This Watch’s See-Through Sapphire Housing Will Cost You $US1.65m

The intricate gears and mechanisms of a watch with a complicated movement are usually hidden inside a metal housing. But not with Richard Mille’s latest creation, the RM65, which features a housing carved from a single block of sapphire crystal.

So if you were wondering how they justified that $US1.65 million price tag, there’s your answer. Besides providing an intimate view of the watch’s inner workings, the use of sapphire crystal also has some distinct pros and cons.

It’s typically used for the glass dome covering a watch’s face since it’s very scratch-resistant — meaning the entire M65 should stand up well to wear and tear. But because it’s still crystal, it’s not indestructible. So an unfortunate drop could leave one of the five lucky owners (it’s one of those super-limited-edition deals) of this timepiece with over one and a half million dollars worth of broken watch on their floor. [Richard Mille via Born Rich]