Richard Mille has just announced an exclusive sculpture with Los Angeles-based duo coarse. Referencing the RM 52-05 Tourbillon Sapphire Pharrell Williams watch, the sculpture — named Distant Bliss — celebrates innovators who take risks in venturing out of their comfort zone.
The sculpture sees a Pharrell-inspired astronaut holding three balloons upside-down. “Calm and focused, he waits for the right time to let go of everything that weighs him down to finally venture into the universe freely” explained Dimitri Mille and Samuel Katan. Each part of the work is hand-crafted with details like the transparency of the balloons and the astronaut’s backpack reflecting the watch’s sapphire glass and tonneau-shaped case, respectively.
Mark Landwehr of coarse explains, “With an astronaut on Mars looking back at Earth, the RM 52-05 is about this second kind of person, and as we began sculpting, we knew we had to explore this theme further. Richard Mille and Pharrell are both pioneers who continuously shift our understanding of what watches and music can be, so we sculpted an explorer who is in a world whose gravity doesn’t quite make sense. For us, it is a piece about what it means to subvert the world’s expectations by taking a leap towards something unfamiliar.”
Limited to 15 examples, each sculpture was gifted to an owner of the RM 52-05.
In other art news, Javier Calleja reminds you to “Open Your Eyes” at NANZUKA.
