Richard Mille RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari Titanium
It Takes Two: Meet the Richard Mille RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari
This limited edition is the ultimate timepiece for adrenaline junkies.
By Ash Longet
PR & Business Development
When it comes to things the Watchonista team loves, motorsports come in at a close second to watches. Happily, there is a lot of crossover between the two worlds.
The partnership between Richard Mille and Ferrari is an excellent example of how technology, design, and support from sponsors and teams can combine with a brand’s DNA to produce some fantastic timepieces.
Recently, Watchonista traveled to Paris to preview Richard Mille’s latest crossover hit: the RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari. Here are our track notes.
Speed Star
Since 2021, the two engineering powerhouses have focused on design, performance, and technical innovation. And in 2022, the first piece to result from this was the record-breaking RM UP-01 Ferrari.
While the first RM-Ferrari collaboration became an exercise in using the relationship to break Richard Mille’s expected mold of voluptuous tonneau-shaped models, the new collaboration is obviously an object lesson in bringing Ferrari DNA into the familiar Richard Mille world.
That said, this new turbo-charged tourbillon is the first collaboration between the two brands where both houses were equally involved in the creative process. You see it first in RM 43-01’s aesthetics.
For instance, our first impression was that this handsome chronograph holds many of Richard Mille’s hyper-horological design codes. However, its beauty goes deeper than its cool, carbon-cased look because the materials have been informed by Ferrari’s distinctively Italian design language.
“Our goal with this partnership is to always keep people on their toes, unable to predict what is coming next,” Alex Mille told us during the Paris event.
Ferrari vs. Mille
Of course, neither brand is content to stay in its own lane; thus, the RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari is a reinvention of Richard Mille’s most complex high-complication format, the tourbillon split-second chronograph.
To accomplish this, there was a meeting of the minds between Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello, Italy, and Richard Mille’s team in Les Breuleux. However, because the two brands are both so iconic, there needed to be two iterations of the watch.
“We have two cases to express two distinct personalities: a ‘gentleman driver’ ethos for the titanium case and a more high-octane attitude in the carbon version,” explained Julien Boillat, Richard Mille’s casing technical director.
Apart from the casing, both versions share many aesthetic details, such as the crown, the hands, the skeletonized grade 5 titanium baseplate plate inspired by the wing of the automaker’s 499P and laser-engraved with Ferrari’s signature Prancing Horse, and the strap featuring the pattern of the Ferrari Purosangue seats.
However, if forced to choose, we give the edge to the titanium version because of the contrast of textures between the case and the rubber strap.
The finish of these two timepieces is pure Richard Mille – micro-blasted and satin-finished with polished bevels, demonstrating the brand’s level of expertise apparent throughout the calibre.
Time Team
“A collaboration like this is as much predicated on similarities in values as it is on the visual similarities between a Ferrari engine or a component and the elements used in a watch,” said Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari’s Chief Design Officer. “In terms of performance, anything that has a technical purpose can also be beautiful. The concept of functional beauty is something that we really love.”
Perhaps the most beautiful thing about the RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari is the three-dimensional effect of its engine.
Yes, it is wonderfully detailed, using a variety of surface treatments, finishes, and contrasting details inspired by the complex geometries of Ferrari engine blocks and crankcases. But it is the calibre itself that is the true wonder, as it captures the insane amount of technology needed to bring the tourbillon and chronograph complications together in a single movement.
Unsurprisingly, it took two teams two years to build the RM 43-01 movement from the ground up.
Exceptionally lightweight and strong, this mechanical marvel manages to tip its hat to the patterns, parts, and extruded details found on Ferrari engine blocks and crankcases while also being amazingly efficient, delivering 70 hours of power reserve.
“The team from Ferrari worked very closely with our experts for two years on this new project,” added Boillat. “When we design a watch, we find new ways to increase the performance and to discover new materials that improve durability yet further.”
Pricing & Availability
The RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari is available now for CHF 1,150,000 for the titanium and CHF 1,350,000 for the carbon. To learn more, check out the Richard Mille website.
