One of the new Richard Mille watches to be debuted in January for 2012 is this RM 037 timepiece. While not the flagship new product, it is a nice watch that represents another nice and super pricey daily wear. The design evolution is quite interesting. Taken from previous Richard Mille watches are the hour markers and hands. The case is new, being a sort of hybrid between the thin-cased rectangular case models and those with Richard Mille’s signature barrel-shaped case design.

Like most Richard Mille watches this one will come in titanium, red gold, or white gold. Richard Mille likes to mostly show their watches in industrial looking titanium to present themselves in the most “functional” light possible. But the reality of course is that their pieces are high-end items with customers who like their products in gold. What is interesting however is that even on the titanium model, the crown and function selector pusher are in 18k red gold.

While Richard Mille has presented watches in the past with function selectors, this might be the first one which is part of an automatic movement. The new Richard Mille caliber CRMA1 automatic movement has a special crown that is not attached to the movement like other crowns. It is designed to be more separate to reduce the risk of certain types of damage. So instead of pulling out the crown to adjust the time or date you press the function selector pusher to cycle through “wind, date, or time.” The function selected is displayed via a letter in a red-bordered window place between 3 and 4 o’clock. The automatic rotor once again has Richard Mille’s variable geometry system and the movement has a power reserve of 50 hours.

The CRMA1 movement also has a big date indicator which is nicely placed under 12 o’clock in a window that looks like it is between two red parentheses. I like how despite the skeletonized nature of the dial and movement, the indicator windows and hands are still really easy to read. The RM 037 case is rather long compared to its width. It is 52.20mm tall by 34.40mm wide. It looks larger than it is. The watch is just 12.50mm thick. Overall a nice piece with an interesting new shape for Richard Mille and the feeling of what could be a convenient luxury daily wear.