The Richard Mille RM065-01 McLaren W1 represents the fourth collaboration between the famed watch brand and McLaren Automotive, launched in conjunction with the presentation of the luxury marque’s third “1” supercar, the W1.
After the first McLaren road car – the F1 – launched in 1993, the automotive manufacturer waited another two decades to deliver its first hybrid supercar, the McLaren P1, in 2013. The new W1 is the successor to these two and the manifestation of McLaren’s World Championship mindset. McLaren defines any of its “1” class cars as the result of relentlessly pushing the boundaries of what is achievable in design and engineering.
Richard Mille follows a similar ethos, with the by-line of the brand being “A racing machine on your wrist”. The collaboration with McLaren started eight years ago. Four watches later, the partnership is as solid as ever, with technology, materials and design features from McLaren being incorporated into Richard Mille’s watches.
McLaren “1” class supercars from left to right: the F1, the P1, and the latest release, the W1.
The Richard Mille RM065-01 McLaren W1 is the embodiment of this transfer of knowledge into a horological form. The design of the case – particularly the top bezel – took its inspiration from the view of the car from above. The W1 is built around McLaren’s unique “aero-cell” architecture, which gave rise to the RM065-01 McLaren’s indented shape. The half-millimetre thick TPT carbon bezel sits on a satin-finished and polished grade 5 titanium second bezel, showcasing advanced engineering as it is the thinnest carbon bezel Richard Mille has ever produced. It required nine months of work during which eight prototype designs were experimented with.
Design cues from the W1 overhead profile are evident in the top bezel for the RM065-01 McLaren with cutaway elements that mirror the “aero cell” architecture of the car.
The other two parts of the traditional tonneau-shaped Richard Mille tripartite case – the case band and the lower bezel – are made from TPT carbon. The same type of material is used in the car because of its low mass, rigidity and robustness. The pushers for the functions of the watch mirror the shape of the car’s exhaust. The skeletonised titanium dial design is based on the McLaren W1’s wheel rim patterns. The colour details in the signature papaya orange and curacao blue of the car marque not only make the dial look akin to a dashboard but also enhance the practicality of the watch when in use.
Various parts of the RM065-01 McLaren W1 draw inspiration directly from elements on the supercar, for example, chronograph pushers that are shaped like exhaust outlets.
The watch is powered by the new in-house high-performance automatic chronograph calibre, the RMAC4, equipped with a high-frequency escapement. The high rate of oscillation enables the split-second chronograph to record elapsed times down to just one-tenth of a second. Mirroring the construction of the car, the movement sits on chassis mounting rubbers instead of being secured by a conventional casing ring.
The new inhouse high frequency split-seconds chronograph movement, the RMAC4, showing cutaway elements and the variable geometry rotor.
The Richard Mille RM065-01 McLaren W1 also features the brand’s celebrated function selector crown which operates as a transmission selector between three different positions: “W” for winding, “D” for date and “H” for hand-setting. All adjustments are then completed with the main crown, in grade 5 titanium with a partial, easy-to-grip rubber coating in McLaren papaya and a tip adorned with the brand’s speed mark in the same colour.
While the W1 car is a limited series of 399 – all of them spoken for – the watch will be produced in a series of 500. Richard Mille has learnt its lesson from a previous collaborative series with McLaren in which the owner of the car was allowed to purchase the watch first. This left some non-automotive-inclined Richard Mille collectors disappointed, but with the RM065-01, both W1 owners and RM collectors have access to the watch on equal terms. Find out more, HERE.
Words: Andrew Hildreth
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