The Pharrell Williams Space Edition

The Richard Mille RM 52-05 Pharrell Williams “Mars” super clone is the space chapter of the RM 052 tourbillon family, and it reads nothing like its skull siblings. Where the RM 052 line built its reputation on a grade-5 titanium skull, this edition replaces the memento mori with an astronaut’s view of deep space: a brown Cermet tonneau case, an open tourbillon, and a dial that frames the planet Mars. If you have been hunting the Mars reference rather than a tête de mort, this is the RM 052 variant you want.

An Astronaut Helmet Framing Mars

The dial is the whole story. A sculpted astronaut-helmet motif sits at the centre, its visor opening onto a reddish Mars landscape with a tiny blue Earth suspended in the distance. Below the scene the open tourbillon turns in full view, so the complication reads as part of the diorama rather than a separate sub-dial. There is no skull here and no skeletonised bridge-work pretending to be one — this is a straight space edition, which is exactly why it photographs so differently from the red-skeleton and skull RM 052 cards.

Brown Cermet and the Tonneau Case

The case is Richard Mille’s signature tonneau silhouette at roughly 42.7 x 50 mm, executed in brown Cermet — a ceramic-metal composite that keeps the warm earth tone against the cooler titanium greys of the rest of the collection. The matching orange rubber strap pushes the Mars palette further, pairing rust-brown and planetary orange the way the genuine Pharrell edition does. A domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating sits over the helmet dial, and water resistance is held at a sensible 30 m.

The Clone Tourbillon Inside

Under the dial runs a real working clone tourbillon, hand-wound rather than automatic. It is a manual-winding tourbillon that drives hours and minutes only — there is no seconds hand and no date, so the open architecture stays clean. The clone delivers a power reserve of about 42 hours, against roughly 48 hours on the genuine manual tourbillon, running at 28,800 vph. As an openworked tonneau tourbillon this is one of the more serious movements in the catalogue, and it is what separates the Mars edition from quartz-driven lookalikes.

How the Mars Edition Sits Beside the RM 052 Skulls

Think of this as the outlier of the group. The RM 052 Skull on a red strap and the RM 052 red-skeleton tourbillon both lean into dark, bony, skeletonised drama, while the Mars dial trades all of that for a space diorama. All three share the same clone tourbillon engine, so the choice is purely about the face. You can see the full replica RM 52-01 tourbillon range together, compare it with another open complication like the RM 53-01 tourbillon super clone, and browse the wider Richard Mille super clone catalogue. For how these movements are judged overall, our guide to the best Richard Mille super clones covers the tourbillon grades in detail.

Specifications

• Model: Richard Mille RM 52-05 Pharrell Williams
• Reference: RM 52-05 “Mars”
• Case: brown Cermet, tonneau
• Case size: ~42.7 x 50 mm
• Dial: astronaut-helmet motif, Mars landscape with a tiny Earth, open tourbillon
• Strap: orange rubber
• Crystal: sapphire with anti-reflective coating
• Movement: clone tourbillon, manual winding
• Power reserve: 42 hours (genuine manual tourbillon: ~48 hours)
• Water resistance: 30 m
• Functions: hours and minutes (no seconds, no date)
• Frequency: 28,800 vph

FAQ

How much does the RM 52-05 Pharrell Williams Mars super clone cost?

This Mars edition is listed at around $839, which buys a real clone tourbillon, a brown Cermet case and the full astronaut-helmet dial. That makes it one of the better-value ways into a working Richard Mille tourbillon replica rather than a quartz imitation.

How can you spot a fake RM 52-05 Mars dial?

Look at the tourbillon and the depth of the helmet scene: a genuine working Mars edition shows a slowly rotating open tourbillon and a layered Mars-and-Earth diorama, whereas a cheap fake uses a flat printed panel and a dummy cage. On this super clone the tourbillon actually turns and the dial carries real relief.

What’s the difference between the RM 52-05 Mars and the RM 052 Skull super clone?

The RM 52-05 Mars uses an astronaut-helmet space dial with no skull, while the RM 052 Skull builds its baseplate and bridges into a titanium tête de mort. Both run the same clone tourbillon, so the decision is about the face, the brown Cermet case and the orange strap versus the darker skull variants.

Does the RM 52-05 Pharrell Williams Mars super clone have a real working tourbillon?

Yes — it carries a genuine working clone tourbillon that is manually wound, not a fixed decorative cage. It shows hours and minutes only with no seconds or date, and holds roughly 42 hours of power reserve at 28,800 vph.