For people of a certain age and upbringing, the yellow smiley symbol will always be a reminder of acid house and 1990s rave scene, for others it is an emoji.
Richard Mille is using the face on the face of its latest animated timepiece, the RM 88 Automatic Tourbillon Smiley, which bestows the watch with a positive sense of energy, the company’s PR scribblers suggest.
A golden smiley isn’t the only mood enhancer on the dial. It also has a blossoming flower, sunshine, a pineapple, a cactus, a pink flamingo and a brightly-coloured rainbow — each miniature artwork made in gold by engraver Olivier Kuhn.
Trippy.
The organization and animation of the dial required the creation of a new movement, the CRMT7, a skeletonised automatic tourbillon calibre.
With every minute, a small-seconds hand alternates between rain and fine weather with a rainbow appearing as the sun comes out.
Understandably, Richard Mille is making only 50 of the Smiley watch.
Price on application.
