Richard Mille 61-01

This year’s summer Olympics in Tokyo will be the last time champion sprinter Yohan Blake of Jamaica will participate in the quadrennial event. As such, this will also mark the end of Blake’s six-year partnership with Richard Mille, making the RM 61-01 Ultimate Edition the last collaborative watch between the two.

The sombre news may explain the restrained choice of colours in the Ultimate Edition, disappointing fans who loved earlier RM 61-01 models in shades as bright as Blake’s personality. Still, there must surely be collectors who prefer their Richard Mille watches to be less ostentatious.

(Related: Richard Mille and Pharrell Williams take us to Mars with the RM 52-05 Tourbillon)

And although it is not the first time an RM 61-01 has appeared in black and white, it is the first with a Quartz TPT and Carbon TPT bezel and caseback. This material – produced by interweaving 600 layers of Quartz TPT and Carbon TPT and orienting the fibres at 45 degrees before they are heated, pressed and milled – is characterised by a strikingly unique woodgrain pattern.

The movement is a skeletonised titanium calibre that beats at 4Hz and comes with a power reserve of 55 hours . It also includes another Richard Mille hallmark: the ability to withstand impacts of over 5,000 Gs. It’s limited to 150 pieces.

(Related: All you need to know about the RM 25-01 timepiece Sylvester Stallone created for Richard Mille)