The RM 36-01 G-Sensor Tourbillon Sébastien Loeb is the result of the collaboration between Richard Mille and Sébastien Loeb, the most successful driver in WRC history.
Sébastien Loeb has won the world rally championship a record nine times in a row and set the new world record on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 2013. It represents a further development of the mechanical G-force sensor presented previously in the RM 036.
This novel tourbillon movement has an indicator at 2 o’clock that displays the status of the circa 70 hours power reserve, a function selector at 4 o’clock and a G-force sensor reset in the middle of the round sapphire glass front. With a case diameter of 47.70 mm created from carbon nanotubes for the case band and titanium for the fixed bezel and case back, its atypical design offers high visibility and contrast against the grade 5 titanium, black PVD treated movement parts.
The key to understanding this new creation can be gleaned from the rotating brown ceramic bezel: the G-force sensor can now be rotated manually to align in different directions, enabling drivers to view the lateral deceleration as well as longitudinal forces found respectively in corners, acceleration and braking on straights. Directly connected to the bezel and sapphire glass, the sensor can indicate G-forces of up to 6 G’s. The scale indicates whether deceleration is safe (green zone) or if it reaches a critical threshold for the pilot (red zone). Resetting to 0 is quickly accomplished with a simple press of the central pusher.
This is a limited edition of 30 pieces in carbon nanotubes and titanium.
CALIBER RM36-01: manual winding tourbillon movement with hours, minutes, rotary G-sensor, power reserve indicator and function selector. Diameter: 47.70 x 17.37 mm.
MAIN FEATURES
POWER RESERVE
Circa 70 hours (±10%), display on a numeric scale at 2 o’clock.
BASEPLATE AND BRIDGES IN GRADE 5 TITANIUM
The baseplate has been finished in grade 5 titanium, a biocompatible, highly corrosion-resistant and remarkably rigid alloy, which enables the gear train to function effortlessly. The alloy is 90 % grade 5 titanium, 6% aluminum and 4 % vanadium. This combination further increases its mechanical properties, which explains its frequent use in the aerospace, aeronautic and automotive industries. The baseplate is also PVD treated. The skeletonized baseplate and the bridges have been subjected to intensive and complete validation tests to optimize their resistance capacities.
ROTARY G-SENSOR
Composed of over 50 parts and measuring a mere 17 mm, the rotary G-sensor is designed to visually display the number of G’s accumulated by the driver during the different phases of driving such as rapid acceleration, deceleration and lateral forces. The direction of the G-force to be recorded is set by rotating the bezel.
The G-sensor system operates on the principle of displacement of a weight, and a needle on the scale indicates whether the number of Gs accumulated is mild (green zone) or critical (red zone) for the driver.
A push-piece set at the center of the sapphire glass quickly resets it to zero.
Alex, where do you have the information for these (and other Richard Mille) technical specifications from?
The reason for my question:
Richard Mille is for sure one of the most exciting brands in terms of new and exotic materials. Recently they started to use specific abbreviations for their ceramics. Here it is written on page 3: “Rotatingbezel: in TZP-Z brown ceramic made of aluminum oxide powder tubes injected at a pressure of almost 2,000 bar”
Interestingly, TZP is a more or less standard type of zirconia, which means Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystals. It has nothing to do with aluminum oxide and in addition, “powder tubes” are really hard to imagine from a materials science perspective.
I could add more examples…
Are these specs official releases from RM?
Yes this information officially comes from RM.
I am not a fan of Richard Mille for me to bulky and complicated to read the time. But in all fairness this tourbillon from a technical stand point is amazing.
Correct!