Pilot Fernando Alonso spotted wearing a Richard Mille

At a 2017 McLaren Honda press conference, Fernando Alonso appeared with one of Richard Mille's most visually striking pieces strapped to his wrist: the RM011 'Black Night' Flyback Chronograph in NTPT carbon, its signature red accents cutting sharply against the darkened case — a fitting aesthetic for a driver synonymous with aggressive, high-stakes racing.

The Richard Mille RM011 is built around the in-house Cal. RMAC2, a skeletonized automatic movement beating at 28,800 vph and delivering a power reserve of approximately 55 hours. The flyback function allows the chronograph seconds hand to reset and restart with a single push, a complication valued in motorsport for its split-second practicality. The annual calendar module adds genuine horological utility, requiring only a single correction per year at the end of February. Case dimensions sit at 50mm × 40mm — large but sculpted for wrist ergonomics under a race suit.

The case material is where the RM011 'Black Night' earns its name and its legend. NTPT — North Thin Ply Technology — carbon is a composite originally developed for America's Cup yacht racing. Thin carbon filament layers are wound at 45-degree angles and fused under extreme heat and pressure, producing a case with tensile strength comparable to titanium at a fraction of the weight. No two NTPT cases share the same surface pattern, making each watch a unique object. The 'Black Night' designation refers to the uniformly dark treatment of the case, contrasted here by vivid red detailing on the pushers and dial accents — a clear nod to Alonso's McLaren livery at the time.

Alonso's relationship with Richard Mille is longstanding and genuine, not merely contractual. He has worn the brand consistently across his F1 tenure, his Le Mans campaigns, and the Indy 500, making him one of the marque's most credible ambassadors. That he reached for the RM011 'Black Night' at an official press conference — rather than a simpler piece — signals real personal affinity.

On today's grey market, the Richard Mille RM011 'Black Night' NTPT commands approximately $200,000, a figure that reflects both the mechanical complexity and the scarcity of NTPT production runs. With Alonso's F1 return confirmed and collector interest in his associated references intensifying, that number is unlikely to soften anytime soon.