Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Richard Mille · RM 027
Richard Mille RM 027 40 mm Slate Sapphire
Reference 42664OR.71
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Richard Mille
- Collection
- RM 027
- Model
- Richard Mille RM 027 40 mm Slate Sapphire
- Reference number
- 42664OR.71
- Year / era
- 2001 · 2000s — modern production
- Complication
- Moon phase
- Movement
- In-house automatic micro-rotor
- Case material
- Sapphire crystal case
- Dial type
- Slate grey
- Strap / bracelet
- White rubber velcro strap
- Water resistance
- 500 m
- Limited-edition status
- Limited edition of 500 pieces
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 40 mm
- Case thickness
- 14.1 mm
- Case material
- Sapphire crystal case
- Bezel
- Octagonal with 8 hexagonal screws
- Crystal
- Box sapphire with AR coating
- Dial
- Slate grey
- Hands
- Faceted dauphine hands, polished by hand
- Indexes
- Applied faceted white-gold indexes
- Bracelet / strap
- White rubber velcro strap
- Clasp / buckle
- Pin buckle in matching case metal
- Water resistance
- 500 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 70E — In-house automatic micro-rotor
- Movement type
- Automatic with micro-rotor
- Frequency
- 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 5 days
- Number of jewels
- 40 jewels
- Complications
- Moon phase
- Functions
- Hours, minutes, small seconds
- Watchmaker
- Assembled and regulated by a single watchmaker, who signs off the piece before casing.
Production & market
- Production period
- 2001 – 2010
- Limited-edition quantity
- 500 pieces
- Current market information
- Thin secondary-market supply — pricing is set piece by piece at auction.
Designer
Marc Newson
Marc Newson is an Australian industrial designer whose work spans Qantas cabins, Apple hardware and Jaeger-LeCoultre's Atmos clocks; his watch design reduces the object to pure geometry and legibility.
Historical significance
Richard Mille RM 027 40 mm Slate Sapphire sits within Richard Mille's RM 027 line, introduced in 2001. It carries the house codes established since 2001 — sapphire crystal case case, slate grey dial and in-house automatic micro-rotor — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The case is finished by hand, alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces in a single pass so the edges stay razor sharp.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
The House
Richard Mille
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 2001
- Founder
- Richard Mille & Dominique Guenat
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Ultra-Luxury & Haute Horlogerie
- Major collections
- RM 011, RM 035, RM 055, RM 067, RM 072, RM 027, RM 030, RM 65-01, RM 07-01
- Signature technologies
- In-house hairspring production · Hand-applied guilloché dials · Proprietary case-hardening and polishing
- Famous movements
- In-house automatic micro-rotor · In-house automatic with 22k gold rotor · In-house manual-winding, hand-finished · In-house tourbillon, manual-winding
- Notable watches
- Richard Mille RM 011 43 mm Skeletonised Carbon (2001) · Richard Mille RM 011 42 mm Silvered 18k (2001) · Richard Mille RM 011 38 mm Ice Carbon (2001) · Richard Mille RM 011 42 mm Mother-of-pearl Stainless (2001)
Brand history
Richard Mille has spent more than 25 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's RM 011, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Richard Mille & Dominique Guenat established Richard Mille in 2001, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Richard Mille calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
2001
Richard Mille & Dominique Guenat founds Richard Mille in Switzerland.
2024
Richard Mille continues to produce RM 011, RM 035, RM 055 and other icons in limited numbers.