Richard Mille’s New Sports Watch Is Surprisingly Traditional

Love them or hate them, you’ve got to respect just how unapologetic Richard Mille watches are.

With oversized tonneau-shaped cases made from flashy and unique materials, insanely busy skeletonized dials and technologically advanced movements filled with wild complications and functions, the brand has found its own highly contemporary niche within the largely traditional world of luxury watches.

That’s exactly what makes the new RM 33-03 so surprising. It’s a Richard Mille that, in many respects, doesn’t look or act like one. I might even dare to call it conventional.

Richard Mille

Time Is a Flat Circle

The first thing you’ll notice about the RM 33-03 that sets it apart from literally every other watch currently offered by the brand is its case shape. The watch features a more customary round case design, the first from the brand since the limited-edition RM 032 Ultimate Edition dive watch — a monstrous flyback chronograph — closed out the RM 032 series last year.

But instead of being a dive watch, the RM 33-03 — like its predecessor, the discontinued RM 33-02 — is a generic sports watch that’s more in line with the Royal Oaks of the world. It even has a screwed-on bezel with six exposed screws to drive home that point.

Richard Mille

Though it eschews the brand’s trademark oversized, elongated shape — it’s quite wearable at 41.7mm across and 49.5mm lug-to-lug — the case is still plenty interesting despite its more traditional silhouette. It has a unique three-part structure that’s filled with curves and angles, the side cutouts resemble many Richard Mille tonneau cases, with different finishing techniques are applied throughout for lots of visual interest.

The dial is easily the most legible in the brand’s catalog. Large, lume-filled, blunted shark’s tooth applied indices are found at every hour, with additional 12, 3 and 9 Arabic numeral lume-filled appliques in 18k 5N red gold. All of the indices are mounted on a titanium rail that floats above the skeletonized dial for enhanced readability.

Richard Mille

There’s a clearly marked minute track on the rehaut, while the distracting bits of movement skeletonization are limited to the interior of the dial so as not to interfere with legibility. Broad, partially skeletonized alpha hands are in red gold to match the cardinal indices, and there’s a large small-seconds display at 6:00. The only other piece of information on the dial is an outlined date window, positioned out of the way at 4:30.

The movement powering the watch is a new skeletonized calibre for RM, and it’s far simpler than what we’ve come to expect from the brand. There are no flyback chronographs or variable-geometry rotors here, but that doesn’t mean the movement isn’t impressive.

Richard Mille

The Cal. RMXP3 measures just 3.28mm and features a baseplate and bridges made of lightweight Grade 5 titanium. For added strength and rigidity, the baseplate was treated with Titalyt while the bridges are coated in black PVD.

Maintaining the calibre’s thinness and efficiency is a bidirectional micro-rotor made from solid platinum. Lastly, the movement boasts a plethora of handcrafted finishing, including anglage on the steel components and hand-polishing on the titanium bridges.

Pricing and Availability

The RM 33-03 may not look like a traditional Richard Mille watch, but it’s still priced like one. While comparatively affordable compared to many of the brand’s other offerings, this is still a watch that’s priced well into six-figure territory.

Richard Mille

There are two versions of the RM 33-03: One with a Grade 5 titanium case and another with a mid-case in 18k red gold and the top and bottom sections of the case in Richard Mille’s signature lightweight Carbon TPT material. Both watches come on a black integrated rubber strap with a titanium deployant.

The titanium version is the more affordable of the two, if you can call it that, with an SRP of CHF 115,000 (~$143,000), while the Carbon TPT/red gold style is listed at CHF 145,000 (~$180,000). Both are regular production models and are not limited outside of normal RM scarcity levels.

Richard Mille

Richard Mille RM 33-03

Specs

Case Size	41.7mm
Movement	Richard Mille Cal. RMXP3 automatic
Water Resistance	30m

• $143,000 at Richard Mille

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