Richard Mille and McLaren: Debut of an Extreme Machine

Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille revealed its fourth timepiece made in collaboration with British supercar maker McLaren. The partners—together since 2016—unveiled the RM 65-01 Automatic Split-Seconds Chronograph McLaren W1, appropriately at the reveal of the automaker’s new W1 supercar that inspires the watch. The new watch is a 500-piece limited edition.

The RM 65-01 McLaren reflects Richard Mille’s and McLaren’s shared values: pushing the boundaries of performance, driven by passion and human interaction. Designers sought to reflect the car’s high-performance shape, materials and functionality, as well as the engine that powers it. Richard Mille, therefore, chose its most complex and high-performance automatic chronograph movement—the 480-part RMAC4—as the engine of the special watch. This movement features a “rapid winding” system that enables the 60-hour power reserve to be fully charged in little time by using a pusher on the watch made from orange Quartz TPT®️.

The carbon TPT®️ case of the RM 65-01 McLaren reflects the supercar’s thoughtful design features. To capture its essence, watch designers started with the view of the car from above. The car’s aero-cell architecture informed the watch’s indented double bezel, which posed one of the greatest technical challenges in the development of the watch. It required nine months of work, and eight prototype designs. Richard Mille also developed a new skeletonized titanium dial based on the W1’s wheel rim patterns to evoke the feel of a supercar’s dashboard while making the watch easier to use.

Owners of McLaren’s W1—and other driving enthusiasts—will appreciate the 65-01’s celebrated function selector crown, which functions like an automobile’s gear shift to toggle the crown’s function between Winding (W), Date (D), and Hand-Setting (H). The design of the crown itself is based on the splines of the supercar’s drive shfts, and crafted from grade 5 titanium with papaya orange rubber coating.

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.

“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,” said Andrea Bermudez, Global Marketing Director, McLaren Automotive. “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.”