Style Edit: Richard Mille ramps up the brutalism in its latest RM 16-02 Automatic Winding Extraflat, with its beguiling maze-like CRMA9 automatic calibre

Feb 19 , 2025

The Richard Mille RM 16-02 Automatic Winding Extraflat embodies the brutalist aesthetic even more than its predecessor. Photo: Handout

The watch comes on the back of the success of the film The Brutalist and of its star Adrien Brody earning plaudits during this year’s awards season

With The Brutalist and its star Adrien Brody earning plaudit after plaudit during this year’s awards season, it is timely that a daring work of horological art, drawing upon the exposed, structural aesthetics of this architectural style, has claimed a little limelight too. The RM 16-02 Automatic Winding Extraflat, a new rectangular wonder from tonneau king Richard Mille, crowns its cool, contemporary take on cutting-edge technical innovation with an artistic purity.

The Swiss watchmaker, known for modern openwork timepieces that wear their mechanical prowess on their sleeve, presents an epic sequel to its first right-angled creation, the RM 016, which premiered in 2007. Urban, unconventional and stripped of artifice, the RM 16-02 goes beyond being an attention-grabbing statement with a new, complex calibre that is highly visible, front and back, ushering light into the heart of the intricate mechanism.

RM 16-02 Automatic Winding Extraflat. Photo: Handout

The ultra-flat case that is characteristic of the original model now sits more snugly on the wrist thanks to a redesign with trimmed dimensions and improved ergonomics – at 36mm by 45.65mm, the 16-02 is around 10 per cent smaller than the 016.

To look through the dial’s sapphire crystal is to fall into a veritable maze of interlaced elements, orchestrated openings and optical illusions – a labyrinth of invention so mesmerising that you may simply forget the time. Hour markers appearing as fascinating fractured numerals lead you in, threading through an inner tangle of titanium that is the CRMA9 automatic calibre, yet another in-house movement and one that is skeletonised in the extreme.

Detail of the RM 16-02’s mazy innards. Photo: Handout

Cue the remarkable feats of exacting engineering required to realise this progressive vision: almost two hours of milling per plate; countless components satin-finished, micro-blasted and bevelled by hand; and an oscillating weight, crafted from platinum and powering a free-sprung balance wheel with two titanium inertia blocks, to name just three. These features ensure durability and accuracy, as well as providing fifty hours of power reserve and 30 metres of water resistance.

The RM 16-02 Automatic Winding Extraflat in grade 5 titanium. Photo: Handout

The watchmaker’s groundbreaking evolution of its Automatic Extraflat watch extends to its careful choices of material. There’s a refined iteration encased in gleaming grade 5 titanium, yet adventurous watch fans will surely clamour to own the new release in Terracotta Quartz TPT. Formed from layers of super-slim, super-light silica rendered super-strong by a precise heating process, this TPT (Thin Ply Technology) composite has dressed Richard Mille watches since 2017 – as well as futuristic yachts – boosting their durability and textural allure.

The RM 16-02 in chocolatey Terracotta Quartz TPT. Photo: Handout

The brand new Terracotta colour appeals with its warm, distinctive red tone. Set atop a Creamy White Quartz TPT caseband, it is worn with a rubber strap and, without doubt, plenty of attitude.