WATCH TO WATCH

A “Sly” Survivalist: Richard Mille RM 25-01 Sylvester Stallone


Richard Mille’s latest innovative timepiece, developed in partnership with film star Sylvester Stallone, is a watch that could be found on the wrist of John Rambo or one of Stallone’s other cinematic action heroes. What makes the new RM 25-01 Adventure Sylvester Stallone, a limited edition of just 20 pieces, so ideally suited to surviving and thriving in all kinds of adverse conditions? Read on.

Richard Mille RM-25-01 Adventure - side
The Richard Mille RM-25-01 Adventure features interchangeable compass bezels.

The RM 25-01 is a watch designed to be, as Sly himself puts it, “Ready for action.” The case is round — like that of the RM 032 that the actor and longtime watch enthusiast wore in 2010’s The Expendables — and constructed of titanium and Carbon TPT, a material whose distinctive look and properties have become a hallmark of the Richard Mille brand. The lightweight, highly resistant material is comprised of 600 layers of parallel carbon filaments, each of them no more than 30 microns in thickness, that are impregnated with a super-charged resin and compiled by a CNC machine that shifts the orientation of the fibers by 45° between layers. This composite material is then heated to 120º Celsius, at 6 bar of pressure, to solidify it. The result is an undulating, damascne appearance to the surface and a significant reduction in weight of the case, which measures a titanic 50.85 mm x 23.65 mm and resists water pressure down to 100 meters.

Richard_Mille RM-25-01 Adventure - front
The watch has an unusual 24-hour time display.

What really distinguishes the watch’s case are its two interchangeable bezels — one an actual compass, in DLC-coated grade 5 titanium with both a fixed and rotatable setting, the other a bidirectionally rotating ring in titanium and Carbon TPT, marked with both a 24-hour and 360º scale and the cardinal directions. The compass’s bayonet mount makes it easy to affix to the case, while its Carbon TPT-coated top surface (with mirrored back) has just one round aperture at 12 o’clock through which the wearer can view the compass needle under a multilayered, nonreflective sapphire crystal, which also bears an antimagnetic coating to protect both the compass’s precision and the workings of the watch’s movement. To use the other bezel for direction finding, the wearer simply needs to point the dial’s hour hand toward the sun and turn the bezel so the local 24-hour time is indicated, thus enabling the wearer to distinguish North, South, East, and West. The compass was specifically requested by Stallone as “a crucial piece of equipment no adventurer should be without,” according to the brand.

Richard Mille RM-25-01 - covered - crown
The compartment at 2 o’clock holds water purification tablets.

So how does the wearer know that he’s getting the most precise compass reading? The watch ensures this with a small bubble level at 4 o’clock, which indicates whether or not the wrist is perfectly horizontal while using the function. At 2 o’clock is another feature that you won’t find on any other outdoor-adventure-focused watch: a hermetic compartment, made of titanium, to store water purification tablets that can make a liter of polluted water safe to drink as quickly as 30 minutes.

Richard Mille RM 25-01 Adventure - angle
A bubble level at 4 o’clock helps the wearer steady his wrist to use the compass.

The movement combines a tourbillon with a specially developed “competition” chronograph function, along with a 70-hour power reserve, displayed by coupling and function indicators, and an unusual 24-hour time display meant to help wearers deprived of sunlight distinguish between AM and PM. Richard Mille’s watchmakers needed several months to optimize this manual-winding caliber for both reduced weight and increased timekeeping precision and chronometeric reliability. With a baseplate and bridges machined from grade 5 titanium, the movement boasts reduced inertia and a 50 percent lower energy consumption than its predecessors.

Richard Mille RM 25-01 Adventure - back
The movement’s baseplate and bridges are made of grade 5 titanium.

Stallone’s input is also evident on the RM 25-01’s sculptural, natural rubber strap, which has a camouflage motif and closes securely with a titanium pin buckle. Targeted at 20 well-heeled, would-be Rambos, the watch is available exclusively at Richard Mille boutiques worldwide and priced at $983,000.

 

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    • Corey Vlahos

      Hi John, the watch is priced at $983,000 and is available exclusively at Richard Mille boutiques worldwide.

      Reply
  1. I suppose the “survivalist” moniker does makes sense here. Most Richard Mille buyers would eventually need to go on the run to escape corruption and kleptocracy charges one day, so a watch like this might suit their fugitive lifestyle. Till looks like Richard Mille tried (and failed) to make a G-Shock though.

    Reply
  2. Scott Arnold

    Absolutely beautiful watch, can I have some more info price availability, or any other watches you have similar

    Reply
  3. The irony is rich. Spend a million dollars for a large ugly watch, compass, and a place to hold water purification tablets because super wealthy guys love survival situations! And how could this watch “be found on the wrist of John Rambo,” a soldier suffering from PTSD and living in the jungle with no possessions? The entire effort is useless and absurd. My recommendation to the lucky owners – use the compass to navigate to a remote location & blow your brains out. Make sure you hit the “watch,” too.

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  4. When I thought the watch world couldn’t get any more ridiculous, along comes this from RM. The whole thing is just so obnoxious and then you throw in a Tourbillon into an “adventure” watch and price it just under $1M. This is the antithesis of practical and utilitarian and is nonsensical in every sense of the word. I am shocked that they did not include a fishing hook and fishing line.

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  5. I love the $10 compass feature on a million dollar watch – a watch that can only be described as enormous, illegible, ghastly and obscene, unless you have really bad taste. Then it’s “transplendent!”

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