Richard Mille RM011 Felipe Massa Le Mans Classic – RM011 AM TI

Luxury watches and Le Mans go together like, well, Steve McQueen and being cool. Or Monaco and superyachts. So it was no surprise when Richard Mille joined the Le Mans party with a couple of beautiful limited-edition timepieces. This one, the RM011 Felipe Massa Le Mans Classic, is (in my opinion) the best of the two. In fact, it's one of his best ever.
For collectors, the chance to own an early Richard Mille from a 150-watch limited run should be too good to pass up. A word of warning, though: if you're looking for a specific Richard Mille Le Mans model, make sure you negotiate a purchase price on the right one. By far the rarer is the RM008 LMC—limited to just two models, this luxury watch had a matte microblasted case and three pushers, two on the left and one below the crown.
The RM011 Felipe Massa Le Mans Classic , with which this article is concerned, had two chrono pushers in standard positions: start/stop above the crown, and rest/flyback below it. Its case was in highly polished titanium, with matte microblasting to the 'racing stripes' embossed in the bezel. And it came, as noted, not in a run of two but of 150 pieces. So there's still some chance you can find one on the collector's market.
The blue and yellow detailing on the dial and crown collar of the RM011 LMC are in homage to the colours of the rumble strips on the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans (also known as the Circuit de la Sarthe). You'll find a minutes chrono counter, a small seconds, and a 24-hour subdial. This last, which is at 6 o'clock, is oversized to fit the 24 hour markers, and makes a useful addition to a watch dedicated to timing a 24-hour race.
In addition to the three sub-counters, you'll also see a date window, below the Le Mans Classic logo at 12 o'clock. The white and blue inner bezel ring, again coloured in homage to the track markings, features a printed tachymetric scale: another nice touch for a luxury sports watch devoted to motor racing.
Much has been written about Richard Mille and his use of materials. The RM011 Felipe Massa Le Mans Classic is in titanium, as noted, with sapphire glass front and back and a rubber bracelet. The clasp is the standard Richard Mille double-fold (again titanium), fitted with a buckle.
But I don't want to talk too much about materials here. Not independently of each other, anyway. Because the thing that really strikes you about the Richard Mille RM011 LMC isn't how the bridges and baseplate are done in titanium, or that the steel parts have been angled and polished by hand. It's the way in which all of the individual elements of this luxury watch are built to form a rigid whole, almost as though the timepiece itself is a performance car.
Richard Mille builds his watches to a monocoque design, which is to say they're constructed so no element can be removed without damaging the structural integrity of the whole. The caseback and bezel are vital for the structural rigidity of the movement, forming the chassis and body to which the calibre's bridges and wheels are attached. Just like the vehicles that race around the Le Mans circuit, the watch has had every unnecessary element stripped away. What remains is a machine dedicated to performance, completely designed and completely perfect.
The RM011 Felipe Massa Le Mans Classic is the total racing watch. It bears the name of one of Richard Mille's first ambassadors, Brazilian racing legend Felipe Massa. And it's associated with one of the most famous and romantic racetracks in the world. If you can find one, don't pass up the chance to add it to your collection. vedere di piu rolex replicas e Hublot Ayrton Senna