Richard Mille RM 16-02: The Design Marvel
The RM 16-02 Extraflat stands out with its clean, angular lines and monolithic structure. The rectangular case is available in two striking variations. One is a Grade 5 titanium with polished bevels and satin finishes. The other one features a bold Terracotta Quartz TPT case. Both materials are known for being lightweight and relatively durable.
Being called the Extraflat, these watches are impressively thin at just 4.12mm. This makes them sit extremely comfortably on the wrist while maintaining a robust and masculine appearance. Its ergonomic design ensures that it’s as practical as it is stylish.
The exciting new design is well complemented by the amazing skeletonized dial on offer here. Richard Mille watches are known for having some of the best skeleton dial but for some reason this one looks a bit more fascinating. It features an intricate maze that grabs all the attention as soon as you look at the timepiece. Along with the help of this maze, the brand has very carefully added the numerics on the hour markers making it easy for the wearer to look at the time. The design is definitely very thoughtful and I would say the designer here deserves all the credit.
I would even go as far as saying that this watch deserves a separate article just talking about how intelligently the dial has been designed for this watch.
A Movement That Makes All This Possible
While the design is the key aspect here, none of this would have been possible without the CRMA9 automatic winding movement. The baseplate and the bridges of the movement are made out of Grade 5 Titanium. The motion-work bridge stands out here thanks to the black PVD treatment. Besides that, there is a free-sprung balance that offers a better reliability and better chronometric results over time.
That’s not where it ends. Richard Mille has gone above and beyond in making this watch special. So much so, that they have added a platinum rotor with the OneWay winding system and ceramic ball bearings. With all of these technical advancements, the company was able to achieve a power reserve of close to 50 hours, which is extremely good for a thin watch like this one.
What does it take to own this marvel?
Now let’s address the elephant in the room – the price of the RM 16-02 Extraflat. The price of the Grade 5 Titanium variant has been set at around AED 492,000, whereas the Terracotta Quartz TPT will have a retail price of approximately AED 572,500. With that being said, these watches will definitely be hard to get via the retail showroom unless you have a long history with the brand. And as for the secondary market, it will take some time before one of these lands in the hands of a dealer like WatchMaestro.
