The yellow circle, two oval eyes and large upturned mouth that Franklin Loufrani painted more than 50 years ago has become a fixture in the collective consciousness. Symbolizing positivity, joy and sharing, this smiley face has played an important role in pop culture among generations of creatives. This dominance inspired the Richard Mille team to create an emotionally driven watch that emphasizes all these values.
The replica RM 88 Automatic Tourbillon Smiley Face watch movement is surrounded and decorated by a series of miniature sculptures, which together create a surreal scene full of joy and passion, demonstrating true control of minute details. This scene may seem effortless, but its creation was a technical challenge of the highest order.
Inside the replica watch is the CALIBRE CRMT7 engraved hollow self-winding tourbillon movement, equipped with hour, minute and function indicators. Its power reserve is approximately 50 hours. The base plate and bridges are made of grade 5 titanium and micro-sandblasted with a PVD treatment. Grade 5 titanium is a highly biocompatible, highly corrosion-resistant and extremely hard alloy. This treatment provides the base plate and bridge plate with extremely high rigidity and surface flatness, which is critical to the precise operation of the gear system. . The alloy contains 90% grade 5 titanium, 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium. This combination further improves the material’s mechanical properties. The hollowed-out base plate and bridges have undergone intensive and thorough validation testing to optimize their resistance to drag.
The smiling character in yellow gold, micro-blasted and painted, stands out atop micro-blasted ARCAP® extra movement bridges with polished angles and brushed edges. It has a larger reverberation of the iridescent pattern, shimmering with faint reflections due to the hand-painted paint, contrasting with the anthracite-colored rhodium plating.
The cocktail glass consists of four parts, all in gold. The total weight of the umbrella, the olive shape (1.7 mm high), the 0.4 mm diameter fluted straw (both polished) and the glass itself (its base is micro-sandblasted to convey its coolness) weighs just 0.4 grams. The golden flower above it is mirror polished and the petals are brushed and rhodium plated. Pink Flamingo, 0.2 g red gold, also undergoes multiple processes: its wings are polished and its feathers traced with the tips of Degussa grindstones; its eyes are made using the smallest beading tools available; the base is micro-sandblasted , the grass and water parts are polished. The part is given a metallic pink PVD coating before the black beak is painted.
From the green PVD-coated leaves, micro-blasted and polished pineapple surface, to the micro-blasted gold cactus spines that are polished to remove the PVD coating, to the micro-blasted gold color of the sun, the ultimate attention to detail is demonstrated. All finishing processes of the RM 88 Smiley adhere to the watchmaking tradition and are completely done by hand.
Sprung balance with variable inertia
This type of balance wheel represents the pinnacle of innovation. It ensures greater reliability in the event of impact and during assembly or disassembly of the movement, thereby ensuring more accurate timing results over time. Adjuster indexing is eliminated and more accurate and repeatable calibration is possible thanks to 4 small adjustable weights located directly on the scale.
ATZ white gold ceramic and red gold case
The design and manufacture of the watch reflect the overall concept of the movement and case. Everything is built to extremely strict specifications. For example, instead of using a case ring, the movement is mounted on chassis-mounted rubber (ISO SW) held in place by titanium screws. The bezel and caseback are in ATZ white ceramic. It is made from tubes of aluminum oxide powder injected at nearly 2,000 bar pressure.
This high-pressure injection increases stiffness by 20 to 30 percent and minimizes the porosity of the material. ATZ is known for its high scratch resistance (1,400 Vickers hardness) and unchanged color. It is one of the hardest materials in the world after diamond. Long and difficult machining with diamond tools was required to create this perfect example of intricate, curved borders and micro-sandblasted finishes. The three-part housing is water-resistant to 50 meters, ensured by 2 nitrile O-ring seals. The case is assembled from 12 grade 5 titanium spline screws and 316L stainless steel wear-resistant washers.