RICHARD MILLE RM 07-04

Richard Mille has expanded its line-up by introducing the new RM 07-04 ultra-lightweight sports watch. What makes the latest collection truly special is that it’s the brand’s first-ever multi-faceted sports watch dedicated to women. Richard Mille has a long history of working with renowned athletes and sporting personalities, with its long-standing collaboration with Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal being the most famous of them all. But the watch brand is known for supporting different sports, especially motorsports, and crafting highly technical watches that can withstand the demanding conditions linked to those sports. However, this is the first time Richard Mille has made a sports watch specifically for women and dedicated it to six of its female sporting ambassadors, which include racecar driver Aurora Straus, Florida-based golfer Nelly Korda, and Ukrainian high jumper Yuliya Levchenko.
The Richard Mille collection sees the arrival of the new RM 07-04 Automatic Sport. Combining performance and function with comfort and heritage-defined craft, the new watch marks the brand’s first multi-faceted sports edition dedicated to women.

Taking on Richard Mille’s trademark tonneau shape with curved edges, the 6 variations of the RM 07-04 Automatic Sport are ultra-dynamic with a radiant chromatic palette. Its technical body that offers hours, minutes and a function selector houses a CRMA8 calibre – a sturdy in-house skeletonized automatic winding movement made of grade 5 titanium. But the watch’s most defining quality is its lightweight materials, constructed with Quartz TPT and Carbon TPT; it boasts a total weight of 36 grams including the Velcro strap. These two highly resistant materials ensure an optimal protection to extended movement.
Can you believe that the Richard Mille brand has only been making watches since 1999? It feels like it’s always been there, making its “Racing machines for the wrist”. Perhaps even weirder is that, until now, Richard Mille has never made a sports watch for women. Sure, its watches have been worn by women, and most of them look pretty unisex to me, but they’ve never made one for women. As I said, until now. The RM 07-04 range of watches is smaller, as you’d expect. All of the watches measure 30.50mm x 44.95mm x 10.35mm in size and, astonishingly, weigh about 36 grams, including the fabric Velcro strap. This light mass is achieved by the case material, Carbon TPT, which is unaffected by UV light and is also hypoallergenic. Carbon TPT is, essentially, layers and layers of carbon fibre filaments that are organised into sheets which are then saturated in special resins before being pressed into shape using high temperatures (120C) and pressures (6 bar). Richard Mille then machines the cases in-house to tidy them up and make them presentable. If you’re familiar with how Panerai achieves its Carbotech cases, this is a similar method. It also produces unique patterns on the case of the watch, so no two RM 07-04s are the same. You have a choice of six colours which come with contrasting straps: black, cream white, salmon pink, dark blue, green or mauve. Each case is water resistant to 50m and uses 20 grade 5 titanium screws to secure it.