WARRIOR STANCE

Taking almost four years to design, Richard Mille’s newest manual-wind RM 47 Tourbillon pays homage to Japanese culture by way of the samurai. A new compact calibre was designed to make way for the stylised samurai suit of armour— comprising 11 handcrafted components that required 16 hours of engraving and a further nine hours of painting—that takes pride of place on its front. Samurai aficionados will also recognise the reference made to the 18th-century Asano clan, to which the legendary 47 Ronin belong: The clan’s heraldic sign of two crossed falcon feathers sit at the six o’clock position as well as on either side of the helmet winglets. A Japanese maple leaf motif on the watch’s crown completes the story.