International footballer Yaya Touré wears Richard Mille RM 022 “Aerodyne” Dual Time Zone. The RM 022 is no ordinary timepiece; in fact, it is to the core an example of Haute Horlogerie. The watch comes in white gold, pink gold, and titanium. The case of the watch measures in at an oversized 48mm X 39.7mm. The case is not very thick (13.85mm) when one takes into consideration the plethora of mechanical complications present in this model.
Richard Mille is well known for its exclusivity only making about 3,000 watches per year. With the level of detailing and innovation it is clear why. Firstly, for this watch, the dial is comprised of a honeycomb structure, which is actually a material developed by NASA and used for supersonic aircraft wings. This material is highly resistant to torsion and high temperatures and is extremely lightweight. Though this isn’t very helpful for a dial it is nonetheless very cool.
The dial also features a tourbillon at the 6 position. The tourbillon is mostly obscured due to the spider motif bridges. For tourbillon lovers this may be a bit of a disappointment but Richard Mille continues to press the point of design excellence and uniqueness. Near the 3 position is the dual time indicator, which displays the second time zone in digits. The hands and Arabic numeral hour markers are rhodium toned but don’t offer any lume.
At 11 and 1 there are two scales in retrograde format. The counter at 11 is a power reserve indicator, which tells you just how much energy you have from the total of 70 hours, while the register at 1 is a displays the amount of torque in the mainspring. A reading of below 53dNmm indicates that the spring is too slack and a reading of over 65dNmm is too tight. The last indication on the dial is the function selector, which is controlled by a pusher in the main crown. The pusher sets to 3 positions – Neutral (N), Winding (W), Hands for setting the time (H). This is important as the wearer will never have to pull out the crown.
The movement is manually wound with some key innovations to improve the isochronism of this timepiece. The movement features a fast turning barrel, which rotates in 6 hours as opposed to the regular 7.5 hours seen in regular models. This innovation negates any adhesion of the mainspring which can slow down the rate. In this way the energy is evenly distributed over the 70 hours of power reserve.
TAGS: Aerodyne, Exhibition Case Back, GMT, Leather, Manual Watches, Mechanical Watches, Men's Watches, Power Reserve, Retrograde, Richard Mille, RM 022, Rose Gold, Sapphire Crystal, Swiss Made, Titanium Watches, White Gold