The hi-tech sailing boat is an interesting way of coming to understand the technologically advanced mechanical wristwatch. It is the apparently oxymoronic nature of sailpower that makes it analogous to the mechanical timepiece. Both sailing vessels and handwound wristwatches are predicated on principles that have changed little in centuries – millennia, in the case of sailpower – and yet in the early 21st century each field finds itself the subject of feverish research, voraciously consuming the latest materials and technical innovations.

As a pioneer of the sort of ultra-contemporary timepiece that is emblematic of a new aesthetic for haute horlogerie, it is interesting that Richard Mille has chosen to ally his eponymous watch brand with Perini Navi, a maker of exclusive yachts for a very small number of wealthy clients. “When I talked to people about Perini Navi they say it is not very well known,” says Mr Mille.