This is the most complicated Richard Mille ever made. That’s a bold claim, I know; the watchmaker makes tourbillons seem commonplace and have included every kind of mechanical contraption short of a grandfather clock in their signature tonneau cases. But this – the RM 62-01 Tourbillon Vibrating Alarm Airbus Corporate Jets – has taken the crown.

This is the second collaboration with the bespoke wing of Airbus and it’s a beast. The titanium and carbon case is as large as you might expect at 42mm x 49.94mm but thanks to the case material and the partially-titanium movement (the manual-wind calibre RM 62-01) it’s surprisingly light. There’s still a weight of horology there however.

Let’s have a quick rundown of the functions. First, local time at the centre, joined by a UTC hand. The alarm is set using the subdial at 4.30, which can be set to the nearest minute. It has its own power reserve indicator at 7 o’clock, while the power reserve of the main watch can be seen at 11 o’clock. Then, of course, there’s the tourbillon at 9 o’clock, almost an afterthought.

As the watch’s name might hint, this isn’t a ‘normal’ alarm function. Usually gongs and hammers will sound out the time in pretty little chimes. At least, that’s how it’s been done since the early days of watchmaking. Here however, they are substituted for an oscillating weight that vibrates the whole piece. The result is a more subtle notice that you’re running late – and one less likely to wake you up at night if you forget to turn it off.

Said alarm can run for 12 seconds before its barrel runs out of juice, requiring 12 presses of the 8 o’clock pusher to rearm. It’s an insane complication and one that took five years of decelopment with the masters over at Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi. To put that in context, the watch contains 816 components, a huge number of which are unique to this watch.

To put it into even more understandable a context, the RM 62-01 Tourbillon Vibrating Alarm Airbus Corporate Jets will set you back CHF 1,200,000 – just shy of £980,000. It makes a bespoke airbus seem pretty great value, really.

Price & Specs:

Model Name: Richard Mille RM 62-01 Vibrating Alarm Tourbillon Airbus Corporate Jets

Case/Dial: 43mm diameter 42.00mm width x 49.94mm height x 16.90mm thickness, grade 5 titanium with a second bezel made from Carbon TPT®

Movement: In-house Caliber RM62-01, manual winding

Functions: Hours, minutes, oversize date, UTC (universal time coordinated), am/pm indicator, function selector, power-reserve indicator, vibrating alarm function with on/off activation indicator

Frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)

Power Reserve: 70h

Strap: Rubber

Price: CHF 1,200,000, limited edition of 30 pieces

More details at richardmille.com