The new RM 43-01 and 75-01 tourbillons, among many other wonderful faces of Richard Mille

If I were to ask you to close your eyes and imagine a super-luxury watch, what traits would you imagine? 

Nary a collector will forget that Monsieur Richard Mille had introduced his debut timepiece, the RM 001, in 2001 — a tourbillon watch, no less — by flinging it to the ground at full force. This would be the first of many times when the Frenchman would throw a spanner in the works for other luxury watchmakers. 

For centuries, such high horology creations had been fragile, cumbersome, and made of precious metal. All these givens were tossed out the window, when Mille unveiled his super-robust creations crafted from high-tech lightweight materials.

His asking price was six- to seven-figures per watch, which dwarfed the pricetags of that era’s most vaunted watches. However, his fascinated clients gladly forked out nonetheless, so that they could join this hyper-exclusive club.

Iconoclast nonpareil

This avant-garde watchmaker had developed proprietary materials like carbon and quartz TPT, which work in tandem with a complex system of shock absorbers, cables, and pulleys to confer the pieces with extreme durability.

To prove to the world that his initial publicity stunt was not smoke and mirrors, he then put his watches on the wrists of sporting champions, who delivered devastating tennis forehands and negotiated tight racetrack corners that subjected the timekeepers to immense g-forces. Today, the brand is a common sight at Formula One, the Tour de France, and the Olympics, among other elite athletic events.

Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal famously wore a Richard Mille named after him — with his favourite seemingly being the RM 27-05 — on almost every single one of his French Open triumphs. And beat this: The “King of Clay”, whose forehands can reach speeds of 122.2 km/h with nearly 1,000 revolutions per minute on the ball, has always been involved in the design and development of his eponymous models.

Besides having invented some of the lightest watches ever — as featherweight as 20g — Richard Mille also edged out several other brands to create the thinnest watch in the world: The UP-01 Ferrari held the record of thinnest mechanical watch for almost three years, from July 2022 to April 2025.

Furthermore, not everyone who can afford a million-dollar watch wants to settle for yet another somber, traditional aesthetic. Browsing through Richard Mille’s body of work will no doubt uncover examples of rare irreverence. 

For clients seeking something tongue-in-cheek, the RM 88 boasts an intricate in-house complication fronted by a colourful dial of cheeky motifs and a smiley face shaped from yellow gold. Those who appreciate unconventional conversation pieces might just love the interestingly named RM 69, which has a flipboard that conveys erotic messages to its observer, or the eye-catching RM 66 that shines the spotlight on a skeleton hand sculpture forming the “devil’s horns” sign.

Terrific tourbillons

Demonstrating Richard Mille’s penchant for entirely individualistic creations are this year’s new tourbillons, which are as different in personality as day and night. 

A trio of head-turners, three RM 75-01 Flying Tourbillon Sapphire models are Richard Mille’s latest brainchildren. Drawing inspiration from Gothic architecture and the fluidity of water, the watch features a bezel, caseband, and caseback entirely crafted from synthetic sapphire. 

This material choice not only offers exceptional scratch resistance but also provides a transparent view into the watch’s intricate mechanics. To this end, its flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock has been designed to operate without an upper bridge, so as to offer an unobstructed view and simulate weightlessness. These stunning sapphire cases, in particular, required over 1,000 hours of machining and a continuous 40-day grinding process each, in order to realise this grade of unmatched clarity and finish.

The watch is available in clear, blue, and lilac pink that are achieved by integrating metallic oxides into the sapphire during its growth, a process that demands precise temperature and growth control to ensure uniformity and avoid imperfections. The clear sapphire version is limited to 15 pieces, while the blue and pink sapphire variants are limited to 10 each.

The RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari, meanwhile, is born from a groundbreaking collaboration between Richard Mille and the Italian supercar marque. Modelled by Ferrari’s 2025 f1 season drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton here, it limited to 150 pieces divided equally between microblasted titanium and Carbon TPT versions.

Powering it is the RM43-01 calibre, a three-year development masterpiece featuring a tourbillon escapement with a titanium carriage and an innovative active seconds display using radial blades against a 12-second index. The split-seconds chronograph is enhanced by a next-generation mechanism optimised for power efficiency and torque consistency. 

The skeletonised movement, built on a titanium baseplate, boasts a 70-hour power reserve, displayed alongside a torque indicator and function selector, evoking a Ferrari dashboard.

Ferrari’s design influence permeates every detail, including the strap, which mirrors the Purosangue’s seat pattern. A laser-engraved titanium plate bearing the Prancing Horse logo — inspired by the 499P’s rear wing — anchors the dial, while microblasted bridges and angular structures pay homage to Ferrari’s engine blocks. 

It’s worth noting that among the handful of watch brands that gross over a billion dollars a year, Richard Mille makes the least number of watches per annum — around 5,000 pieces only.

At 74 years young, Monsieur Mille is the only living founder of a billion-dollar watch brand to live long enough to bear witness to its global success. To help him continue his work, he has welcomed his children Alexandre, Dimitri, Guillaume, and Amanda to the company, along with Cecile Guenat, daughter of his business partner Dominique Guenat. 

Under this new generation of visionaries, the future looks bright for the Richard Mille brand, which has become the grail and the subtle, but unmistakable, calling card of the ultra-successful and wealthy.