Five years ago, Richard Mille launched a women’s collection that placed engineering at the very centre of its visual identity. Now, in March 2026, the brand closes that trilogy with three final editions of the RM 07-01 Coloured Ceramics, each limited to just 50 pieces, introducing gem-setting to the design for the first time. I got a close look at the full technical specifications, and I’ll tell you plainly: this watch is as technically dense as anything RM has released in recent memory.
A Dial Built Layer by Layer
The dial measures a remarkable 1.00mm in thickness, extraordinary given the number of techniques Richard Mille stacks onto its surface. The brand constructs it in rhodium-plated 5N red gold, then applies a grey PVD treatment, physically depositing a hardened compound film onto the gold substrate at the molecular level. Over that foundation, four distinct decorative techniques co-exist: laser-cut rubber appliqués, ceramic details finished to the nearest micron, guilloché work executed on a manual rose engine, and diamond-set components that sit within white gold inserts.
The guillocheur must apply constant, millimetric pressure across every pass to remove identical amounts of material from each gold piece, no machine achieves that kind of tactile consistency. Furthermore, the gemstone combinations vary by reference: yellow and blue sapphires on the Blush Pink, orange sapphires and rubies on the Lavender Pink, and pink sapphires with tsavorites on the Powder Blue. A painted grade 5 titanium interior flange completes the composition without adding unnecessary mass.
The CRMA2: Engineered From the Inside Out
The in-house CRMA2 calibre measures 29.90 x 22.00mm at 4.92mm thick, compact dimensions for a movement that carries this density of decoration. The skeletonised baseplate and bridges use grade 5 titanium, microblasted and then subjected to electroplasma treatment, which grows a ceramic-like oxide layer on the titanium surface, delivering both corrosion resistance and the textured, almost iridescent quality visible through the sapphire caseback.
The movement beats at 28,800 vph (4 Hz) via a CuBe balance wheel Richard Mille selected specifically for its non-magnetic properties and temperature stability. Four adjustable weights sit directly on the balance’s four arms, eliminating the regulator index entirely and enabling finer, more repeatable regulation. The fast-rotating barrel completes one revolution every five hours rather than the standard 7.5, delivering a more consistent torque curve and better amplitude stability across the 50-hour power reserve. Additionally, the variable-geometry rotor in 5N red gold carries two spline-screw-adjustable weights that allow the owner to tune the rotor’s inertia to their own activity level, a genuinely practical detail that most people overlook.
As for finishing, steel parts receive satin-finished surfaces, hand-polished anglage, hand-polished sinks, and burnished sections. Profile-turned components get lapped and polished ends, burnished pivots, and polished post faces. The wheels feature concave chamfering with a diamond tool, diamond-polished angles, circular-finished faces, and rhodium plating before the teeth are cut. On a fully skeletonised movement, every surface stays visible, Richard Mille performs each of those operations knowing that.
The Case: Ceramic as Precision Material
TZP (Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystal) ceramic forms the bezels and casebacks across all three references. It comprises over 95% zirconia (ZrO₂), reaches 1,400 Vickers hardness, tougher than sapphire, and sits at a low density of around 6 g/cm³. The submicron grain structure enables the tight molecular packing that produces the characteristic matte surface finish, and machining the complex tonneau forms requires diamond tooling and an exceptionally time-consuming grinding process.
The mitraillage gem-setting on the bezel is the most demanding step in the entire construction. Because ceramic offers no mechanical give, setting gold prongs and stones into it demands absolutely exact and consistent force from the setter. The white gold caseband, microblasted with hand-polished pillars, bridges the ceramic components across the 31.40 x 45.23 x 11.85mm tonneau case. Twelve grade 5 titanium spline screws and 316L stainless steel abrasion-resistant washers hold the three-part case to 50 metres of water resistance, with two Nitrile O-rings providing the sealing. Both the dial-side sapphire crystal (1,800 Vickers, 1.60mm thick at centre) and the caseback sapphire receive anti-glare treatment on both sides.
A Trilogy Worth its Price
Richard Mille describes this 2026 collection as the pinnacle of a five-year exploration into colour and form. Adding gem-setting to a material as unforgiving as TZP ceramic, one that breaks rather than bends under incorrect force, is the most technically honest and ambitious way to close this trilogy. Only 150 watches exist across all three references in total. At USD $363,000, this sits firmly in Richard Mille territory. A few houses currently attempt this level of handcraft simultaneously across dial, movement, and case, and fewer still produce documented proof that they actually deliver it.
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