ICONIC! The Richard Mille RM055 'Bubba Watson'
Richard Mille RM055 Bubba Watson
I don’t know about anybody else, but the RM055 is one of the first RM’s that really made me sit up and take notice of the brand. I was probably late to the party but I remember seeing one on the wrist of a fellow affectionado (nerd) at a meet-up and being absolutely mesmerised by the suspended movement just hanging out and doing its thing inside a crisp white case.
The “Bubba” is still one of my top 3 Milles, over a decade later.
First launched in 2012, it’s a “medium” sized model, as far as RM’s go with very respectable stats of 42mm diameter, 13.3mm thick, and just shy of 50mm long.
As this is a lugless model with a cambered case, it sits very nicely on the wrist and is, as per usual, exceptionally well balanced and comfortable.
It is also, LIGHT, being made of white ceramic which is also scratch resistant to 1400 vickers. One of the wonderful things about this and other ceramic models is that even at ten plus years old, it’s still immaculate.
It’s a tri-part case which is sandwiched together using titanium star shaped splines, and features a thick curved sapphire crystal front and rear for optimum viewing of the movement suspended within.
The movement, Cal RMUL2 is a Vaucher based design that has been fettled and customised by RM beyond virtually all recongition.
It uses 24 jewels and two barrels which take care of balancing timekeeping and pushing the power reserve to a very acceptable 55 hours.
It is a super lightweight 4.3 grams with titanium bridges and is held in place by four elastomer shock absorbers which protect it against pretty much any vibration.
As it is resistant to forces up to 500G, which I think we can all agree means it’ll survive a bump or thousan, to the point that you can wear it when smacking golf balls towards the horizon hence the partnership with golfing legend Bubba Watson.
It likely won’t survive diving though as WR on this one is 30m due to being a manual calibre that has been designed to endure force not water.
As with the majority of Richard Mille’s the movement is the dial, and this one is absoutely fascinating to look at. Its a hand-wind so nothing is obscured and the hand finished movement has an excellent mix of darkened titalyte areas and brighter polished titanium highlights.
The rehaut features lumed five minute markers along with white hashes and sits beneath a sliver of polished bezel which glints and flashes as the watch moves. A simple but lovely touch.
The jewels in this one are transparent sapphires rather than the traditional red rubies to keep the monochromatic black and white theme going.
Speaking of black and white, eagle eyed viewers may be thinking WHAT at this point given that the head is sitting on an absolutely wild baby pink strap.
Yeah, you’ve noticed and I know it.
This strap, a fairly new variant on the brands textile theme is completely brilliant.
Not only colour-wise which makes me think of strawberry and vanilla every time, but because it has had a recent upgrade to its closure system by way of using elastic to attach the main pink body of the strap to the D ring that the velcro side slides through and round to attach.
The elastic element gives the strap just enough flex to move with your wrist as you bend it giving a hugely comfortable wearing experience.
Its such a simple but game changing tweak and honestly, even though RM’s OG vented rubber straps are some of the best in the business, I prefer this new set-up by a country mile, not only for reasons of comfort but because there’s something really appealing about being able to mix pastel and white tones, particularly just in time for spring and summer.
It brings a really fresh and new look to a classic model and I am here for it.