A few weeks back, I was playing golf at Bagemore, in Henley. A quiet Sunday afternoon, I was intensely focused on beating my two pals I always play with – that was until a ball came flying over our heads on the sixth. It’s one of those holes on which you have to keep an eye on the tee box to the right. Needless to say, we were too busy chatting. A small, confident fella approached us and apologised – he need not have, it was our fault, after all. To our surprise, it was Lando Norris, of McLaren. And yes, I spotted the watch first.
Let me introduce this beauty to you. The RM 67-02, courtesy of Richard Mille, has been made specifically for McLaren and Norris (over the years, the Formula 1 driver has been spotted with a number of RM variations, but the latest is an orange number; more below). It does away with complications and embodies the sports watch ideal: light, resistant and reliable, almost like a second skin. Created as the natural evolution of the RM 67-01, this piece features a Carbon TPT® with skeletonised dial that initially starts out as a very thin titanium plate only four-tenths of a millimetre thick; it is then finely worked in order to recall the geometries of the underlying movement; and, to finish, the dial is then painted and finished by hand.
The engine is an in-house CRMA7 movement – a self-winding 25-jewel calibre that’s 3.40mm-thick; oscillates at a frequency of 4Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour); and is equipped with a power reserve of 50 hours. Each bridge, each screw and each wheel is finished manually; and techniques, such as anglage and a DLC (diamond like coating) treatment, give the movement a unique character.
In addition, the movement is the result of significant engineering research that looks at the efficiency of the calibre, specifically an improved profile of the gear teeth and a charging barrel that rotates faster, with the aim to better the performance of the watch. The bridges, like the plate, are skeletonised and are made of grade 5 titanium, a material that offers lightness and resilience. The new orange fabric strap is also a winner (it really feels like every sports watch right now needs a punchy strap).
The Richard Mille 67-02 is the base for a number of sporting collaborations, including those with French Alpine skier Alexis Pinturault, South African sprinter Wayde Van Niekerk (the Olympic champion of the 400 meters) and, of course, Norris, of team McLaren. As a lover of all things orange, and as a sports nut (while generally quite conservative in my horological preferences), this may be the first Richard Mille I am going to go home and dream about this evening – will you be joining me?
Want more watch content? Read our review of the TAG Heuer Carrera Skipper, a nautical classic rebirthed…
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