World’s thinnest watch created by Richard Mille and Ferrari

by Joshua Hendren

Calling all luxury watch enthusiasts. Richard Mille has collaborated with Ferrari on a record-shattering new timepiece. Measuring just 1.75mm thick, it is described as the ‘thinnest mechanical watch in the world’, unseating the previous record holder, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra, by a whole 0.05mm.

The result of more than 6,000 hours of craftsmanship, the RM UP-01 Ferrari combines an unapologetically bold silhouette with traditional watchmaking tropes, with the movement meticulously assembled inside the case. 

Utilising the laboratories of Audemars Piguet in Le Brassus, Switzerland, the resulting timepiece is “far from being a “concept watch” and is “up to the task of following a wearer’s daily life, whatever the circumstances,” says Salvador Arbona, technical director for movements at Richard Mille. Such is thanks to a striking Grade 5 titanium case, which took over 2000 hours to develop and is capable of withstanding 5000Gs, yet only weighing 30 grams, including the strap. Beyond this, the technical marvel features a staggering 45-hour power reserve and is water-resistant up to 10 metres.

“For such a project, it was necessary to set aside all the knowledge we had amassed over years of practice and every conceivable standard of watchmaking,” explains Julien Boillat, Technical Director for Cases at Richard Mille. “This is precisely what we did throughout our collaboration with the laboratories of Audemars Piguet Le Locle. Shaving off those last millimetres of depth was an extremely demanding and lengthy process.”

Like this? Read about Bulgari’s unbelievably slim Octo Finissimo Ultra timepiece