We know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that even if it does come with a free bike, you’d only drop two-thirds of a million pounds on a cycling watch if it were for some reason dedicated to a retired Formula One driver. Well, you’re in luck. The RM 70-01 was developed in collaboration with Alain Prost.
The limited edition watch, from Richard Mille, was developed because Prost is, apparently, an avid cyclist. According to GQ, each of the 30 watches that will be sold will also come with a carbon fibre Colnago C-60.
Cycling features of the watch are an asymmetric shape that is meant to accommodate the typical position of a cyclist’s wrist while riding (this means it has to be worn on your right). It also has a mechanical mileage counter that can record distance up to 99,999km.
But Alain Prost? Since when has he been synonymous with cycling?
The Frenchman says he came to the sport relatively late in life. “I ultimately turned to cycling through a concatenation of circumstances that took place during my sabbatical from driving in 1992. My physical therapist at the time, Pierre Baleydier, was crazy about cycling.
“A former racer himself, he convinced me that the sport could be an alternative to my training method, especially since I was having problems with back and knee pain. Since I didn’t quite know how to improve myself physically for my return in 1993, I began with mountain biking and decided to take on the challenge.”
Prost quickly made the transition to road cycling and it sounds like he became addicted.
“Even though it’s a difficult sport, I loved it right away. It was good for me physically and provided a challenge as well, accentuated by the competitive aspect with my friends and the other riders in cyclo-tourism events. I noticed that thanks to Formula 1, where your heart rate can often reach 160 or even 200 beats per minute, I already had a good foundation.
“My legs suffered, especially in the beginning, but once you develop the right muscles and maintain them, you can enjoy yourself. I very quickly began feeling good, to the point where I was unable to go without cycling and the endorphins that it produces.”
In contrast, watchmaker Mille says he’s loved cycling since childhood – “I’ve probably ridden on every road in the Var region of France”. He adds that only for the last ten years, in large part thanks to his friendship with Prost, has he also been a fan of bike racing.
While acknowledging the feats of the riders, he seems captured by the technological side of the sport. “As a tech and innovation fanatic myself, I’m well placed to appreciate the many subtleties involved.”
Then, with great humility and a complete lack of pretentiousness, he concludes: “The intersection of haute horlogerie and cyclosports, two disciplines in the midst of remarkable developments, could not but lead to thoughtful reflection, followed by an especially inspired watch.”
Yours for £655,000.