Richard Mille RM036 Jean Todt Tourbillon G-sensor

AnthonyTsai's 2013 post introduces the Richard Mille RM036 Jean Todt Tourbillon G-sensor, a limited edition timepiece developed in collaboration with Jean Todt for road safety. This article details the watch's innovative mechanical G-sensor complication and its connection to motorsport and philanthropic initiatives.

Here's the press release for the RM036 Jean Todt Tourbillon G-sensor limited edition.

Cheers,
Anthony

The world of automobiles is a constant source of inspiration for Richard Mille, who applies the same creative and R&D processes to the design of his timepieces to create extreme solutions that are impressively efficient, high-performance and innovative.

The brand is personally involved in motorsport too: its well-known sporting partners include Felipe Massa and Jules Bianchi. Richard Mille is also the official timekeeper for a range of internationally renowned events such as the Le Mans Classic and the Grand Prix de Pau Historique.

However, there was one aspect of automobile that Richard Mille had not yet explored, despite being interested in it for many years: road safety. He therefore decided to offer his support to a long-time friend, Jean Todt, and to the global organisation “FIA Action For Road Safety” by developing a watch capable of offering a tangible solution to road safety problems. Richard Mille’s and Jean Todt’s teams worked together closely to develop a mechanism capable of interpreting the physical constraints felt by the body during rapid decelerations to make drivers aware of the dangers linked to the road. This is how the creation of the Tourbillon G-Sensor RM 036 Jean Todt came about.

The RM 036 features a tonneau shape, a recurrent visual theme of the brand. The curved, ergonomic case specifically requested by Jean Todt for this exceptional timepiece houses the RM036 caliber, a tourbillon movement made entirely of grade-5 titanium and ARCAP, with a carbon-nanofiber baseplate. This combination of materials provides the movement with optimal resistance and flatness, and draws a sublime contrast with the finishing, which include polishing, shot-blasting and satin-brushing. The manually wound mechanical caliber features hours, minutes and seconds combined with a brand-new complication: a mechanical G-sensor.

The G-sensor system was developed and patented by Renaud Papi exclusively for Richard Mille, and translates the movement of a small internal mechanism to an indicator, thereby enabling the wearer to visualise the forces. Assembled directly on the baseplate, this complex mechanism was designed to visually display the number of G’s accumulated by the wearer during rapid decelerations. Composed of over 50 parts and measuring a mere 17mm, the RM 036’s G-sensor can withstand decelerations of several tens of G’s. Needless to say, the movement is also characterised by its unequivocal robustness. Another unique feature of the RM 036 is the scale located at 12 o’clock, whose needle indicates whether the deceleration is safe (green zone) or critical (red zone) for the driver. A push-piece at 9 o’clock quickly resets it to zero.

The RM 036 was officially presented on 7th December 2012 at the FIA awards ceremony in Istanbul. Jean Todt will donate the profits from the sale of this exceptional timepiece to two key initiatives close to his heart: the global campaign for road safety as well as the ICM Brain and Spine Institute, which he cofounded.

The Tourbillon G-Sensor RM 036 Jean Todt watch is being released in a limited edition of 15 titanium timepieces.