Pharrell Williams grew up a major fan of Star Trek, as anyone who has seen him flashing a Vulcan salute when referencing his Star Trak record label knows. He has never made any secret of his fascination with space travel, astronauts – think Billionaire Boys Club logo – or the cosmos. This fascination was the creative spark behind his first luxury watch collaboration with Richard Mille.
The dial of the new RM 52-05 Tourbillon Pharrell Williams conjurors dreams of space travel with an imaginary scene of Earth suspended above the Martian landscape reflected on the visor of a spacesuit helmet. The astronauts helmet is fashioned from grade 5 titanium – set on either side with diamonds and black sapphires – resting on a structure depicting the upper part of a spacesuit, also in grade 5 titanium – a remarkably rigid, corrosion-resistant alloy made of titanium, aluminum and vanadium. The astronauts hand-painted curved gold visor was engraved using a specially created tool. The engraving requires 15 hours per timepiece, followed by an entire day of enameling.
The brown Cermet case – a composite material composed of ceramic and metal – combines the lightness of titanium with the hardness of a ceramic. This high-tech material is made up of 600 layers of parallel filaments obtained by separating out carbon fibers. The composite is then heated to 120°C at a pressure of 6 bars in a kiln similar to those used for the production of aeronautics parts, after which it is ready to be machined. The resulting case is tough as nails and water-resistant to 50 meters.
An extraordinary piece of contemporary watchmaking, the RM 52-05 Tourbillon Pharrell Williams reflects Pharrell’s belief that “watches are 100% an art form. What Richard does is build something that lets you take the metric of what time looks like. That’s a wizard-level art form.”
For pricing and availability go to richardmille.com.
