Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Introducing the Richard Mille RM 055 Bubba Watson All Grey Boutique Edition (Specs & price)
A mechanical watch to be worn while practicing golf? Isn’t that something that everybody knows to be dangerous? Well, if you’re talking about usual mechanical watches, this statement is totally true. Don’t wear an automatic watch while playing golf! However, when it comes to Richard Mille, we’re not in front of usual timepieces… Not at all! As we’ve seen with Rafael Nadal or Bubba Watson, the watches of the brand can resist to almost everything, even Bubba’s mighty drive. The watch that is dedicated to him comes in a new iteration: here is the Richard Mille RM 055 Bubba Watson All Grey Boutique Edition.
In 2014, Rafeal Nadal won Roland Garros with a ultra-light tourbillon on the wrist (the Richard Mille RM 27-01 to be precise, with its movement weighing 3.5 grams). In 2015, he was not that lucky at Roland Garros but his watch, the RM 27-02 Tourbillon, was kind of impressive. Bubba Watson, one of the top 5 golf players in the world, also has his own Richard Mille, the RM 055 (a watch we reviewed in its classical white edition last year) – and as usual, this watch has been developed to be worn and tested in real conditions and not to be another showcase watch. So to say, the sports-oriented Richard Mille watches are extremely resistant, and even if they’re coming with delicate skeletonized movements or fragile tourbillon cages (at least we thought tourbillons to be fragile), some can absorb up to 5000 G and resist extreme shocks.
The Richard Mille RM 055 Bubba Watson – a.k.a Baby Bubba Watson, as there’s also another and more complicated edition with a tourbillon, the RM 038 – is not as resistant as Nadal’s but it is still quite a crazy watch that can resist up to 500 G (a figure that is difficult to imagine or comprehend but a force greater than 50 G can cause extreme damages to the body or cause death…). However, when Bubba drives a golf ball, the vibrations transmitted from the golf club to his wrist and hand are high and the resistance of the watch should be that high too. That’s the reason why the movement is held by 4 shock absorbers that create a link between the external framework and the movement itself, so it’s protected against (nearly) all vibrations. So, even with such a light (4.3 grams) and delicate movement, the watch won’t be harmed by its wearers – or its famous wearer, Bubba Watson, one of the most powerful hitters on the PGA Tour.
As you can see, the movement is fully opened with the bridges and baseplate made in grade 5 titanium, coated with black PVD. The finish is made up to Haute Horlogerie standards: hand polished bevelled angles, grain finish on straight parts, wet sanded by hand on titanium parts, burnished pivots, screw slots and screws bevelled and polished. Calibre RMUL2 boasts 55h hours of power reserve thanks to a double barrel mechanism that helps improving torque stability by reducing pressure and friction on the gears.
For 2015, we see a new edition – the first one featured a full white case made of ceramic and rubberized titanium. The Richard Mille RM 055 Bubba Watson All Grey Boutique Edition, as indicated by its name, features a monochromatic look – and the iconic RM design, a 3 parts tonneau shaped case held by 20 titanium spline screws. Its bezel is made of shot-blasted titanium carbide (a titanium and carbon alloy with a hardness of 1450 Vickers – when classical titanium is at 300 Vickers and rubies at 3000 Vickers) therefore ensuring outstanding durability against shocks and scratches. The rest of the case – caseband and caseback – is made in shot-blasted grade 5 titanium. To finish the all grey scheme, the Richard Mille RM 055 Bubba Watson All Grey Boutique Edition features a grey rubber strap.
This watch is available only at Richard Mille Boutiques in Geneva, Paris, London Mount Street, Harrods, Milan, Monaco, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and at the pop-up boutiques in Porto Cervo and the Polo Club Saint-Tropez. The Richard Mille RM 055 Bubba Watson All Grey is limited to 50 pieces and priced at 105.500 Swiss Francs. More details on RichardMille.com.
