Round and thin, with a platinum micro-rotor…

Richard Mille appears set to show several exemplary watches this month at SIHH 2011 in Geneva.  You can see many of them already on Perpetuelle’s Official SIHH 2011 Richard Mille News Feed (RM017 extra flat tourbillon, RM029 big date, RM030 declutchable rotor).  And don’t miss Hodinkee’s look at the new RM028 dive watch (for the Americas-only from earlier today.

Now, the particular watch I am showing you here is the new extra flat automatic RM033.  Richard Mille’s “high-tech, high-performance” materials and design in combination with an “ultra-thin” form factor and Roman-numerals (usually reserved for conservatively-styled dress watches) makes for an interesting combination.  In fact I’m not quite sure I like this combination, at least on-screen.  I do appreciate the platinum micro-rotor, though – a new innovation for Mille.  This is cool because by using a dense metal such as platinum, the micro-rotor can be decentrally positioned and still wind efficiently — and the extra flat skeletonized movement can be achieved.  The skeletonization of the movement – best visible through the backside of the watch is also pretty cool looking.

Finally, keep in mind that while Richard Mille watches get a lot of talk for big watch guys like myself and other bloggers, don’t be seduced into thinking that they can be easily had — in fact these pieces are quite exclusive — by that I mean $50k – $500k+ prices and very limited production.

Richard Mille Extra Flat Automatic RM033

45.7mm (6.3mm thick) titanium case, monoblock platinum micro-rotor

For other SIHH 2011 releases, check-in on Perpetuelle.com’s Official SIHH 2011 News Feed featuring all the latest and greatest from each of the 19 brands at the show.