At just 1.75mm thick, the RM UP-01 Ferrari has usurped the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra as the world’s thinnest mechanical watch.
The product of a collaboration between two “monuments” in the field of cars and watches, the RM UP-01 Ferrari is only 1.75mm thick from the dial to the end of the back cover, 0.05mm less than the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra. The base and bridges of this mechanical watch are handcrafted in grade 5 titanium combined with 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium alloy. This is a combination commonly found in advanced aerospace applications, with much higher strength than pure titanium.
The machine part is only 1.18mm thick, which is also a new record.
Richard Mille said it took more than 6,000 hours to develop the RM UP-01 Ferrari model. In the process, engineers used titanium to build the balance wheel – the heart of the watch, along with a unique escapement that transfers power to the balance wheel.
The RM UP-01 Ferrari watch can store 45 hours of energy. Although it looks thin in the photo, it is in fact very hard, can withstand accelerations of more than 5000 G and is waterproof to a depth of 10 meters.
The dial is 51 mm wide and immediately allows the viewer to recognize the watch’s connection to Ferrari through the prancing horse logo. It should be added that this is a 100% handmade watch that does not use electronic components, because no battery can fit the aforementioned thin frame.
This means that users will sometimes have to wind their watches to make sure they work. This process cannot be done anytime and anywhere without requiring a tool, which is to use a screwdriver to rewind the rotating mechanism through the narrow slit observed on the dial.
Only 150 units of the RM UP-01 Ferrari were produced and it is extremely expensive. Each car costs 1,888 million USD, equal to nearly a dozen Mercedes-Maybach S600.
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