Richard Mille RM 038 Tourbillon Bubba Watson Limited Edition

Luxury watch maker Richard Mille announces its new brand ambassador Bubba Watson,the famous American golfer who will join sporting legends like Felipe Massa and Rafael Nadal to endorse the Swiss watch manufacture. This golfer stands out from the crowd with his unique physique and personality and he will wear the new tourbillon RM 038 in all future golf tournaments. Golf is domain which portrays high performance and precision like Formula 1 racing and tennis, a perfect place for watch makers like Richard Mille who is specialized in highly professional and accurate timepieces.

Bubba Watson, 32 years old, is making his mark as one of the best players of his generation. Born in Florida, he is fully self-taught and has never had a golf lesson. At a height of 1,91 meters and weighing 82 kilos, he is one of the most awesome-looking of the golfing circuit. He has one of the most powerful drives and has consistently been the longest hitter on the PGA tour since 2006. 2010 also represented a hallmark in his career as in June he won his 1st USPGA Tour event. Thanks to his excellent results, Bubba obtained a place in this year’s Ryder Cup in the American team. 2011 is looking to be a very promising year for Bubba Watson after an exceptional 2010.

Apart from being a big hitter, Bubba Watson is also one of the rare left handed players on the golfing circuit who likes to wear bracelets on his wrists when playing. A fantastic situation for Richard Mille who has undertaken the development of a specific tourbillon watch for the golfer. In 2011 he will wear a watch, the RM038, in real world conditions to test the technology and its shock resistance.

This time, Richard Mille decided to design and manufacture an innovative Tourbillon Watch able to work in Golf’s specific conditions with 3 obsessions: lightness, extreme shock resistance and comfort. The case, (48mm x 39.70mm x 12.80mm), encloses the caliber RM038, with 19 jewels and beating at 3Hz, has its bottom plate, bridges and balance cock made of grade 5 titanium. This allows the whole assembly to be given great rigidity, as well as precise surface flatness which is essential for the perfect functioning of the gear train. The skeletonized baseplate was subjected to separate and extensive validation tests to insure optimal strength requirements.

The RM 038 tourbillon caliber has a fast rotating barrel which provides significant decrease of periodic internal mainspring adhesion; which increases performance. Moreover it provides an excellent mainspring delta curve with ideal power reserve/performance and regularity ratio. Besides a central involute profile of the winding barrel teeth and third-wheel pinion provides an optimal pressure angle of 20°. This promote effective rotary motion and allows for compensation of possible variations in the engagement of the going train, thus insuring excellent torque transmission with a distinct improvement in performance.

The RM 038 case is made of an extremely rugged and light alloy called Magnesium Aluminium AZ91. This alloy is composed of magnesium 90% and aluminium 8.9%. Magnesium density is of 1, 74 g/cm3, which means it is one of the lightest metal used for construction. After a long and delicate machining phase, this alloy is given an electro-plasma oxidation treatment named Titalyt II®. The whitish color of the case is due to this treatment: it is a crystalline oxide ceramic with a high ratio of high resistant composites such as MgAl2O4 spinels. This improves both hardness and scratch resistance of this alloy, and also its wear resistance and corrosion resistance. This treatment applied to Magnesium-Aluminium is biocompatible. It is used in aerospace, automotive industries and medical sector.

The tripartite case is water resistant to 50 meters, ensured by two Nitril O-ring seals. The case is assembled with 12 spline screws in grade 5 titanium and abrasion resistant washers in 316L stainless steel. The RM 038 is the new Richard Mille Tourbillon designed for golfers and sportsmen who appreciate haute horlogerie, cased into high-tech materials for extreme conditions.

Technical details
Model: Richard Mille RM 038 Tourbillon Bubba Watson . Tonneau case – numbered Limited Edition- available in Magnesium-Aluminium alloy AZ91.

Movement
– CALIBER RM038 : manual winding tourbillon with hours and minutes.
– Dimensions: 48 mm x 39.70 mm x 12.80 mm.
– Power reserve: 48 hours.
– Dimensions of movement: 30.60 mm x 29.37 mm
– Thickness: 7.55 mm
– Tourbillon diameter: 10.90 mm
– Balance diameter: 9.12 mm
– Number of jewels: 19
– Balance: Glucydur, 2 arms, 4 setting screws, inertia moment 11.50 mg.cm2, angle of lift 53°
– Frequency: 21,600 vph (3Hz)
– Balance spring: Elinvar by NIVAROX
– Shock protection: KIF ELASTOR de KE 160 B28
– Barrel shaft in nickel-free chronifer (DIN x 46 Cr13 +S) with following characteristics: stainless, antimagnetic, suitable for tempering.

– Variable Inertia, Free sprung balance: The free-sprung balance provides better reliability in the event of shocks, movement assembly and disassembly. It also guarantees better chronometric results over an extended period of time.

– Fast rotating barrel: 6 hours per revolution instead of 7,
This type of barrel provides the following advantages:
– The phenomenon of periodic internal mainspring adhesion is significantly diminished, thereby increasing performance,
– Provision of an excellent mainspring delta curve with an ideal power reserve/performance and regularity ratio.
– Barrel Pawl with progressive recoil: This device permits a profitable winding gain (circa 20 %), especially during the winding start.
It is also helpful in the distribution of the mainspring’s internal tension.

– Winding Barrel teeth and third wheel pinion with central involute profile: The central involute profile of the winding barrel teeth and pinion provides an optimal pressure angle of 20°. This promotes effective rotary motion and allows for compensation of possible variations in the engagement of the going train, thus insuring excellent torque transmission with a distinct improvement in performance.

– Bottom plate and bridges made of titanium: The manufacturing of these components in grade 5 titanium allows the whole assembly to be given great rigidity, as well as precise surface flatness which is essential for the perfect functioning of the gear train. The skeletonized baseplate was subjected to separate and extensive validation tests to insure optimal strength requirements.

– Spline screws in grade 5 titanium for the bridges: This permits better control of the torque applied to the screws during assembly. These screws are therefore unaffected by physical manipulation during assembly or disassembly and age well.

Case
The RM 038 case is made of an extremely rugged and light alloy called Magnesium Aluminium classified as AZ91. This alloy is composed of magnesium 90% and aluminium 8.9%. Magnesium density is of 1,74 g/cm3, which means it is one of the lightest metals used for construction. After a long and delicate machining phase, this alloy is given an electro-plasma oxidation treatment named Titalyt II®. This treatment is a cristalline oxide ceramic with a high ratio of high resistant composites such as MgAl2O4 spinels. This improves both hardness and scratch resistance of this alloy, and also its wear and corrosion resistance. This treatment applied to Magnesium Aluminium is biocompatible. It is used in aerospace and automotive industries and the medical sector.

The tripartite case is water resistant to 50 meters, ensured by two Nitril O-ring seals. The case is assembled with 12 spline screws in grade 5 titanium and abrasion resistant washers in 316L stainless steel.

Spline screws in grade 5 titanium for the case: This permits better control of the torque applied to the screws during assembly. These screws are therefore unaffected by physical manipulation during assembly or disassembly and age well.
Interior flange: Minute flange in white carbon fiber.

Crystal
– Bezel side: In sapphire (1800 Vickers) with anti-glare treatment (both sides)
– Thickness: 1.20 mm
– Case back: In sapphire with anti-glare treatment (both sides)
– Thickness: at the center 1 mm and outer edges 1.73 mm

Finishing

Movement
– Baseplate and bridges in micro-blasted grade 5 titanium
– Anglage and polishing by hand
– Sapphire blasted milled sections
– Straight line grain finish of the upper surfaces
– Polished sinks

Steel parts
– Sapphire blasted surfaces
– Satin finished surfaces
– Anglage and polishing by hand
– Straight line grain finish of the upper surfaces
– Straight line grain finish of the upper surfaces
– Polished sinks

Profile turning
– Lapped and polished ends
– Burnished pivots

Gear wheels
– Concave chamfering with a diamond tool
– Circular finished faces
– Rhodium-plating (before cutting the teeth)
– Minimum correction applied to the wheels in order to preserve geometry and performance