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Watches

The 480-piece Richard Mille 65-01 is a striking watch that takes after the McLaren W1

Got your order in for McLaren's latest hypercar? You'll need this watch to match

Published: 10 Oct 2024

Need a fancy new watch to go with your equally new and equally fancy McLaren W1 hypercar? Richard Mille is only too happy to oblige with this: the RM 65-01 Automatic Split-Seconds Chronograph W1. It’s the fourth collaboration between the two companies, and the details are rather lovely.

It’s RM’s most ‘powerful’ watch yet with an automatic chronograph movement that operates at approximately 36,000 vibrations per hour. It also gets a rapid winding system that makes for a 60-hour power reserve and can be automatically recharged using the corresponding push button.

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As for the structure itself, the 480-piece 65-01 has a vertical clutch, a pair of six-column wheels and a variable winding rotor. There’s grade five titanium along the baseplate, which is attached to black and grey-coloured titanium bridges that sit atop two different bezels.

The carbon TPT case has been inspired by the W1’s bodywork line, says RM, and made to replicate the car’s posture. The bezels themselves are meant to take after the W1’s ‘aero-cell’ architecture and are the thinnest designs ever made by RM. 

The whole thing is brought together by McLaren’s papaya colour scheme, with the rubber strap featuring some of the foils and ducts seen on the W1’s engine cover while ‘ground-effect spoilers’ are reflected in the patterns. 

Prices have not yet been revealed, but considering the standard RM 65-01 can set you back as much as £400,000, the W1 version may get close to the £2m needed for an actual W1.

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