Sea of approval
Pierre Casiraghi is set to sail under the Richard Mille banner.
THERE is something very satisfying about having a watch that is multifunctional, especially if you are a sailor. Watches play a pivotal role for every sailor, more so now because of how technology has evolved.
A watch has gone from being an instrument that tells time to a gadget that features numerous traits – in this case, elements that come in handy for a life on the seas, such as radio-controlled time, compass bearing and depth gauge.
Enter the RM 60-01 Regatta Flyback Chronograph, Richard Mille’s first technical watch for navigating the seven seas. And who better to partner the exclusive Richard Mille brand than a true sailor like Pierre Casiraghi?
At barely 30, Casiraghi – the younger son of Monacco’s Caroline, Princess of Hanover, and her second husband, Stefano Casiraghi – is the first navigator to become a partner of the Richard Mille brand.
Casiraghi’s love affair with the ocean began from his childhood living on the island of Monaco. But it was only in 2010 that sailing became the young man’s focus, after spending time working on Tuiga, the flagship of Monaco’s Yacht Club, an institution which he eventually became vice-president.
The skilled sailor has sailed a slew of boat models including the VOR70, MOD70, IMOCA, GC32 and TP52, and has won many regattas and prizes such as the PalermoMonte Carlo, the Giraglia Rolex Cup, the Cape to Rio Yacht Race (a record that still stands), the Fastnet Race and the Middle Sea Race.
In 2016, Casiraghi decided to take it to the next level and put together his own sailing team, and the Malizia team was formed. He teamed up with German sailor Boris Herrmann to compete in the GC32 category and despite being relatively inexperienced in the category, the team successfully won several legs in their very first regatta on Lake Garda. Recently, the duo, who also represent the Monaco Yacht Club, have lined up for the first race of the Globe series, aboard the Malizia II, a new-generation mono-hulled 60-footer. Indeed, Casiraghi represents the new generation of skippers, for whom adventure and risk-taking are second nature.
Casiraghi’s daring nature and taste for risk are all qualities that he finds are echoed in the Richard Mille brand.
“I am truly amazed by what Richard has achieved as an entrepreneur,” he says. “He has successfully created a brand that is both original and innovative.”
His newly announced entrance into the Richard Mille family also provides the perfect opportunity to show the capabilities of the RM 60-01 Regatta, and ensure that it is perfectly adapted to the unforgiving corrosive properties of the nautical world.
The durable and lightweight watch is powered by grade 5 titanium RMAC2 caliber, and has 55 hours of power reserve. It also features variable-inertia balance, complete flyback chronograph functions (just press the reset pusher and it will snap back to zero) and an annual calendar with oversized date and UTC function.
It’s the first mechanical watch I’ve seen that has a bidirectional bezel with a compass, a crucial instrument for navigation. Pierre Casiraghi
Other interesting features include the variably oscillating rotor exclusive to Richard Mille. In the RM 60-01, titanium screws can be used to adjust the ribs of the RMAC2’s rotor to six different positions, effectively customising the rotor’s inertia to suit different levels of movement.
There are safety precautions such as the special quick locking and releasing mechanism on the chronograph pushers. Locking and unlocking the pushers requires only a quick turn of the secondary crown, thus avoiding possible accidental changes of the chronograph readout.
Not only is this chronograph resistant to seawater, it also has its own features and instruments that have been developed to make sailing the Seven Seas as natural and easy as can be.
The watch includes features to ensure that your position at sea can be determined in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Using the RM 60-01 is based on two factors: knowledge of local time and the position of the sun.
To calculate one’s location, the UTC indicator is directed towards the sun using the UTC pusher located at 9 o’clock, and then the bezel is turned so that that the UTC hand lines up with the actual local time engraved on the bezel’s circumference. When set in this manner, the compass headings North, South, East and West on the bezel will be correctly aligned with the actual direction on the Earth’s surface.
The RM 60-01 also adds navigational capabilities thanks to its special rotating bezel with indications of the four cardinal points combined with a graduated 360° and a 24-hour scale disk.
Speaking of the watch, Casiraghi shared: “I love its architecture, and it’s the first mechanical watch I’ve seen that has a bidirectional bezel with a compass, a crucial instrument for navigation.”