Women’s watchmaking has long operated on a quiet hierarchy: jewelry first, instrument second. A watch is made, then jeweled. Gemstones appear almost as afterthoughts.
Richard Mille has always resisted that logic. Guided by the vision of Creative and Development Director Cécile Guenat, the brand has spent two decades constructing an alternative: women’s watchmaking where technical rigor and aesthetic expression are not opposing forces but expressions of the same discipline.
The RM HJ-02 Automatic Tourbillon is the apotheosis of that vision. In this second chapter of the brand’s high jewelry journey, precious stones shape the watch’s architecture from the very first sketch.
The Gemstone As Structure
The collection draws from Art Deco’s geometric vocabulary, reinterpreted through Richard Mille’s technical and material language. The signature tonneau silhouette is reimagined not as a single uninterrupted curve but as a constructed surface, broken into sharp transitions, layered planes and asymmetrical interruptions that radically alter its form. Developed over three years, with more than a year dedicated to the case alone, this approach fundamentally reshapes the watch’s architecture.
The result is a play of light and structure. The case resolves into faceted planes that shift with movement. Varying in size and shade, the gemstones create a captivating display of luminous color across the surface as the watch moves through the light.
A staggering 1,399 precious and ornamental stones are set within this composition. Rubies, sapphires, diamonds and emeralds are juxtaposed against bands of malachite and turquoise. From stone selection and preparation to finishing and quality control, the gem-setting process totals close to 700 hours of work per watch, the equivalent of approximately 88 full working days.
The setting techniques employed in the RM HJ-02 are equally sophisticated: snow-setting, grain-setting, bezel-setting and invisible-setting, each painstakingly executed at Richard Mille’s dedicated workshop, established in 2019 to bring this level of control fully in-house.
Despite being composed of geometric planes, the surface of the RM HJ-02 remains implausibly smooth to the touch. Run a fingertip across it and you will detect no discontinuity, only a seamless skin of precious gems and alloy.
The Mechanical Heart: Calibre CRMT2
Developed in parallel with the case and dial, the new in-house Calibre CRMT2 sits at the center of the RM HJ-02. The movement is a skeletonized automatic tourbillon beating at 4 Hz on a free-sprung balance with variable inertia and delivers a power reserve of approximately 50 hours.
The baseplate and bridges are machined from 18-karat white gold, microblasted and hand-beveled, then set with precious stones that physically define the lines of the caliber. This is not decoration for its own sake. The gemstones organize the visual field of the CRMT2, drawing attention to its vital organs. These include the fast-rotating barrel, completing a revolution in five hours instead of the conventional seven and a half, and the variable-inertia tourbillon, which compensates for the effects of gravity on timekeeping precision.
The gem-set gold rotor completes the ensemble. Mechanically, it operates via a One-Way® reverser system mounted on ceramic ball bearings, winding the barrel with each movement of the wrist. Through the sapphire caseback, gemstones capture and scatter light, turning the rotor into luminous jewelry in motion.
Crucially, none of the decorative work detracts from mechanical function. This is the governing discipline of the RM HJ-02: adornment as extension, never gratuitous addition.
Four Universes, 12 Singularities
The collection comprises 12 unique timepieces organized into four chromatic universes: pink, violet, blue and green. No two RM HJ-02 pieces are identical since no two gemstones are ever alike. The in-house setting process further honors each gem’s singular character.
The pink universe combines rubies and pink sapphires. The violet pieces are dominated by round-cut rubies and purple sapphires. The blue universe employs sapphires in graduated tones, from pale sky to midnight, often paired with turquoise inlays. The green pieces combine tsavorites and sapphires.
Across all four color constellations, a central principle holds constant: light, gemstone and structure fuse into moments of chromatic radiance.
20 Years in the Making
The RM HJ-02 arrives as a declaration. Not of luxury in its conventional register—the refinement of what is already beautiful—but of something more exacting: the elevation of watchmaking through the integration of disciplines that have historically coexisted but never truly converged.
With the RM HJ-02, Richard Mille inscribes high jewelry as a core pillar of its identity, equal in standing to its racing machines and ultralight minimalist creations.
This is not a watch for the collector who reads diamonds as status. It is for those who understand that a tourbillon beneath a quilt of sapphires is not ornament but intent, where mastery emerges from integration rather than decoration. In the fusion of gem-setting and horological innovation, the RM HJ-02 redraws the known limits of haute horlogerie.
The RM HJ-02 Automatic Tourbillon. Twelve unmistakable timepieces. Four chromatic universes. One uncompromising vision.
For more information, visit richardmille.com