The RM 57-03 Tourbillon Sapphire Dragon is the culmination of one of the Richard Mille‘s beloved special projects. In an unprecedented feat, an artistic creation in sapphire and gold has been incorporated within a tourbillon movement, requiring that the complex procedure of sapphire machining be combined with the delicate and poetic art of engraving. It is the this bold approach of bringing together seemingly unrelated worlds that brings Richard Mille its repute.

The dragon, a mythical animal arising from an ancestral imaginary world and indissociable from Oriental culture, has multiple meanings. Here, it is a symbol of perseverance and success as well as of the power and strength that make it a master of the elements. This notion of robustness and reassuring solidity, visible in the bearing of the dragon that firmly encircles the manually-wound tourbillon calibre, dictated the creative process followed by the engravers at Olivier Vaucher?a major name in engraving in Geneva?working in collaboration with the Richard Mille movement and exterior engineers on this complex endeavour.
As a fantastical creature moving through the water, the dragon harmoniously encapsulates the Yin of sapphire, associated with the liquid element, and the Yang of gold, which carries the opposing heat and positive connotations of the Sun.

Sapphire has a special place at Richard Mille, which uses this material to craft the most complex cases and movement co...