Comments:
Before Monaco, before LeMans, and before the idea of street Grand Prix racing moved further east to Singapore, Pau was the place. Most racing drivers have been here, nearly all the racing legends have raced here, and yet the place remains a relative unknown to car racing enthusiasts. The circuit through the streets of Pau is still the same as it was over a100 years ago. It is still the original circuit even now. And while a number of the greats of motor racing have held the lap record, some chap called Lewis Hamilton is the current title holder in a Formula 3 Dallara-Mercedes F305 in 2005.
Pau is a quiet (at other times of the year) hill town in the Provence region of France. More akin to agriculture, gastronomy, and wine, the town took to motor racing. It was the place that gave the name Grand Prix to motor racing. In 1901 an event was held at the town called the Circuit du Sud-Quest; the top prize at the event was the Grand Prix de Pau. The French Grand Prix was held in Pau in 1930 and in following years until more recent times. Some years, in the 1930’s, 50’s and 60’s, the Grand Prix de Pau was a Formula 1 race; at other times, various other classes of race cars.
[A Maserati 250F at speed]
The Grand Prix de Pau Historique is mainly a celebration of single seat Grand Prix cars. Richard has one himself: a BRM from 1971. From a time when it was perfectly acceptable to put advertising for cigarettes on the side of the cars, where racing teams were called Marlboro MacLaren, Lotus JPS (John Player Special), or Yardley BRM, Grand Prix racing was almost gladiatorial in its fight for the lead and for the finish line.
It was a time when Lord Hesketh decided that it was so much fun hanging around the Formula 1 circus that he blew his family fortune on putting a team together and partying around most of the circuits of Europe. Characters such as James Hunt managed to catch the headlines off the track as well as on the track. The parties on the Hesketh yacht at Monaco were legendary. The article below recounts some of Lord Hesketh’s memoires on the exploits (or the ones he can remember!) from his racing days: [paste and copy the link]:
[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,642465,00.html]
[Wings of desire: Richard with the BRM Yardley from 1971]
With the Grand Prix de Pau Historique Richard is helping revive single seat racing in the same way that the LeMans Classic has for the endurance cars. Restoring single seat racing is dear to Richard’s heart. He owns a classic Formula 1 car and Formula 1 racing was very much his inspiration when he created the RM001. Richard’s Formula 1 car is not just a classic Formula 1 car it’s THE classic Formula 1 car. Richard’s ‘baby’ is Peter Gethin’s 1971 BRM Yardley Formula 1 car. Still in the original colours, with Gethin’s name on the side, the car is a piece of racing history. This was the car that won the famous Italian Grand Prix in the same year with an Englishman named Peter Gethin at the wheel. The 1971 Italian Grand Prix at Monza was (for about 20 years) the fastest Formula 1 Grand Prix with the first 5 cars finishing within a second of each other. The average speed was in excess of 150 mph. It was a time where you could only gain speed if you slipstreamed behind the car in front. If you want to see Richard’s car in action at the finish of the race, take a look at the two clips below. The stampede for the line is incredible.
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
Peter Gethin sold the BRM to Richard and Richard asked Peter along to this year’s Grand Prix de Pau Historique. Chatting with Peter was a learning experience and the stories he had to tell. I was reminded of the old saying: there are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old-bold pilots; although seeing the clips of the finish at Monza in 1971, I believe Peter Gethin to be an exception to the rule. It is hard to believe that modern day Formula 1 finish would be as exciting as the one at Monza in 1971. I asked Peter about the race and he said that to keep up with the front he kept the rev-counter about 500 rpm over the recommended maximum throughout the race. Coming into the final lap, he figured he needed to be in the top 3 to get a chance at the victory. When Ronnie Peterson slip-streamed Cevert to get past, Peter stayed on his wing and pushed Peterson wide on the corner. Out of the corner he floored it in the sprint for the line.
[Past and present owners – Richard (left) and Peter Gethin (right) look over the BRM]
I was hoping to see Richard drive the car around the Pau circuit, but the weather gods were not on our side. The car was started, with the engine warmed up, and with wet-weather tires, but Richard took one look at the roads, with oil and a wet surface and thought better of it. Richard was not too keen on the wet weather tires either. They were new, modern, but for Richard: “…I don’t like them so much; not authentic!”
[A Cooper T45 from 1958 at speed on the rain soaked track]
[The rain took its toll on the condition of the track, the drivers waiting to race, and other modes of transport]
g
[The ERA overtaking the Cooper-Bristol]
The other racing revolved around single seat racing from the Grand Prix racing eras that had been before: from the Bugatti’s of the 1920’s, through the Maserati’s and the Alfa’s of the 1950’s, through to the Lotus, Cosworth, and Cooper’s of the 1960’s.
[A progression of Bugatti Type 35 and Type 37’s through the chicane]
I have to admit that I have never seen so many Bugatti race cars in one historic race meeting. It is very rare to see a convoy of Bugatti’s at a race meeting in this day and age. It was the circuit where Bugatti’s had raced for the grand prize of motor racing. Unfortunately, at this meeting there were no Bentleys for the Bugatti’s to race against. The last Bentley raced at Pau was a private entry by Tim Birkin in1930. No one had given him a chance, but typical of Birkin, he kept his foot to the floor and raced as hard as he could. Coming up the straight Zanelli’s Bugatti was slowing and had he not spotted Birkin in his Bentley flying up the hill in pursuit. With the Bugatti not moving aside, BIrkin grew impatient and used the horn. This startled the Bugatti driver and he moved. It is believed to be the last time a horn was used in a Formula 1 Grand Prix!
[The Bugatti’s speed up the hill. Note the oil tracks on the road]
What was apparent from seeing the cars race at Pau was the engineering and artistic progression of the Formula 1 car. A (fast) moving museum to the art of the car; how the need for speed sculptured and molded the cars into forms that both reduce the effect of air across the surface, and increase the power through the engine for speed. From the Bugatti’s in the 1920’s where the thin line and tapered end of the car was to define the basic form for Formula 1 cars for the next 30 years. The Maserati and Alfa cars of the 1950’s were basically the same model, only with slightly better aerodynamics and more powerful engines.
[A stunning Maserati 250F from 1958]
[Both Maserati 250F’s follow each other down the hill]
[The Cooper-Alta from 1953 speeds into the corner]
It took an innovation, a paradigm shift to move the engine from the front of the car to the rear (placed behind the driver). A little known car firm from England, founded by father and son (surnamed Cooper), shifted the centre of gravity for the car from the front to the middle; and with it, they shifted the design of Formula 1 cars until the present. The Cooper Car Company rose to prominence with their rear-engined Cooper Coventry Climax; first with Jack Brabham at the Monaco Grand Prix in a Formula 2 car taking 6th place. But it was Stirling Moss victory in the Argentine Grand Prix in 1958 with a privately entered Cooper that was to make the world sit up and take notice. A revolution and sea-change in thinking about Formula 1 racing car design had been initiated. Lotus and BRM followed suit, with the Italians (Ferrari and Maserati) following soon after. Jack Brabham claimed the Formula 1 crown in 1959 driving the Cooper works car.
[A Lola Mk 4 from 1962]
[A Lotus 18 from 1960]
The cars are the embodiment of the art of mechanics of racing machines. The Formula 1 cars racing at Pau are from a time when you did not need a software engineer to help you start the car; and where your speed was not controlled from a steering wheel that looked like a gaming consol for an ‘x-box’ on steroids. It required craft and skill to negotiate the turns, to pass your opponent on the track, and where speed and dexterity with the car were required throughout your race.
[The rear-engined Lotus, Cosworth and Cooper speed up the Boulevard des Pyrenees]
Car and engine design were still in the hands (along with the pencil) to design the racing machine. Ettore Bugatti, W.O. Bentley, Ernesto and Ettore Maserati, Enzo Ferrari, John Cooper, Colin Chapman (Lotus), and Raymond Mays (BRM) were the personalities and driving force behind the car companies that either bore their name, or which they had founded. There was generally no committee, no mission statement, just a wish to be the best, to win. The cars became the embodiment of their beliefs. It is little wonder that now such cars are seen as art work, the design and engineering, the craft in the construction of the car and engine, the realization of a machine for a purity of purpose. Even the smallest elements of the cars were thought and re-thought: from suspension pins to the entire engine.
It is no surprise that such cars have become prize possessions in their own right, and as works of art. The sculptured form of the cars, the development of the race engines, makes the cars both art (and adorn many of the world’s museums of modern art), and engineering marvels.
g
[Photo courtesy of Theodore Diehl]
The other part of history being celebrated this year is a decade since the RM001 debuted; it is where the racing machine on the wrist started. It seems difficult to believe that the RM001 was only released 10 years ago (in 2001), and part of that disbelief must be that the watch and the (now) iconic design quickly became a sensation. I remember the time well. I was living in Paris and went into Chronopassion having seen the new innovative and daringly designed watch in the window. Laurent Piccotto (who at that time was a minority owner in the fledgling business) showed me the watch with great pride. I was fascinated by the watch. Laurent told me that the first had sold in 30 minutes. Unfortunately my bank balance did not allow the same swift decision making, as if I could I would, and so I was relegated to leaving the shop with nothing more than the daze and fascination that the watch had induced.
I was smitten and remain so to this day. Even now, the high end tourbillon series that Richard has produced over the past decade is more akin to a fleet of experimental Formula 1 race cars (even if some of the watches have been designed with other sports in mind). There is always the quest, and the need to push onwards and upwards. In Richard’s case, the use esoteric materials and design to push the tolerance levels of the watch.
Richard’s original inspiration came from Formula 1. The RM001 (and the RM002 replacement that arrived soon after) was the synthesis and embodiment of haute horologie and engineering for extreme circumstances. Richard had planned it that way. He wanted a watch that was 21st century in both design and execution; a watch that was designed from a clean sheet of paper, integrating both case and movement. Richard compared the watch design and philosophy to that of a Formula 1 car: all elements of the watch were designed together, like the elements of a Formula 1 car in which chassis and engine are developed at the same time.
[Photo courtesy of Theodore Diehl]
[Photo courtesy of Theodore Diehl]
[Ferrari Formula 1 engine design: the parallels are all too visible]
Richard used his knowledge of high performance racing cars to influence the design and construction of the watch; from the screws through to the case. He looked at shock resistance (and changed the design of the tourbillion bridge); he looked the reduction of friction and used ceramic end-stones for the balance wheel axis; he looked to improve plate rigidity and the ease of access for watchmakers to maintain the movement; he looked at the design of the screws and used a five prong screw instead of a regular flat-head.
[Photo courtesy of Theodore Diehl]
[The parallels with the design and the use of materials really did make the RM watch a ‘Racing machine for your wrist’]
The result was a revolutionary watch. The case was both a tactile and sensual experience; the edges were smooth and the curvature of the case would appear to be a universal form for the wrist of every person who tried it on. The design and construction of the case was to create an ergonomic form, where lateral ribs improve the rigidity, and where the curvature and the tripartite case construction create a unified structure that is extremely robust. Reading the time was clear and legible: the numbers ‘float’ over the dark surface of the plate thanks to the anti-reflection treatment on the crystal.
The architecture of the movement was altered. The base plate was no longer something hidden by the dial; this was now an elemental piece of the design. The baseplate was covered with a PVD (physical vapor deposition) treatment that has been used on Formula 1 engines. Through heating the baseplates in a chamber, the metal vapor (carbide in this case) is attracted and binds to the metal surface. The surface is both tough and self lubricating.
Rather than have ‘finished’ plates in the usual sense of the description, the main spring and gear train are all screwed into the back of the baseplate. This made for both an ease of access; in that component parts of the movement could be seen clearly with its own corresponding plate and accessed easily once the back of the case was removed. The aesthetic look of the movement was unique and took its design cues directly from racing engines.
[Black polishing the spines of the back plate. While RM watches owe design elements and materials from the Formula 1 world, there is still traditional watch finishing utilized in all parts].
As with vintage or historic racing cars, what makes a classic, an original, is the luxury of hindsight and assessing what the watch means then and now. Does the machine still hold its lustre; the desire, after the years have passed? Even now, I look at the photos of the RM001 and the shock of the new remains. It still looks avant-garde even after a decade; yet the design seems all too familiar. Other watch firms followed suit and it is testament to how Richard’s design and vision changed the world of haute horologie. Ten years on, I would argue that Richard still “pushes the outside of the envelope” (pushes the watch to new limits) and in so doing, creates a tapestry of innovative unique pieces that some marvel at, some are perhaps shocked at, but create an oeuvre in the world of haute horologie; an aesthetic that is definitively Richard Mille. His watches are the future classics.
Andrew H
Some other reading from the archives if you are interested:
www.network54.com
www.network54.com
www.thepurists.com
Racing History at the Start Line: Richard Mille, the Grand Prix de Pau, and the RM001
Before Monaco, before LeMans, and before the idea of street Grand Prix racing moved further east to Singapore, Pau was the place. Most racing drivers have been here, nearly all the racing legends have raced here, and yet the place remains a relative unknown to car racing enthusiasts. The circuit through the streets of Pau is still the same as it was over a100 years ago. It is still the original circuit even now. And while a number of the greats of motor racing have held the lap record, some chap called Lewis Hamilton is the current title holder in a Formula 3 Dallara-Mercedes F305 in 2005.
Pau is a quiet (at other times of the year) hill town in the Provence region of France. More akin to agriculture, gastronomy, and wine, the town took to motor racing. It was the place that gave the name Grand Prix to motor racing. In 1901 an event was held at the town called the Circuit du Sud-Quest; the top prize at the event was the Grand Prix de Pau. The French Grand Prix was held in Pau in 1930 and in following years until more recent times. Some years, in the 1930’s, 50’s and 60’s, the Grand Prix de Pau was a Formula 1 race; at other times, various other classes of race cars.
[A Maserati 250F at speed]
The Grand Prix de Pau Historique is mainly a celebration of single seat Grand Prix cars. Richard has one himself: a BRM from 1971. From a time when it was perfectly acceptable to put advertising for cigarettes on the side of the cars, where racing teams were called Marlboro MacLaren, Lotus JPS (John Player Special), or Yardley BRM, Grand Prix racing was almost gladiatorial in its fight for the lead and for the finish line.
It was a time when Lord Hesketh decided that it was so much fun hanging around the Formula 1 circus that he blew his family fortune on putting a team together and partying around most of the circuits of Europe. Characters such as James Hunt managed to catch the headlines off the track as well as on the track. The parties on the Hesketh yacht at Monaco were legendary. The article below recounts some of Lord Hesketh’s memoires on the exploits (or the ones he can remember!) from his racing days: [paste and copy the link]:
[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,642465,00.html]
[Wings of desire: Richard with the BRM Yardley from 1971]
With the Grand Prix de Pau Historique Richard is helping revive single seat racing in the same way that the LeMans Classic has for the endurance cars. Restoring single seat racing is dear to Richard’s heart. He owns a classic Formula 1 car and Formula 1 racing was very much his inspiration when he created the RM001. Richard’s Formula 1 car is not just a classic Formula 1 car it’s THE classic Formula 1 car. Richard’s ‘baby’ is Peter Gethin’s 1971 BRM Yardley Formula 1 car. Still in the original colours, with Gethin’s name on the side, the car is a piece of racing history. This was the car that won the famous Italian Grand Prix in the same year with an Englishman named Peter Gethin at the wheel. The 1971 Italian Grand Prix at Monza was (for about 20 years) the fastest Formula 1 Grand Prix with the first 5 cars finishing within a second of each other. The average speed was in excess of 150 mph. It was a time where you could only gain speed if you slipstreamed behind the car in front. If you want to see Richard’s car in action at the finish of the race, take a look at the two clips below. The stampede for the line is incredible.
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
Peter Gethin sold the BRM to Richard and Richard asked Peter along to this year’s Grand Prix de Pau Historique. Chatting with Peter was a learning experience and the stories he had to tell. I was reminded of the old saying: there are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old-bold pilots; although seeing the clips of the finish at Monza in 1971, I believe Peter Gethin to be an exception to the rule. It is hard to believe that modern day Formula 1 finish would be as exciting as the one at Monza in 1971. I asked Peter about the race and he said that to keep up with the front he kept the rev-counter about 500 rpm over the recommended maximum throughout the race. Coming into the final lap, he figured he needed to be in the top 3 to get a chance at the victory. When Ronnie Peterson slip-streamed Cevert to get past, Peter stayed on his wing and pushed Peterson wide on the corner. Out of the corner he floored it in the sprint for the line.
[Past and present owners – Richard (left) and Peter Gethin (right) look over the BRM]
I was hoping to see Richard drive the car around the Pau circuit, but the weather gods were not on our side. The car was started, with the engine warmed up, and with wet-weather tires, but Richard took one look at the roads, with oil and a wet surface and thought better of it. Richard was not too keen on the wet weather tires either. They were new, modern, but for Richard: “…I don’t like them so much; not authentic!”
[A Cooper T45 from 1958 at speed on the rain soaked track]
[The rain took its toll on the condition of the track, the drivers waiting to race, and other modes of transport]
Historique Racing at Pau
g[The ERA overtaking the Cooper-Bristol]
The other racing revolved around single seat racing from the Grand Prix racing eras that had been before: from the Bugatti’s of the 1920’s, through the Maserati’s and the Alfa’s of the 1950’s, through to the Lotus, Cosworth, and Cooper’s of the 1960’s.
[A progression of Bugatti Type 35 and Type 37’s through the chicane]
I have to admit that I have never seen so many Bugatti race cars in one historic race meeting. It is very rare to see a convoy of Bugatti’s at a race meeting in this day and age. It was the circuit where Bugatti’s had raced for the grand prize of motor racing. Unfortunately, at this meeting there were no Bentleys for the Bugatti’s to race against. The last Bentley raced at Pau was a private entry by Tim Birkin in1930. No one had given him a chance, but typical of Birkin, he kept his foot to the floor and raced as hard as he could. Coming up the straight Zanelli’s Bugatti was slowing and had he not spotted Birkin in his Bentley flying up the hill in pursuit. With the Bugatti not moving aside, BIrkin grew impatient and used the horn. This startled the Bugatti driver and he moved. It is believed to be the last time a horn was used in a Formula 1 Grand Prix!
[The Bugatti’s speed up the hill. Note the oil tracks on the road]
What was apparent from seeing the cars race at Pau was the engineering and artistic progression of the Formula 1 car. A (fast) moving museum to the art of the car; how the need for speed sculptured and molded the cars into forms that both reduce the effect of air across the surface, and increase the power through the engine for speed. From the Bugatti’s in the 1920’s where the thin line and tapered end of the car was to define the basic form for Formula 1 cars for the next 30 years. The Maserati and Alfa cars of the 1950’s were basically the same model, only with slightly better aerodynamics and more powerful engines.
[A stunning Maserati 250F from 1958]
[Both Maserati 250F’s follow each other down the hill]
[The Cooper-Alta from 1953 speeds into the corner]
It took an innovation, a paradigm shift to move the engine from the front of the car to the rear (placed behind the driver). A little known car firm from England, founded by father and son (surnamed Cooper), shifted the centre of gravity for the car from the front to the middle; and with it, they shifted the design of Formula 1 cars until the present. The Cooper Car Company rose to prominence with their rear-engined Cooper Coventry Climax; first with Jack Brabham at the Monaco Grand Prix in a Formula 2 car taking 6th place. But it was Stirling Moss victory in the Argentine Grand Prix in 1958 with a privately entered Cooper that was to make the world sit up and take notice. A revolution and sea-change in thinking about Formula 1 racing car design had been initiated. Lotus and BRM followed suit, with the Italians (Ferrari and Maserati) following soon after. Jack Brabham claimed the Formula 1 crown in 1959 driving the Cooper works car.
[A Lola Mk 4 from 1962]
[A Lotus 18 from 1960]
The cars are the embodiment of the art of mechanics of racing machines. The Formula 1 cars racing at Pau are from a time when you did not need a software engineer to help you start the car; and where your speed was not controlled from a steering wheel that looked like a gaming consol for an ‘x-box’ on steroids. It required craft and skill to negotiate the turns, to pass your opponent on the track, and where speed and dexterity with the car were required throughout your race.
[The rear-engined Lotus, Cosworth and Cooper speed up the Boulevard des Pyrenees]
Car and engine design were still in the hands (along with the pencil) to design the racing machine. Ettore Bugatti, W.O. Bentley, Ernesto and Ettore Maserati, Enzo Ferrari, John Cooper, Colin Chapman (Lotus), and Raymond Mays (BRM) were the personalities and driving force behind the car companies that either bore their name, or which they had founded. There was generally no committee, no mission statement, just a wish to be the best, to win. The cars became the embodiment of their beliefs. It is little wonder that now such cars are seen as art work, the design and engineering, the craft in the construction of the car and engine, the realization of a machine for a purity of purpose. Even the smallest elements of the cars were thought and re-thought: from suspension pins to the entire engine.
It is no surprise that such cars have become prize possessions in their own right, and as works of art. The sculptured form of the cars, the development of the race engines, makes the cars both art (and adorn many of the world’s museums of modern art), and engineering marvels.
Good stuff, Andrew!
Thanks for the great coverage! Must've been a blast to see all those great cars in action. Btw, love that classic Cooper-Alta. Very very cool.
Even with the weather not playing along, it was a great event.
I remember the LeMans Classic from 6 years ago. What was once a quiet event has turned into an over-subscribed scramble for places on the start line. I have no doubt that this event will also be as successful. Love to see the old machines racing around the track as if the years have not noticed.
Thanks for the kind words
Andrew H
Thanks a lot for this superb report Andrew.
The pics of the cars are great. I also like the idea of the gap between these old cars and the very innovative approach of the Richard Mille watches.
Fx
Fx
Thanks Foversta - when Richard started with the RM001,
he was concerned with the art of engineering, the techniques to produce a watch that was new in form. The last ten years, from the luxury of hindsight, really have shown how far he has pushed these ideas.
Thanks for reading
Andrew H
The Racing Machine on your Wrist: the RM001
g[Photo courtesy of Theodore Diehl]
The other part of history being celebrated this year is a decade since the RM001 debuted; it is where the racing machine on the wrist started. It seems difficult to believe that the RM001 was only released 10 years ago (in 2001), and part of that disbelief must be that the watch and the (now) iconic design quickly became a sensation. I remember the time well. I was living in Paris and went into Chronopassion having seen the new innovative and daringly designed watch in the window. Laurent Piccotto (who at that time was a minority owner in the fledgling business) showed me the watch with great pride. I was fascinated by the watch. Laurent told me that the first had sold in 30 minutes. Unfortunately my bank balance did not allow the same swift decision making, as if I could I would, and so I was relegated to leaving the shop with nothing more than the daze and fascination that the watch had induced.
I was smitten and remain so to this day. Even now, the high end tourbillon series that Richard has produced over the past decade is more akin to a fleet of experimental Formula 1 race cars (even if some of the watches have been designed with other sports in mind). There is always the quest, and the need to push onwards and upwards. In Richard’s case, the use esoteric materials and design to push the tolerance levels of the watch.
Richard’s original inspiration came from Formula 1. The RM001 (and the RM002 replacement that arrived soon after) was the synthesis and embodiment of haute horologie and engineering for extreme circumstances. Richard had planned it that way. He wanted a watch that was 21st century in both design and execution; a watch that was designed from a clean sheet of paper, integrating both case and movement. Richard compared the watch design and philosophy to that of a Formula 1 car: all elements of the watch were designed together, like the elements of a Formula 1 car in which chassis and engine are developed at the same time.
[Photo courtesy of Theodore Diehl]
[Photo courtesy of Theodore Diehl]
[Ferrari Formula 1 engine design: the parallels are all too visible]
Richard used his knowledge of high performance racing cars to influence the design and construction of the watch; from the screws through to the case. He looked at shock resistance (and changed the design of the tourbillion bridge); he looked the reduction of friction and used ceramic end-stones for the balance wheel axis; he looked to improve plate rigidity and the ease of access for watchmakers to maintain the movement; he looked at the design of the screws and used a five prong screw instead of a regular flat-head.
[Photo courtesy of Theodore Diehl]
[The parallels with the design and the use of materials really did make the RM watch a ‘Racing machine for your wrist’]
The result was a revolutionary watch. The case was both a tactile and sensual experience; the edges were smooth and the curvature of the case would appear to be a universal form for the wrist of every person who tried it on. The design and construction of the case was to create an ergonomic form, where lateral ribs improve the rigidity, and where the curvature and the tripartite case construction create a unified structure that is extremely robust. Reading the time was clear and legible: the numbers ‘float’ over the dark surface of the plate thanks to the anti-reflection treatment on the crystal.
The architecture of the movement was altered. The base plate was no longer something hidden by the dial; this was now an elemental piece of the design. The baseplate was covered with a PVD (physical vapor deposition) treatment that has been used on Formula 1 engines. Through heating the baseplates in a chamber, the metal vapor (carbide in this case) is attracted and binds to the metal surface. The surface is both tough and self lubricating.
Rather than have ‘finished’ plates in the usual sense of the description, the main spring and gear train are all screwed into the back of the baseplate. This made for both an ease of access; in that component parts of the movement could be seen clearly with its own corresponding plate and accessed easily once the back of the case was removed. The aesthetic look of the movement was unique and took its design cues directly from racing engines.
[Black polishing the spines of the back plate. While RM watches owe design elements and materials from the Formula 1 world, there is still traditional watch finishing utilized in all parts].
As with vintage or historic racing cars, what makes a classic, an original, is the luxury of hindsight and assessing what the watch means then and now. Does the machine still hold its lustre; the desire, after the years have passed? Even now, I look at the photos of the RM001 and the shock of the new remains. It still looks avant-garde even after a decade; yet the design seems all too familiar. Other watch firms followed suit and it is testament to how Richard’s design and vision changed the world of haute horologie. Ten years on, I would argue that Richard still “pushes the outside of the envelope” (pushes the watch to new limits) and in so doing, creates a tapestry of innovative unique pieces that some marvel at, some are perhaps shocked at, but create an oeuvre in the world of haute horologie; an aesthetic that is definitively Richard Mille. His watches are the future classics.
Andrew H
Some other reading from the archives if you are interested:
www.network54.com
www.network54.com
www.thepurists.com
Thanks Andrew...I learn so much about
the thought process and design details behind RM everytime I read one of your posts. I need to reconsider my preconceptions of the brand and examine them closer.
I love the racing history too!
Best, Mike
Thanks Mike - glad to be helping you on your path to your
first Richard Mille! 
Andrew H
A tip of the proverbial cap, Andrew. This post resonates . . .
. . . because racing was my formative passion as well. There is no competitive endeavor that approaches the blend of skill, character, and technique that road racing requires.
I've said this many times before, so I hope you'll forgive the repetition: the only watchmaker of our time that, in my opinion, is likely to be considered on the same pedestal as the established heavyweights in the coming decades is Richard Mille. The vitality of his conceptual framework and the integrity of his work are matchless.
Cordially, Art
I've said this many times before, so I hope you'll forgive the repetition: the only watchmaker of our time that, in my opinion, is likely to be considered on the same pedestal as the established heavyweights in the coming decades is Richard Mille. The vitality of his conceptual framework and the integrity of his work are matchless.
Cordially, Art
Thanks Art. I agree! Richard will, without doubt, be
remembered for his innovation and ability to push limits with materials and design. As we look back on his watches in the next decade, I am certain that in the same way we see vintage race cars as art and artistic form, Richard's watches will fill the same aesthetic for the watch world.
Andrew H
Looks like FUN!
And very much Richard Mille i must say!
Thanks for the coverage Andrew!
Stephen
Thanks for the report Andrew
Looks like a lot of fun. And the RM001 will be a historically important watch for many reasons, in my opinion.
- SJX
I think the RM001 will be an important watch historically
and perhaps now, 10 years on, some of us in the watch world are realizing this. I think the full impact of the RM001 has yet to be accounted for, but will in the coming years.
Thanks
Andrew H
Oooh!
This looks dangerous! It's slick out there and the driver is all exposed! Yikes! Well, Richard is one of the leading motorsports enthusiasts amongst the horological community so I'm sure he could've driven the track even under those conditions (But, Richard, if you are reading this I'm glad you didn't. I wouldn't want you to get hurt!!!!).
Great photos and a fun event regardless!
Cheers,
Daos
Great photos and a fun event regardless!
Cheers,
Daos
The track was dicey - and there were some accidents.
But I think no one (fortunately) was hurt. Just hurt pride and the headache of getting the car repaired.
Andrew H
Thanks for the report..
.. and the lecture. Very interesting read indeed. I am hoping to see lots more RMs around here one day. Have to frequent the boutique
Thanks!
Ken
Thanks!
Ken
Richard Mille: When the words ridiculous and
sublime are uttered in the same breath!
The RM001 took many of us by surprise and quite a few years before the RM series made sense as "an evolution after the revolution". Much like the Coopers moving the engineering paradigm, Richerd Mille moved the watchmaking 'fence'. Thanks Monsieur Mille.
Thank goodness for Renaud et Papi in the engineering department too.
Thanks for the report.
Regards,
MTF
This message has been edited by MTF on 2011-05-25 03:25:27Very true - and good point. The difference was in
the mounting of the engine and the size/balance of the car. The engine with the Auto Union was firmly at the rear of the car and made the car very difficult to handle. The Cooper was mid-engined and 'balanced' with a low centre of gravity.
The difficulty in handling the Auto Union (which was exceptional on straight line speed) probably set Grand Prix cars back to the front engine drive for the next 20 years as most did not believe in 'putting the cart before the horse'!
Thanks
Andrew H