Richard Mille took the world by surprise when it launched its first women’s collection in 2005. The RM 007 was the first sparkling glimpse of what the brand could do with a little added sprinkle of diamonds and precious stones. Then in 2018, Richard Mille showed just how far it could push the boundaries with the RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon “Talisman,” officially the first of its high-jewelry collection.

The latest RM HJ-02 is exactly what it says on the box: chapter two in Richard Mille’s high-jewelry journey, and what a visually spectacular one it is. As with its predecessor, the HJ-02 is designed by Cécile Guenat, Richard Mille’s creative and development director. The watch marries the house’s savoir faire in gem-setting with its well-established technical codes. There are just 12 unique timepieces in four color families — pink, violet, blue and green — each bearing a new skeletonized in-house tourbillon caliber in white gold, the CRMT2.

To be clear, this is not merely a Richard Mille watch festooned with baubles and sparklers, although there are stones aplenty: 1,274 precious and 125 ornamental stones in each piece, to be very precise. Instead, stones and case become one in a complex Art Deco-inspired geometry of color, shapes and variety. Gem-setting informs just about every surface of the watch. From diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires to exotic tourmalines, malachite, chrysoprase and more, precious gems adorn the case and buckle, literally reshaping the smooth curves of the brand’s signature tonneau case into gleaming facets and chiseled angles. Even the signature spline screws have been reworked into a sculpted floral design that not only goes well with the prevailing aesthetic, but maintains precise torque control during assembly.

The Caliber CRMT2 is part of the sumptuous visual feast. On the dial side, precious and ornamental stones outline and frame the movement, focusing attention on the fast rotating barrel at 12 o’clock and tourbillon at 6 o’clock. On the back, the white gold rotor takes center stage, decorated with hardstones and beautifully finished. Bridges, meanwhile, are beveled and variously microblasted and plated with rhodium. Not just a good-looker, the CRMT2 hails from the lineage of high-performance, shock-defying Richard Mille calibers, which means it is engineered to be supremely robust and built for daily wear. Though with its precious cache of stones, there is clearly nothing everyday about the RM HJ-02.

Tech Specs: Richard Mille RM HJ-02 In-House Automatic Tourbillon

Movement Self-winding Caliber CRMT2; 50-hour power reserve
Functions Hours and minutes; tourbillon
Case 36mm × 52.48mm; gem-set 18K white gold; water resistant to 50m
Dial Gem-set and open-worked
Strap Color-matched alligator leather; gem-set 18K white gold folding clasp
Price Upon request
Availability Limited edition of 12 unique pieces