foversta recounts his superb day at the Chantilly Arts & Élégance event, courtesy of Richard Mille. This article captures the essence of the luxury gathering, blending classic cars, fashion, and high horology. foversta highlights Richard Mille's strategic partnership with the event, emphasizing how it bridges the brand's contemporary racing machine aesthetic with the timeless elegance of classic cars, subtly promoting its watches.
Thanks to the staff of Richard Mille, I could spend today a full day at Chantilly to attend the Arts & Elegance event. This event proposes to dive into an universe of Luxury and Elegance, of Cars and Fashion in a stunning scenery: the Chateau de Chantilly located in the north of Paris. Actually, the main purpose of this event is to organize a Concours d'Elegance made of three contests: a Concours d'Etat with some of the most impressive classic and racing cars in the world, a Concours d'Elegance which gives the opportunity to cars manufacturers to display their concept cars (in association with a Fashion brand for each of them) and the Grand Prix des Clubs which gives a prize to one of the Great Clubs which participate to the "Lunch on the Grass" party.
We all know the strong link between Richard Mille and the contemporary racing cars and pilots. Thanks to the use of innovative materials and the original lay-outs of the movements, the initial concept of Richard Mille watches was to give the feeling to the owners to have a racing machine on the wrist. It is the reason why I find the position of the brand as main partner of the Chantilly event very interesting.
The Chantilly event, even if contemporary and concept cars are present, is mainly focused on cars from the past. For Richard Mille, it gives the opportunity to be present in a territory which is at the same time familiar (high end cars) and remote. After all, we may think that a Richard Mille on the wrist while driving a car from the 30s would be strange. It is this kind of idea which has to be erased. A Richard Mille watch has its legitimity on the wrist of any cars lover. Of course, for Richard Mille himself, it is a way to express his love for classic cars and I can imagine how proud and happy he could be when his brand became the main partner of the event.
To sum up what I feel in a few words, this partnership has the main role to give a timeless side to the brand what is a key concept for a watches manufacture which embodies a very innovative and contemporary design.
Actually, and it is something I appreciated, Richard Mille didn't use the event to promote the watches: the Richard Mille Salon was located inside a wing of a mansion in front of the Chateau with a very exclusive access. This discreet approach, in my point of view, was the right one.
I shot so many pictures that it is impossible to post them all. I did a small selection of the cards which seduced me and believe me... it was a very hard job to reduce this list. It was today one of the most impressive gathering of cars I've ever seen even last year at the Villa d'Este.
The day started quite early when I took the shuttle from the Place de la Concorde to reach Chantilly. What a surprise! The shuttle was actually a Citröen bus from 1947! Its speed performance was quite low... but it wasn't a problem since they were a lot of traffic jams around Paris!
Just before leaving the Place de la Concorde, we met even older cars! From the 1st World War! The Taxis de la Marne are back!
After a two hours journey, we reached Chantilly:
I didn't need to have a small rest... I decided to plunge into the atmosphere of the Event as fast as possible.
Maserati is another partner and it is the reason why a lot of cars of the brand were parked just after the main entrance, thanks to the presence of Clubs:
Several famous italian brands were also present, I think I don't need to introduce them:
The Chateau:
I met a lovely lady with a RM010 on her wrist:
Some cars were coming from the Schlumpf collection:
Several concept-cars:
I know now what is the purpose of a shooting-break car: you can safely put away your hat:
The classic and racing cars from the past:
A spectacular scenery:
I love these dashboards... do you notice the presence of St Christopher? The car is protected during its long journeys.
The event mixed cars from different decades:
For me, one star of the show was this superb blue Talbot Lago:
French car!
But the most seducing car was for me this gorgeous Delahaye. I spent long minutes in front of it.
My fav picture!
Another prestigious brands...
A Fiat 600 I appreciated:
I have a soft love for Facel Vega cars...
I think that this car escaped from Logan's run...
Let's discover the Richard Mille salon.
The guests could have a drink in this classy and relaxed atmosphere decorated with watches displays:
Frames with pictures of the ambassadors of the brand were hung on the walls:
Time was flying and I had to leave Chantilly....
I had a last glance on the Alfa-Romeo...
... and on the Chateau:
It was a superb event and I enjoyed it a lot. I would like to thank the Richard Mille team for the invitation, it was a true pleasure to spend this Sunday in this context... a feast for the eyes!
Fr.Xavier
This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2014-09-12 08:32:04 This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2014-09-12 08:41:32 This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2014-09-19 09:15:46 
