To change the pace a bit, I thought I’d share a look at what is likely to be one of the must stunning ladies’ watch of 2015, the Richard Mille RM19-02 Tourbillon Fleur, unveiled during SIHH 2015.

At first, I though this was yet another ornately feminine piece Richard Mille had come up with so that the lucky few don’t come home to their significant other empty-handed when they treat themselves to a Richard Mille. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I always prefer seeing watchmakers creating new, mechanical wayS of feminizing modern wristwatches. And that’s exactly what Richard Mille did with the RM19-02 Tourbillon Fleur.

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Housed in the signature Richard Mille three-part tonneau case set with brilliant-cut white diamonds (as well as black ones in the example I handled), the dial features a three-dimensional hand-lacquered and painted relief of a pink magnolia flower and its leaves. Within the magnolia flower is a flying tourbillon escapement, with the top of the cage set with rubies and a diamond.

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But what makes the RM19-02 so darn special is what I’m calling the “mechanical bloom” feature. That is, the petals of the magnolia flower can be opened and closed by simply pushing the black pusher at 9 o’clock.

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You can see it in action for yourself in this less-than-stellar iPhone video I made:

Besides that impressive feature, the RM19-02 is fitted with what appears to be a manicure-friendly crown with a torque limiting mechanism to prevent the mainspring from being overwound.

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And while the display back reveals a movement that isn’t quite as open-worked as what we’re accustomed to seeing from Richard Mille, it is in fact in line with other new feminine Richard Mille pieces.

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I’m not Mel Gibson and have no clue what women want, but suffice to say that when I posted a video of the Richard Mille RM19-02 Tourbillon Fleur on Instagram during the first day of SIHH, I immediately received a WhatsApp message from Mrs Horophile saying “WOW”. That was the only piece she had commented on during the entire week.

The Richard Mille RM19-02 comes at a retail price of $1,090,000 USD for full pavé version as seen above and $970,000 USD for the diamond-less version.

More on www.richardmille.com