On 4 December 2019 Richard Mille presented via Instagram and with a press event at the Four Season Hotel in Milan, the latest addition to his vast collection, the RM 11-04 Roberto Mancini.
As fans of the brand will already know, Roberto Mancini, coach of our national football team, has been Richard Mille's brand ambassador for quite some time. In fact, in 2013 the RM 11-01, the first model dedicated to him, was launched on the market and this new RM 11-04 represents its natural updating with respect to the various innovations introduced by the Les Breuleux brand.
In my previous article on the birth of the Richard Mille legend, I explained how these watches are created following design rules aimed at exceeding certain targets, pushing the canonical limits of watchmaking . But what are these objectives or limits to be overcome by a football manager? Before the RM 11-01 and 11-04, there was no chronograph dedicated exclusively to the world of football , which is so popular in Europe and around the world.
The RM 11-01 and 04 are, in fact, flyback chronographs aimed at timing the duration of a football match. I am designed exclusively for this sport and are the only ones you can find on the market. There is no other chronograph that allows such an easy and quick reading of the duration, recovery and extra time (for overtime) of a match. It is therefore a product different from all the others and one of a kind. Exactly following his philosophy, Richard Mille moved towards universes and areas that were absolutely unconventional and distant from canonical watchmaking.
A CHRONOGRAPH TO THE MEASURE OF CT
Unlike a traditional chronograph, the coaxial hands with the hours and minutes are two: one for the minutes (green, white, and red arrow) and one for the seconds (a red-tipped hand). Starting the chronograph sets both hands in motion, and the chronograph scale is optimized and expanded across the entire dial to show the minutes elapsed since the start of the match. Once the 45-minute mark has been reached , a critical phase of the match when the score is still in the balance, it is also possible to monitor injury time , a detail that is never reported by the official chronometers present in the stadium.
The flyback function allows the chronograph to restart at the start of the second half or overtime without even having to stop it with the button at 2 o'clock. There's even an overtime recovery zone at 3 o'clock. As you can see from the photos, the time display is extremely clear and allows Roberto to properly manage the time remaining in the match and the high level of stress he's under.
MAIN INNOVATIONS
Calling RM 11-04 a simple update of RM 11-01 would not do enough justice to all the research that Richard Mille carries out. In fact, there are numerous details that distinguish the two models but many of them are hidden from the eye of users:
Case material: From full titanium or titanium with a rose gold bezel, we've moved on to Carbon TPT® . This material uses technology from the Swiss company NTPT (North Thin Ply Technology), which involves the overlapping of 600 thin layers of carbon (30 microns), appropriately oriented (45°) and impregnated with a special resin. Once autoclaved at 120°C and 6 bar of pressure, they achieve high mechanical properties while remaining extremely light, significantly superior to titanium. The case is water-resistant to 50m.
Caliber update : from the automatic RMAC1 caliber we move to the more recent RMAC3 , which features updated gear wheel profiles and finishes and further reduces the weight/resistance ratio. The RMAC3 also features a PVD-coated grade 5 titanium baseplate . The complications and salient features of the movement remain the same, in fact, in addition to the flyback chronograph with minute counter and central seconds, there is an oversized date at 12 o'clock and a month indicator at 4-5 o'clock (annual calendar).
The variable geometry rotor , adaptable to the watch's use, and the double barrel that guarantees 55 hours of power reserve and a full 45 hours with the chronograph in operation are still present. We can, in general, say that the RMAC3 is an optimization of the previous caliber.
Winding crown : The titanium winding crown has been updated using the same one already present on the RM 11-03. Numerous micro-machining operations are carried out to refine this component, in particular I note the 16 micro-holes made on the conical surface and the double-cut rubber coating aimed at increasing mechanical grip when setting the watch.
Colors: The RM 11-04 features the colors of the Italian flag and the Azzurri jersey. The chronograph minute scale and minute hand are red, white, and green, while the rubber strap, winding crown, and tachometric scale ring are blue. The start/stop and reset/flyback indicators also feature the colors of the Italian flag.
Of all the RMs in the collection, the RM 11-01 was actually a little out of date, it needed a certain upgrade of the materials and a branding that would enhance its characteristics. The combination with CT Mancini and, consequently, with our national team is undoubtedly an excellent combination, which will allow the brand to renew and consolidate its link with the world of football.
The retail price of the latter RM 11-04 is around 200 euros, like the other RM 000-11 in Carbon or Quartz TPT ®.
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