Taking things to the extreme seems to be a mantra at Richard Mille. The brand is perhaps most famous for outrageous price tags, but the engineering behind their pieces is equally impressive. Take the RM 67-02 for example. Made with high-tech ultra-light materials, this is an automatic watch that, including the strap, weighs a scant 32g! As a result, the RM 67-02 has become the timepiece of choice for many top athletes. One of the newest athletes to become associated with the RM 67-02 is rising tennis hotshot Alexander Zverev and this is his very own Richard Mille RM 67-02.
Having only turned 21 just last month, Zverev is considered one of the hottest prospects in tennis and is currently ranked third in the world, behind Rafael Nadal (another Richard Mille ambassador) and Roger Federer. Already a friend of the brand, Zverev has been spotted wearing the RM 27-01 on a couple of occasions.
Zverev’s RM 67-02 doesn’t stray too far from the formula laid out by the earlier RM 67-02 Sprint and High Jump watches that were created for Wayde van Niekerk and Mutaz Essa Barshim respectively. Like its predecessors, the RM 67-02 Alexander Zverev watch has a grade 5 titanium dial decorated in the colors of the German flag (Zverev is German) and features a dark slate case coupled with a bright red strap. Water resistance is just 30m.
The 38.7mm wide case is made out of ultra-light, strong carbon quartz TPT and the screws used to secure the case are grade 5 titanium. To keep the weight down to the absolute minimum even the bridges used for the movement within (the self-winding caliber CRMA7) are made out of carbon quartz TPT and titanium. The rotor is carbon quartz TPT but lined with white gold to ensure winding effectiveness.
As befits a watch of its price, the movement is extensively finished with hand-beveled bridges, hand-polished jewel sinks, satin-finished surfaces, rhodium-plating, circular finishing on the wheels, DLC treatment for the base plate and bridges, and more. The CRMA7 beats at 4Hz and has a power reserve of about 50 hours.
Special attention was given to the strap as it is typically the heaviest component. Here, the RM 67-02 Alexander Zverev is fitted with Richard Mille’s specially designed Comfort Strap, an elastic strap that requires no buckle for closure. Apart from being light, it was designed to be breathable and also comfortable on the skin. An important consideration was that the strap must be secure, as the watch is subjected to high forces during Zverev’s games.
I guess it won’t be a stretch to say that the RM 67-02 Alexander Zverev is as close as one can get to having a mechanical version of a G-Shock. As part of the deal with Richard Mille, Zverev will actually wear this watch during matches where it will be put to the ultimate test. It is also a testament to the comfort of the watch. The Richard Mille RM 67-02 Alexander Zverev is priced at £103,500. richardmille.com
My regret (as somebody who enjoys bicycles) is that the innovation (beyond the design — which may be the real winner here) in the opinion is an incremental electronic counter which Richard Mille relates to being just like an “odometer.” Don’t overthink this. Basically you manually enter each mile (or whatever you want to rely) on the “horological odometer” and be on your merry way. Richard Mille says for example that cyclists can manually input every mile they rode after the fact. How are they going to learn this? Probably by referencing a digital device that’s documenting the numbers of miles traveled — and that can keep track of this information anyways.Richard Mille no doubt has other (let us imagine they are nefarious) uses in mind with this totalizer complication. Imagine if that were a watch for hit men or mercenaries to monitor their entire body counts? Or what if something far more mundane happens and individuals who own one of these rare luxuries will enjoy the uncommon experience of this exotic fidget spinner letting you count as high and pretty much anybody can in one sitting… and then simplifying the entire to zero. C’mon, it’s about as cathartic as idly spending some time on a casual smartphone game.Richard Mille is not ignorant of how the totalizer is not the most exciting innovation in the world of watches, but they do stress that the upsides indicating that the rollers align quite precisely, that the system is intended to prevent “casual manipulations,” along with also a lock to ensure overall equilibrium. In other words, Richard Mille wants you to be aware that the practice of pressing in digit after digit via the instance button is going to feel incredible for all those tactile mechanical button fetishists (we all know who we are).