Richard Mille has revealed the RM 65-01 McLaren Automatic Split-Seconds Chronograph W1, the fourth creation to emerge from its partnership with British luxury supercar and elite motorsports company, McLaren.

The new McLaren W1 supercar that inspired the RM 65-01 is the ground-breaking successor to two of the greatest supercars ever – the McLaren F1 (1992) and McLaren P1TM (2013) – and elevates the McLaren ‘1’ car lineage to new heights in every aspect of performance.

The brief for the RM 65-01 McLaren W1 required the watch to reflect the cutting edge, high-performance features of the car in terms of its shape, materials and functionality as well as the ‘engine’ that powers it. This development highlights the shared values that have given life to the partnership: push the boundaries of performance, driven by passion and human connection.

THE ULTIMATE POWERPLANT FOR THE ULTIMATE DRIVING WATCH
Richard Mille chose to power the RM 65-01 McLaren W1 with its most high-performance automatic chronograph movement, the RMAC4 that beats at an appropriately high speed of 5Hz or 36,000 vibrations per hour.

This high rate of oscillation enables the split-seconds chronograph calibre to record elapsed times down to just one tenth of a second, while the movement’s vertical clutch and the two six-column wheels ensure precise and ultra-smooth activation of the chronograph.

Also on the theme of speed, the RM 65-01 McLaren W1’s movement (which sits on chassis mounting rubbers instead of being secured by a conventional casing ring) features a ‘rapid winding’ system which enables the 60-hour power reserve to be fully recharged in little time using the special push piece made from orange Quartz TPT®.

And, in-keeping with McLaren’s "performance everywhere” principle ensuring that the W1 is the ultimate supercar, the RM 65-01 McLaren W1 is also perfect for daily use thanks to both the built-in robustness of the 480-part movement and its variable geometry winding rotor that can be adjusted to the wearer’s lifestyle. The view through the crystal enables the grey electroplasma treatment of the grade 5 titanium baseplate to be fully appreciated, along with the black PVD and grey electroplasma treated grade 5 titanium bridges.

Regarding the development of the RM 65-01 calibre, Salvador Arbona, Technical Director for Movements at Richard Mille, said: ‘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.’

BESPOKE BODYWORK – THE RM 65-01 McLAREN W1: A WATCH LIKE NO OTHER
Just as the McLaren W1 is engineered to be the marque’s most focused and advanced supercar to date, the watch that complements it is among the most technically complex of all Richard Mille’s ‘Racing Machines on the Wrist’.

Wrapping around the automatic split-seconds chronograph movement of the watch just as the W1’s swooping bodywork cocoons its engine and occupants, the 43.84 x 49.94 x 16.19 mm Carbon TPT® case of the RM 65-01 McLaren W1 was inspired by the car’s lines.

Early in the W1’s development phase, the Richard Mille creative team directed by Cécile Guenat, Creative and Development Director, was given exclusive access to the first clay mock-ups of the W1 in order to take inspiration from its shape – and determined that a view of the car from above would be the starting point.

The W1’s striking design which is built around the ‘unique McLaren “aero-cell” architecture gave rise to the RM 65-01 McLaren’s indented ‘double’ bezel which posed one of the greatest technical challenges in the creation of the watch.

Drawing from the W1’s compact and muscular shape, high waist line and anhedral door, the Carbon TPT® bezel sits on satin-finished and polished grade 5 titanium second bezel, showcasing advanced engineering. Its crenellations reveal the Carbon TPT® caseband, adding depth and emphasizing the watch's contours. It required nine months of work (during which eight prototype designs were experimented with).

The bezel upper part is a mere five tenths of a millimetre thick at its thinnest point, making it the thinnest bezel Richard Mille has ever produced.
The Brand also developed a new skeletonised titanium dial design based on the McLaren’s wheel rim patterns and subtly highlighting details with colours that are synonymous with the marque, evoking the feel of a supercar dashboard and, importantly, enhance the practicality of the watch in use.

DRIVING DYNAMICS
Being a true driver’s watch, the RM 65-01 McLaren W1 features the celebrated ‘function selector’ crown which operates along the lines of a transmission selector by giving the option to choose between three different positions W for “winding”, D for “Date” or H for “Hand-setting”.

The crown, especially designed for the RM 65-01 McLaren W1 and based on the splines seen on the W1’s drive shafts, is made from grade 5 titanium with a partial, easy-to-grip rubber coating in McLaren papaya orange and a tip adorned with a papaya-coloured McLaren ‘Speedmark’. Wheel rim details also inspired the shape of the chronograph push pieces and rapid winding button, all of which are mounted on exquisitely crafted titanium frames based on the cut-outs seen in the lightweight seats typically used in McLaren supercars. 

The aerodynamic angles of the foils and ducts found on the W1’s engine cover and ground-effect spoilers are reflected in patterns seen on the papaya orange rubber strap, while turning the watch over and looking through the sapphire crystal case back reveals the superbly-finished movement.

“The W1 was designed to give the driver everything they need and nothing they don’t. 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.”
Andrea Bermudez, Global Marketing Director, McLaren Automotive

“Making this fourth watch in the series left us with the feeling that Richard Mille and McLaren are perfectly in-tune. We both work to the highest technical specifications with the most high-tech materials, ergonomics are as important to us as they are to them, and our design language really seems to have gelled. The interaction between our two teams and the partnership that it has created has, simply, become really strong.”
Julien Boillat, Casing Technical Director, Richard Mille