Felipe Massa

Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari for Fernando Alonso & Felipe Massa

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Celebrity Shopping, Sports

Call it a junior Ferrari or a senior Fiat, but the Abarth 695 is all kinds of awesome. As well it should be, with a $47,000 sticker price. And who better to drive the "Tributo Ferrari", as the car is dubbed, than Ferrari's two star drivers?

On their way to claiming a devastating 1-3 finish at this past weekend's Italian Grand Prix, the Fiat Group's performance division handed the keys for these sought-after hot hatchbacks to both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. It may not be as fast as the Maseratis, Ferraris or Ducatis they've received previously, but a certain expression about a gift horse – a prancing one at that – comes to mind.

Gallery: Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari

Tags: abarth, Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari, felipe massa, fernando alonso, ferrari

Richard Mille RM011 Felipe Massa Watch Hands-On

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Richard Mille was attending SIHH for the first time last month and I was there to check out their wares. One of their most popular models is the RM011 Felipe Massa line of watches. The Brazilian race car driver's name is attached to the watch because he actually wears the timepiece (and likely other Richard Mille watches) most all the time. He even had a serious wreck while wearing a Richard Mille watch. He, and the watch, walked away fine though. Above is an image of the gold version of this watch and in the gallery you can see be modeling the titanium version with a chic white rubber strap.

The watch isn't quite as large as its grand appearance would have you believe. Still it is not a small watch and is best for suitably sized wrists as the piece itself is rather long. The curved tonneau-shaped case is designed with the utmost attention to detail with a fine finishing that feels more like a precision tool than jewelry (and this is part of the point). The RM011 automatic movement features a big date and flyback chronograph. The movement has been designed to serve as the dial of the watch, and looks helplessly cool in the process. On the back of the watch you can see the exposed automatic rotor through the sapphire crystal in a style that only Richard Mille has been able to achieve.

This super hot brand is making strides by proving that people are still interested in very high quality, very expensive sport watches, The brand often likes to show case the interesting technologies and materials that they use. At closer to $100,000 in price, these are for the most serious watch consumers. Also I predict that watches like this have a more than ephemeral appeal, and will be popular items in the auction houses in years to come.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Richard Mille RM011 watches

Tags: 2010, chronograph, Felipe Massa, FelipeMassa, gold, Richard Mille, RichardMille, RM 011, RM011, SIHH, titanium, watch

Richard Mille RM 008-V2 Felipe Massa Limited Edition Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Here is a high luxury-Swiss watch company making a nod to Brazil and Formula 1 racing. Actually the entire Richard Mille brand is basically a nod to auto racing with the technically inspired looks - though I don't think Formula 1 cars proportionally have that much gold. This RM 008-V2 watch is undeniably Richard Mille in form, but with colors matching the Brazilian flag. The reason for this colorful flair is the watch's connection with Brazilian Formula 1 racer Felipe Massa. There are actually two Felipe Massa limited edition Richard Mille watches, but this is the more complex of the two. The alternative model (limited to 40 pieces) is the RM 004-V2. The difference is that the pictured RM 008-V2 has a tourbillon based manually wound movement, while the other model does not. Both watches have a split-second 30 minute chronograph, the time with subsidiary seconds, a power reserve indicator, a torque level indicator, and function selection indicator. All functions are understandable when you look more or less straight down at the watch as the dials are applied to the rear of the sapphire crystal.

The hefty case is done in either 18k red or white gold, with just 5 pieces each. That is a total of 10 watches for the RM 008-V2 watch line. Style is typical to Richard Mille which is hard to hate, but probably just as hard to live with full-time. It is classy, manly, and fun, while being luxurious. Though I think it would give me a headache like too much good wine if I wore it long enough. Prices will make your head spin faster than Felipe Massa needs to circle the track a single time.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: felipe massa, FelipeMassa, formula 1, Formula1, limited edition, LimitedEdition, richard mille, RichardMille, RM 004-V2, RM 008-V2, Rm004-v2, Rm008-v2, watch