How thin can get a wristwatch gets? Well, TBH, that’s one question that we never find ourselves asking but what we did not ask does mean there is no race for the world’s thinnest watch.
Because, there actually is (a race) and in recent days, Richard Mille‘s newly unveiled timepiece, the RM UP-01 Ferrari, became the world’s thinnest watch at a mere 1.75 mm thin.
Like, how is it even possible??? Seriously, I can’t wrap my head around this development even after seeing the production images. It feels so very surreal. It felt like seeing the melting clocks from Salvador Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory. While the Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari isn’t melted, it has the same surreal effect.
At 1.75 mm, RM UP-01 Ferrari has dethroned the recent Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra which was 1.8 mm thin. Bulgari Ultra barely warmed the throne it was usurped by a teeny weeny 0.05 mm. Don’t you just love metric units?
Anyhoo, the entire movement, which is a mere 1.18 mm thin, is packed into the case. While impossibly thin, it remains a full-fledged Calibre complete. with hours, minutes, seconds, and even a function selector.
The movement plate is skeletonized and subjected to strength tests to ensure that it is thin but super strong. Apparently, it could withstand accelerations of over 5,000 Gs. Even more amazing is that it has water resistance, albeit to just 10 meters (about 33 feet).
Now for the good news. Novelty watch collectors who have pockets equivalent to the black hole will be glad that Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari is available to buy. Limited to just 150 pieces, it will run you back at an astronomical sum of US$1,888,000. That’s 1.9 million. Yikes.
Images: Richard Mille.
via HODINKEE.
