A Twist on Travel Time with the Richard Mille RM 63-02 Worldtimer
World time watches are notoriously imperfect, often out of sync with the realities of daylight savings and partial-hour time zone offsets. Yet their appeal endures thanks to their mechanical ingenuity and jet-set romance. The Richard Mille RM 63-02 Worldtimer stands out in both respects, with a planetary differential that enables the wearer adjust time zones with a simple twist of the bezel. Limited to just 100 pieces, the RM 63-02 offers commanding presence thanks to its 47 mm case in 18k rose gold and titanium, and its bold pink and burgundy colourway. While not a fit for every wrist or every budget, it’s nonetheless more wearable and accessible than expected. Initial thoughts From a strictly practical standpoint, the standard format for world time watches is inherently flawed, as about half the world observes daylight savings time for about half the year, and a fifth of the world’s population lives in time zones with partial-hour offsets. Flaws aside, they capture a certain jet set romance, and are frequently beautiful or clever. Richard Mille’s world timers are the latter, and maybe even the former too, depending on your disposition. The RM 63-02 is clever in its operational and conceptual simplicity, though the actual implementation is quite sophisticated, enabling the user to adjust to local time with a simple turn of the bezel. This functionality is reminiscent of the IWC Timezoner, which was itself based on a patent acquired from Vogard. Richard Mille’s app...