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The RM 68-01 is the answer to Richard Mille's burning desire to incorporate contemporary art into a watch. Indeed, this Tourbillon is not just a timepiece, but also a canvas woven from the inspiration and boundless creativity of street artist Cyril Kongo. An artwork created from bridges and bases is unprecedented in the history of watchmaking, Richard Mille and Kongo have succeeded in translating the art of street paintings into the world of micromechanics and high precision, a daring leap from the rough wall to the bridges, bases and sapphire crystal familiar in the watchmaking industry.
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Contemporary art is skillfully incorporated inside the RM 68-01 Cyril Kongo, a bold leap in the watchmaking industry
“I come from graffiti art. All my works are based on graffiti. I learned to draw at school, the rest I learned in real life. I learned to feel everything that is happening around me and always look for new ideas in other unfamiliar spaces. Graffiti is like a language to me, it has its own rules. Graffiti is a way to express ideas through letters, symbols on different surfaces, whether it is a canvas or a wall. I am not an artist who is bound by a specific space or surface,” Kongo said.
Portrait of artist Phan Cyril Kongo
The process of perfecting Kongo’s painting technique took more than a year. An airbrush paint was developed so that the artist could apply each drop as precisely as possible. To ensure the perfect balance of the movement, the weight of the paint had to be carefully calculated before the actual application. This important challenge required the entire Richard Mille technical team to work together, and in the end, a palette of vibrant colors with a permanent paint that adhered to the titanium parts was born.
Phan Cyril Kongo - the king of colors
“First we researched and developed special tools, and then it took me more than a year of experimentation before I was able to use them skillfully to draw on a watch face that is less than 5cm square. Some parts of the watch are less than 5mm long, and I also had to draw letters on some parts that are even smaller and shorter, trying to create a visual effect without using too much ink or the movement would lose its balance. It was like a complete car, I had to draw the chassis, the engine, the pistons and every detail…” Kongo shared.
This manufacturing technique allows the artist to draw lines so thin that they are invisible to the naked eye, but due to its extremely complex nature, it cannot be done by hand, even with the most delicate pen nibs. Every small detail of the watch is perfectly finished by the hands of the artist known as the Color Man.
Close-up of Phan Cyril Kongo's composition with details of RM 68-01
The RM 68-01 required Kongo to rethink his entire approach to graffiti, in order to accommodate the complex artistic demands on the limited surface of a watch movement. “He pushes watchmaking to the limit. This is what I was hoping for, to bring Kongo to a watch. Kongo would never be satisfied with just spraying paint here and there. Cyril Kongo creates his own artwork, from the movement to the tourbillon, and even the shape of the dial,” Richard Mille said.
On the back of the watch, the Tourbillon movement in the center of the baseplate is clearly visible, radiating out like a splash of color thrown against a wall, while on the front, the movement’s bridges are projected in different directions like wild splatters of paint on a street mural. Using a case made of NTPT Carbon and a ceramic bezel, the asymmetrical case design of the RM 68-01 is tapered in two parts – tapering from 9 to 3 o’clock and rising from 12 to 6 o’clock.
RM 68-01 is limited to 30 pieces worldwide and will be available at Richard Mille Boutique Vietnam in the near future.
Richard Mille (Vietnam)
- 56 Ly Thai To, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel, Hanoi
- Tel: (+84) 3266 9356
