What It Is

Ultra-high horology brand Richard Mille is best known for its sporty, masculine timepieces, but it has also shown a knack for colourful, highly dimensional whimsy with collections such as the 2019 candy- inspired Bon Bon range. Now, the company makes its trippiest timepiece yet: The RM 88 Automatic Tourbillon Smiley, a watch decorated with playful, kitschy 3D gold micro-sculptures created by engraver Oliver Kuhn, including a rainbow, a flamingo, a cactus, a pineapple, and a big Smiley. The latter is based on the beaming yellow face drawn by French journalist Franklin Loufrani that first appeared in the newspaper France-Soir on New Year’s Day 1972.

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Movement

Self-winding CRMT7 tourbillon movement

Case

48.15 x 39.74 x 13.30 mm in ATZ white ceramic and red gold

Price

Price upon application; 50-piece limited edition

How It Works

There’s no denying it: The RM 88 Smiley looks like the ultimate big boy’s — or girl’s — toy. But make no mistake, the kind of intricate finishing synonymous with high horology backs up its off-the-charts fun quotient. For instance, the flamingo on the bottom left is made of 0.2g of red gold, and is created by following many careful steps: Its pedestal is micro-blasted, its eyes are positioned using the “smallest beading tool in existence”, and its wings are polished and re-drawn with a grinding stone. It is then given a pink PVD coating and its beak is painted with a brush. For maximum visual impact, a new automatic tourbillon calibre, CRMT7, was created to hold the micro-sculptures in place.

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How It Wears

Those who doubt this is a serious watch should look at the bottom of the timepiece, which has a partially hidden tourbillon with a titanium bridge fashioned like a comic-book explosion. While the delicate component serves a technical purpose, its angled curves posed challenges in terms of finishing processes such as micro-blasting and bevelling. We think this detail says it all: The RM 88 is a serious watch that belongs on the wrist of someone who does not care if others do not know that. When Loufrani first published his Smiley in 1972, it was to accompany his new column on light-hearted and cheerful news. The column’s slogan was “Prenez le Temps de Sourire” — take the time to smile. At well over a million bucks, this timepiece will undoubtedly — had better — remind its wearer to do just that.

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