Richard Mille RM016 Argentina AH TI

Here's something you don't see every day: a rectangular Richard Mille. The RM016 Argentina AH T I pulls off the difficult trick of being unmistakably Mille but not tonneau-shaped. And in many ways, by doing so it becomes a must-have for any serious collector of the brand.
In my opinion, this is Richard Mille's best-looking luxury watch. It retains the Richard Mille aesthetic (the all-the-way-through skeletonisation, the brushed metal case with revealed screws), but morphs it into something rarely seen in the word of high horology. You don't see many Richard Milles out there in the wild, but of those, how many do you see that are not wildly ostentatious? Almost none. The RM016 Argentina, despite its whopping 50 mm case diameter, is perhaps the only one.
At first glance, that is. Spare a passing look for the RM016 Argentina, and you could be forgiven for assuming its wearer had on a rather large digital watch. Like one of those retro Casios that periodically enjoy a renaissance in the fashion world: largely because we spot billionaire hedge fund managers wearing Swatches and think it might be cool to slum it… Only the Richard Mille, of course, is a Richard Mille. And when you get that second look, you realise just how cool this timepiece is.
If you've read a few of my luxury watch articles, you'll probably know I'm a sucker for sci-fi. If it looks like it was found in the Nostromo, or picked up on the set of Dark City, I want it. And that's where this Richard Mille appeals so much to me. It's like a prop from Gattaca, all flat lines and dark colours. It kind of looks like you could hold it up to your mouth and use it as some kind of comms device.
The blue Arabic numerals, minute track, and date indicator make the sapphire crystal glow against the black and grey metals in the skeletonised movement, and the blackened DLC titanium case. The ultra-thin (for Richard Mille) profile of just 8.25 mm ensures the watch sits snugly on the wrist, slipping easily beneath a dress shirt cuff (or the locking seal of a space suit). Through the rear sapphire crystal, the skeletonised rotor beats like a Cylon warship hunting for targets. And the black rubber strap, secured with a titanium buckle, keeps the whole thing uniformly, super-coolly dark.
There's no water in space, which is just as well given the waterproofness of the Richard Mille RM016 Argentina AH TI. You can dive down to a depth of 30 m, enough for leisure swimming but not for serious action. If you did reach those depths, and found light to be lacking (or, indeed, if you've just stepped onto the dark side of the moon), you'd still be able to tell the time thanks to lumed hands and indices.
Just why Richard Mille chose to theme his first, and one of his only, rectangular luxury watches on Argentina, I don't know. The name comes from the use of blue in the detailing, which contrasts with the white of the lumed pips and hands to recall the Argentine flag. Perhaps Richard had recently holidayed there. Maybe he just likes the country. Or maybe the RM016 Argentina (along with the later RM030 Argentina) is a homage to Pablo Mac Donough, one of Argentina's finest polo players and a Richard Mille ambassador.
The man behind the Richard Mille brand likes to create watches for his friends: and his friends tend to end up as his ambassadors. So it's reasonable to assume that Pablo was the driving force behind the RM016's limited Argentina edition. If that's the case, this is certainly a more accessible (and, in my opinion, cooler-looking) luxury watch than Pablo's own Richard Mille model: the RM053 Tourbillon. The RM016, which is much more space-age than equestrian age, would certainly look the part when paired with Pablo's off-field suits.
Creating a slimline luxury watch presents its own unique challenges—especially when you're manufacturing timepieces with the complexity and innovation of a Richard Mille movement. Inside the RM016 Argentina, Calibre RMAS7 offers variable inertia with its automatic winding. The geometry of the rotor can be changed by altering the placement of its rib, allowing the user to customise the watch to daily lifestyle: speeding up winding when activity is minimal, and slowing it down during sports.
Image Credit – officialwatches.com vedere di piu imitazioni rolex e Chopard Happy Spirit