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 legend Richard Mille, I explained how these watches are born following design rules aimed at overcoming certain targets, pushing beyond the canonical limits of watchmaking. But what are these goals or limits to overcome for a football manager? Before 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

Compared to a classic chronograph, there are two coaxial hands with hours and minutes; one for the minutes (green, white and red arrow) e one for the seconds (red-tipped sphere). The start of the chronograph sets both hands in motion and the display of the chronograph scale is optimized and extended to the entire dial for show the minutes that have elapsed since the start of the match. Once you get to 45 minutes, or in a critical phase of the match in the event of a match still in the balance, recovery time can also be monitored, a detail that is never reported by the official stopwatches present at the stadium.

Through the flyback function it is possible to restart the chronograph with the start of the second time or extra time without even stopping it with the button at 2 o'clock. At 3 o'clock an area has even been provided for the recovery of extra times. As you can see from the photos, the time display is extremely clear and allows Roberto to properly manage the time remaining at the end of the game and the high load of stress to which he is subject. 

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 rose gold bezel we have moved on to the use of Carbon TPT®. This material consists in the application of the technology of the Swiss company NTPT extension (Nort Thin Ply Technology), or rather in the superimposition of 600 thin layers of carbon (30 microns) suitably oriented (45 °) and impregnated with a special resin. Once inserted in an autoclave at 120 ° C and 6 bar of pressure, high mechanical properties are achieved in the face of extreme lightness, decidedly superior to titanium. The case guarantees 50m of water resistance. 

Caliber update: from the automatic caliber RMAC1 to the most recent one RMAC3, which presents an update in the profiles of the sprockets, in the finishes and further reduces the weight / resistance ratio. The RMAC3 also features the grade 5 titanium plate covered with PVD technique. 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 the month indicator at 4-5 o'clock (annual calendar).

The variable geometry rotor, adaptable according to the use of the watch, and the double barrel that guarantees 55 hours of power reserve and a good 45 hours with the chronograph running. We can, in general, say that the RMAC3 is an optimization of the previous caliber.

Winding crown: The titanium winding crown is updated using the same one already present on the RM 11-03. Numerous micro processes are carried out to refine this component, in particular I point out the 16 micro holes made on the conical surface and the double carved rubber coating aimed at increasing the mechanical grip during the adjustment of the watch. 

Color: The RM 11-04 is characterized by the use of the colors of the Italian flag and the Azzurri shirt. The indication of the chronograph minute scale, as well as the minute hand, are colored red, white and green, while the rubber strap, the winding crown and the flange of the tachymeter scale are blue. The start / stop and reset / flyback indications also show the colors of the Tricolore.

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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