New Richard Mille RM 65-01 Grey Quartz TPT Split-Seconds Chronograph

Richard Mille have always had a strong connection to motorsport and in particular the high performance world of F1 where they’re the official partners of both Ferrari and McLaren. The reason I bring this up is that their latest timepiece is a new colourway version of their ultimate racing complication wristwatch. It’s the RM 65-01 Grey Quartz TPT Split-Seconds Chronograph in grey, yellow, red and blue.

While the new watch has distinct aesthetic similarities to previous editions of the RM 65-01, there are a few significant differences. Perhaps the most significant difference is the change from a Carbon TPT case to a Quartz TPT case, a material that Richard Mille are introducing to a lot of their models such as the RM 72-01 Le Mans special edition.

On a technical level, Quartz TPT is pretty similar to its carbon equivalent, sharing properties such as being light, strong, scratch resistant and durable. However, unlike carbon which is predominantly black or very dark grey, Quartz TPT can be produced in virtually any colour relatively easily. For the RM 65-01 they’ve gone for a very light grey that reminds me of an overcast sky. It works really well on this model because it’s subdued enough that the focus remains the split-seconds display but is light enough that the bright colours elsewhere don’t clash or look out of place.

Speaking of the display and bright colours… there’s a lot of small details to break down so let’s tackle it colour by colour. The yellow is a particular highlight  so let’s start there – it’s used for the ring of the crown, the peripheral minute track, function selection indicator in the bottom right corner and rapid winding pusher. Moving onto blue you have the Arabic hour numerals, small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock, oversize date in the top left corner, a secondary crown ring and the central hour and minute hands.

Last up is red, which is perhaps the least vibrant of the colours, serving more to contrast with the black elements around it rather than an eye-catching element in its own right (by which I mean your eyes are drawn to the yellow and blue first). It’s used for the 30-minute timer, 12-hour timer, the tip of the central chronograph seconds hands, a ring around the top of the flange and the lettering on the external pushers.

I appreciate that on paper that probably sounds like a wild mishmash of colours and features but when it’s all put together, it looks great. The red elements kind of sit on a horizontal line across the middle while the blue aspects are vaguely on a vertical line, both of which are wrapped in the yellow. The positioning of it all is solid and it creates a bright, sporty display that suits the RM 65-01.

We should touch on the mechanics of the piece even though it’s only the colours and case that have been updated. It’s powered by the Calibre RMAC4, a skeletonised, automatic movement with the titular split-seconds chronograph function. A split-seconds chronograph, also known as a Rattrapanté, is a chronograph complication with two separate chronograph hands that can be started simultaneously and stopped independently, allowing you to time intervals within a longer period – such as lap times within an F1 race.

The RM 65-01 was originally launched in 2020 and this is probably my favourite reference in the collection so far. The black Carbon TPT original was solid and the subsequent titanium and rose gold editions were solid but this is the first one that feels properly eye catching without sacrificing any sportiness. In classic Richard Mille style, it has a pretty massive price tag of $353,000 (approx. £279,000).