On Sunday, October 6, British supercar manufacturer McLaren revealed its latest flagship model, the W1, bearing the coveted ‘1’ badge also held by McLaren’s iconic F1 and P1 models. Now, long-term McLaren partner, the Swiss watch brand Richard Mille, has revealed a new timepiece, the RM 65-01 McLaren Automatic Split-Seconds Chronograph W1, which was inspired by the new car.
The brief was simple: Richard Mille had to develop a timepiece that matched the cutting-edge, high-performance features of the new McLaren W1, focusing on its shape, materials, functionality and, of course, its ‘engine’ – which in a watch would be represented by the movement.
This new piece marks the fourth collaboration between McLaren and Richard Mille, with the RM 65-01 McLaren W1 representing possibly the partnership’s most exciting release to date.
The engine
Richard Mille has powered the new RM 65-01 McLaren Automatic Split-Seconds Chronograph W1 with its most high-performance, automatic chronograph movement, the RMAC4. This highly complex movement beats at around 36,000 vibrations an hour, allowing the watch to record elapsed times down to one-tenth of a second. An ideal feature for a racing enthusiast.
For both McLaren and Richard Mille, speed was a real focus. This new watch has a rapid winding system, allowing its 60-hour power reserve to be quickly charged by utilizing a special push pin. The new RM 65-01 McLaren W1 has been designed specifically with daily use in mind, due to this its 480-part movement is impressively robust.
“This project perfectly illustrates Richard Mille’s philosophy of constantly pushing technical boundaries to create innovative watches that include the latest watchmaking developments with a functional, practical and high-performance approach,” said Richard Mille’s technical director of movements, Salvador Arbona.
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The bodywork
When McLaren set out to build the W1, it planned to create its most advanced supercar to date. For the watch that compliments it, Richard Mille has followed suit with one of its most advanced timepieces ever produced.
The Carbon TPT case that encloses the watch has been designed to match the McLaren W1’s contour lines and bodywork. This has partly been achieved through the implementation of an indented double bezel. Here, a Carbon TPT bezel sits atop a grade 5 titanium second bezel.
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At its thinnest section, the upper part of this bezel is only five-tenths of a millimeter thick, making it the thinnest bezel that has ever been produced by Richard Mille. There is also a new skeletonized titanium dial design, inspired by McLaren’s wheel rim patterns and resembling a car dashboard.
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The Transmission
Sticking to the automotive theme, on the new RM 65-01 McLaren W1, Richard Mille has included its impressive function selector crown. Much like the transmission in a car, this crown allows the wearer to select three different positions, W, D and H, corresponding to winding, date and hands, enabling the user to quickly select which mode they want.
The crown itself was specifically designed for this new timepiece, and constructed from grade 5 titanium with an easy-grip rubber coating, emblazoned in McLaren’s iconic papaya orange. Its tip also features McLaren’s speedmark logo.
“The W1 was designed to give the driver everything they need and nothing they don’t,” said global marketing director at McLaren Automotive, Andrea Bermudez. “It’s about a combination of epic power delivery, incredible performance and a high level of theatre both on the racetrack and the road. It is a daunting task to reflect these attributes in a watch, but Richard Mille has exceeded expectations with the RM 65-01 McLaren W1.”
Much like the McLaren W1 car, the RM 65-01 McLaren W1 is exceptionally limited to only 500 timepieces and unsurprisingly carries a price to match at $274,000.
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