MECHANICAL ATTRACTION

To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the FIA President Jean Todt’s amazing career, his friend Richard Mille has devoted three limited series to him.

Fine watchmaking and motor racing have a lot in common. The materials that appear in racing cars explore a new means of expression in a movement or case. The three Jean Todt 50^th Anniversary watches embody the close bonds that tie the two worlds just like the friendship between Jean Todt and Richard Mille. All three are in the FIA President’s favourite colours. The sporty-souled RM 11-03 Flyback Chronograph is inspired by motor racing with a self-winding calibre in grade 5 titanium and a case in Quartz TPTTM. This super-strong yet light composite with unique properties is made by interlaying 600 layers of 45 micron silica filled with a blue resin exclusive to Richard Mille. The whole thing is then heated to 120°C before being worked on to achieve the end result.

This amazing movement appears again in the RM 056 Jean Todt 50th Anniversary which stands out for the build and curviness of its sapphire case. It takes over 1000 hours of processing including 430 hours of grinding and 350 hours of polishing to make. There are 150, 5 and 3 of the RM 11-03, RM 050 and RM 056 Jean Todt 50th Anniversary respectively.

Price: 153,500 EUR (RM11-03) – 1,097,000 EUR (RM 050) – 2,121,000 EUR (RM 056) richardmille.com

By Dan Diaconu