Richard Mille RM 65-01 Automatic Winding Split-seconds Chronograph Blue and Yellow

Quick specs Richard Mille RM 65-01 Automatic Winding Split-seconds Chronograph Blue and Yellow
Price: $ 353,000 | approx. € 340.000 | approx. £ 290,000 | approx. CHF 320’000
Size: 44 x 49.9 mm
Reference: RM 65-01 – limited to 120 pieces

RM’s motorsport inspired chronograph gets two sunny new models with the Richard Mille RM 65-01 Automatic Winding Split-seconds Chronograph in blue and yellow. The model itself dates from December 2020, but a new summer jacket for this curved hypercomplex automatic rattrapante chronograph makes sense.

It’s not only hypercomplex on the inside, it also looks hypercomplex on the outside. The 44 x 49.9-millimeter pastel blue or dark yellow case is from Quartz TPT and the bridges and skeletonized base plate are from grade 5 titanium. Thick sapphire on both sides and titanium screws are finishing the sandwich-like construction. So far, so good, but you might be a bit overwhelmed by the information on the dial.

Four central hands, four small hands and a date

The dial is skeletonized, only the outer ring shows a background with a tachymeter scale and a seconds track. There are four central hands: for the hours, minutes, the chronograph seconds and split-seconds. The 2 and 4 o’clock-pushers operate start/stop/reset and the pusher at 10 is for split seconds timing, accurate up to 1/10^th of a second.

There are small seconds on the sub dial at the 6 o’clock position, at 3 there is a 30-minutes counter and at 9 a 12-hours counter. Then there is a functions selector for winding, date and hand setting the time, operated by the pusher in the center of the crown. The retrograde hand on the sub dial at 4 o’clock shows which function (W, D or H) is selected. Lastly there is a semi-instantaneous date, placed in a vertical aperture at 11 o’clock.

The Richard Mille RM 65-01 Automatic Winding Split-seconds Chronograph Blue and Yellow have a power reserve of 60 hours

Its engine is the Richard Mille caliber RMAC4, an automatic movement developed with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier. They develop high-end calibers, and this one not only features a split-seconds complication but has some more advanced tech. There is a variable-geometry rotor which can be adjusted to the wearers activity and there is a rapid winding mechanism.

This is on top of the possibility of automatic winding and winding with the crown. With this system you can quickly load the barrel with energy when the watch (almost) stops. Use the pusher at the 8 o’clock position, each push gives it an energy boost. Fully loaded is has a power reserve of 60 hours.

The Richard Mille RM 65-01 Automatic Winding Split-seconds Chronograph Blue and Yellow come on a rubber strap, in either blue or yellow.