly process, the cutting and polishing process must be extremely precise. Furthermore, the manufacturing process for colored sapphires, rather than transparent sapphires, is even more difficult. Colored sapphires, which are completed by finely injecting metal oxides into the sapphire crystal structure, are much more sensitive to heat and changes in the growth environment than transparent sapphire, making it more difficult to implement with a variety of color palettes than we can imagine. In particular, the lilac colored sapphire newly introduced by Richard Mille this time required years of trial and error just to develop the color.
It is said that it takes over 1,000 hours (approximately 40 days) to produce just one case, including approximately 430 hours just to shape the case and 350 hours just to polish each bezel, case back, and profile, due to the extreme strength and resistance of sapphire, which has a surface hardness of 1,800 Vickers. In addition, for some models, the process of using a laser to cut lines around the bezel for gem setting requires a high level of technology, and prongs made of polished gold are inserted by hand into these fine spaces to ensure that brilliant-cut diamonds are stably positioned. Naturally, this work also requires the skilled hands of a gemsetter.
The new products come in four versions: lilac sapphire, green sapphire, gem-set green sapphire with some diamonds, and gem-set pink sapphire. The common diameter of the tonneau-shaped case is 32.9mm x 46.75mm x 14.35mm, the same size as the previous color sapphire version. The three-piece case is assembled with two nitrile O-ring seals, 24 grade 5 titanium spline screws, and 316L steel washers, ensuring water resistance to approximately 30m.
The movement is a skeletonized in-house automatic caliber CRMA5 (frequency 4 Hz, power reserve approx. 50 hours). The red gold variable geometry rotor, which supports the bidirectional winding mechanism with ceramic ball bearings, can be seen through the sapphire crystal case back. The dial side offers a different side of the movement: instead of the conventional titanium, the base plate and skeleton bridges are made of 18K red gold with a microblasted finish, and are decorated with various colored gemstones depending on the model, such as diamonds, blue sapphires, yellow sapphires, orange spessartite, white agate, opal, tsavorite garnet, chrysoprase, and malachite, showing off an artistic side amidst the splendor.
Richard Mille’s RM 07-02 Automatic Sapphire new product is a limited edition of only 7 pieces in each of the four versions, and the retail price has not been disclosed.