Movement

The RMXP1 movement inside the Richard Mille RM033 is a highly impressive 2.60mm thin and is still rather wide with its 33.00mm diameter, filling the case nicely. The plates, as pretty much always in a Richard Mille, are in hand-polished grade 5 titanium which in this instance have been wet sandblasted and Titalyt surface treated. There are burnished pivots, diamond polished sinks, pinions with undercuts, sandblasted, rhodium-plated and beveled wheels with concave chamfering. The steel parts of the movement have sapphire blasted and hand-drawn surfaces with hand beveled and polished edges.

The RMXP1 runs at a frequency of 3Hz and still only manages about 45 hours of power reserve – as I said above, ultra-thin micro-rotor movements are rarely big on torque or power reserve and looking at the case-back there truly doesn’t appear to have been any space left to accommodate a larger mainspring barrel. The RM033 and its movement in different variations have been around since 2011 and the only ultra-thin that I recall to be in production today that provides a substantially longer power reserve is Bulgari’s all-new Octo Finissimo (hands-on here) with 60 hours of power reserve.

Movements in Richard Mille watches are produced either by Vaucher Manufacture or Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi and are further worked on and cased up by Richard Mille – the RM033 caliber is from Vaucher. All the tech-talk aside, it is the movement’s looks that really make it stand out.

The movement in the Richard Mille RM033 has been heavily skeletonized, though since it is a proper 21st century movement through and through, it isn’t skeletonized in the traditional sense where someone takes a solid movement and removes all removable material from the plates and bridges. Rather, it is a movement that was designed to be as “airy” as possible from the get-go.

I am fairly confident in saying that the various holes inside the plates have been removed by a CNC machine and not by a hand-operated saw – the former produces these round corners, while with the latter some very sharp, pointy corners can be achieved. Still, as mentioned above, all surface treatments that could be are indeed performed by hand, so the end result is more of a merger between high-tech machining and hand applied decorations than pure old-school skeletonization.

The dial-side cutout that reveals the movement of the platinum micro-rotor.

The solid micro-rotor is in 950 platinum and is one of the most quietly operating micro-rotors (or automatics, even) that I have handled, especially when considering how the super thin case and sapphire dial, plus the wide front and back crystals allow sound to come through. The operation of the automatic winding is barely audible and never ever annoying – I have had watches that tick-tocked more loudly than this one winds. This said, there may have been some improvements performed because I recall handling a similar micro-rotor Richard Mille a few years ago that was noticeably more audible. This one does set the bar though for micro-rotors.

Wearability

Like every Richard Mille I have tried on so far, the RM033 is sublimely comfortable. I have mentioned before how the shape of the watch with a sized and closed strap is a good gauge of how comfortable the watch is going to wear. Close this one and it takes up this oval shape with the folding clasp neatly following the shape of the strap, not pushing or digging into the strap or the wrist. The steeply angled lugs and the perfect and tight integration of the rubber strap all further enhance ergonomics. Another rule of thumb to remember: the better and tighter the integration of the strap into the design of the case, the more comfortable the watch is to wear… Unless it’s under 38mm wide, then it doesn’t make so much of a difference.

What I found a bit strange at first was the wide and slim design of the case and how it wore. It is totally different to the absolute majority of watches that I get to wear (even the slim-looking and -wearing Panerai Luminor Due that I reviewed here was almost twice as thick, although just as wide). The RM033 is the only watch that I like to wear both tight and 1-2 settings looser. Because of the super low profile and the evenly distributed weight of the white gold case the watch sits, or rather lies on the wrist very nicely – a rare occasion where I am not missing the lightness of the titanium variant.

I remember an engineer in the Richard Mille manufacture telling me that while launching the brand the biggest challenge was to get the straps right – they claim to have spent 5 years until they got to the current material and manufacturing process. Rubber straps are very common even on watches with five- or six-figure prices, but the apparent ease with which Richard Mille can integrate them into whatever the shape of the case is just outstanding. I presume the straps are molded, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the compound of the material allowed them to mill it afterwards, because the line-to-line connections with the metal cases that they can create is just so accurate.

Richard Mille rubber straps don’t smell or get dirty – I am just realizing this now – “How I did not ever bother about getting this matte white strap dirty?” It is as crisp white now as it was on day one, and it doesn’t take months but rather just a bad day for most white rubber straps to show wear, and few of them can be cleaned effectively afterwards.

If you have ever held a piece of metal freshly crafted with a precision milling machine (like the raw case of a watch), you’ll know that the edges can be extremely, and I mean dangerously sharp. I have even seen buckles with super sharp edges here and there. Both the case and white gold and titanium buckle of the RM033 have all their most obscure angles and surfaces either sand blasted and/or bevelled and polished, so there are no sharp edges anywhere – and while that is the very least to be expected from a watch at this price point, it still shows attention to details that are at times forgotten on other watches where the price level (and prestige of the brand) would render it expectable.

All this was to say that Richard Mille stays at the forefront of wearing comfort by merging the most important, though scarcely acknowledged elements of good and comfortable watch design: strongly angled lugs, deep and seamless integration of the strap, slim and nicely crafted folding buckle, comfortable strap material. Although these cannot be implemented on traditional watch designs, I do want to see all these elements in one single design more often on modern watches on sale for 1/10th of the price of the RM033 – and I wonder why it isn’t encountered more frequently.

Summary

Getting back to where we were coming from, the Richard Mille RM033 is a true “sleeper” of a Richard Mille. It offers everything that can be expected from a watch by the brand, but entirely disposes of the ever so popular and recognizable design of the RM011 and the associations that come with it. If you prefer a black RS6 to a purple Lamborghini – meaning you have the greenbacks and want the performance and fun-factor but not the attention – and are looking for a watch with that same approach, the RM033 is a good, if rather obscure option to consider. Oh, and did I mention that one could buy four Lange 1’s for the price of one of these and how no one considering this watch cares about that?

Price for the Richard Mille RM033 is approximately $125,000. richardmille.com

Necessary Data
>Brand: Richard Mille
>Model: RM033
>Price: $125,000
>Size: 45.70mm wide, 6.30mm thick
>Would reviewer personally wear it: Yes, but I’d still possibly fall for an RM011 first.
>Friend we’d recommend it to first: Someone with insane amounts of money and an appetite for ultra high-end items, but little to no desire for showing off.
>Best characteristic of watch: Proven to be an under the radar Richard Mille adds to the cool factor. This, plus the usual great wearability and quality of execution.
>Worst characteristic of watch: Would love to see what it’d look like with larger hands.