Richard Mille RM030 Polo Club De Saint-Tropez – AO TI-ATZ

You don't get much more high-end than a polo club in St Tropez—and that's why this limited edition luxury watch from Richard Mille fits its surroundings so perfectly. The Richard Mille RM030 Polo Club de Saint-Tropez was released in a limited run of just 50 pieces, to celebrate the brand's timing partnership with the club. And like every Richard Mille, it brings its partnership to life.
Polo might be a sport for the one percent, but it's no genteel contest. Sure, from afar it all looks very civilised—chaps cantering up and down on impressively-groomed steeds, politely knocking a ball around with long-handled mallets. But get up close to a chukka in full flood, and you'll be struck with the same realisation you get when confronted with any combative sport played at pro level. These guys ride hard. And horses are big.
Polo is a game for crazy people, who aren't afraid of either galloping horses or balls thwacked at 110 mph. And that makes it a game in which even the spectators have to look sharp. On the sidelines of a polo match, almost no luxury sports watch stands a chance of survival. No watch, that is, except a Richard Mille.
The RM030 AO Ti-ATZ is a special watch, built for a special purpose: to take a glancing hit from a polo ball and survive. Now, let me be clear. It isn't built to enter the fray on the polo field and come out intact. That honour goes to Richard Mille's Pablo McDonough model, which is so heavily armoured it barely has any dial at all. No, the Richard Mille RM030 Polo Club de Saint-Tropez is created for its associations with the sport rather than for participation in the game itself. The watch's ceramic ATZ bezel is magnificently rigid and strong, enabling it to take a blow without marking or cracking. The titanium caseband completes the shock resistance. Remember, though, that the sapphire glass, through which the movement can be seen at front and rear, is heftily treated with anti-glare coating. Anti-glare-coated sapphire glass is supremely resistant to scratches but more prone to shattering.
To combat this, Richard Mille braced the sapphire with silicon, which presumably flexes when the crystal receives a direct hit. All the same, I'm going to recommend that your RM030 Polo Club de Saint-Tropez is not struck hard on the glass by anything—be it a polo mallet or an auctioneer's gavel. This is a luxury watch for which shock resistance is built as a talking point rather than a practical application.
The movement inside the RM030 AO Ti-ATZ is automatic, with Richard Mille's declutchable rotor system. This mechanism, which is unique to Richard Mille (and which took four years to develop), forgoes the traditional stopping flange in favour of a declutching rotor. Instead of using a sliding bar to prevent the barrel from overwinding, the system physically decouples the rotor from the barrel when optimal torque is achieved. The mechanism is also linked to the power reserve, which is uses as an indicator of spring tension: whenever the tension drops out of the optimum range specified by Richard Mille, the rotor re-engages and the spring is wound until it returns to efficiency.
On the dial, the movement displays central hours, minutes and seconds, plus power reserve (50 hours) and on/off for the declutchable rotor. There's a date window at 7 o'clock. The movement is nicely skeletonised, with the majority of the mechanism visible through the central ball-shaped cutaway. Hands, Arabic numerals, and indices are all lumed.
The Richard Mille RM030 Polo Club de Saint-Tropez is decorated in tribute to the club: the navy blue crown protector, white bezels and white detailing on hands and dial all reflect club colours. The rear crystal is engraved with the club logo. The bracelet is grey rubber with a double-fold titanium clasp.
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