At the 88th Geneva Motor Show, the partnership between the legendary British car maker McLaren and its watchmaking equivalent, Richard Mille, took a new direction. A supercar and a superwatch form the perfect pairing, and represent the perfect opportunity to fulfil the desires of the most exclusive clients by launching the new Richard Mille RM11-03 McLaren – first refusal to McLaren owners, naturally.
As part of the launch, Richard Mille and McLaren organised a rather special outing for a handful of journalists: a visit to the Richard Mille manufacture at Les Breuleux in the Swiss Jura, with travel from Geneva in one of the very latest McLaren Sports or Super Series (570S and 720S, Coupé, GT and Spider), to give them an appreciation of the ultimate in customer service for clients of both brands.
After an early start from the Intercontinental Hotel, a small convoy of journalists and bloggers, each behind the wheel of a McLaren, drove up through the snowy landscape of the Jura to Richard Mille’s Pro-Art factory, an ultra-modern white building with generous windows looking out onto the mountains and rugged surroundings. In this picturesque setting, 130 people work on some of the world’s most spectacular watch mechanisms.
In the workshops, master watchmakers work meticulously to produce Richard Mille’s men’s and women’s collections. The most interesting part of the tour was witnessing the assembly of the new RM11-03 McLaren, of which a limited series of 500 is planned. This latest flyback chronograph with large date comes in a case made of an ultra-light carbon alloy, with volcanic black and orange accents and echoes of some McLaren design features: a wheel-like crown complete with orange rubber tyre, pushers reminiscent of the curves of the 570S and 720S and, at 6 o’clock, the famous logo of the McLaren stable, just as it appears on the hood.
Our heads spinning with outlandish fantasies, we got back into our supercars and headed for a rustic local inn, where we shared our breathless impressions, before returning to Geneva, watch on wrist, hands on wheel.
