Watch Paparazzi

Singer Ed Sheeran spotted wearing Richard Mille

Ed Sheeran stepped onto the Brit Awards red carpet with something more interesting than a fashion accessory on his wrist: a Richard Mille RM 35-01, the Rafael Nadal signature model that has become one of the most recognisable — and technically serious — watches in contemporary horology. The sighting placed Sheeran firmly among a generation of musicians and athletes who have adopted Richard Mille not as jewellery but as a statement of engineering literacy.

The RM 35-01 is built around a skeletonised manual-winding movement, the Calibre RMAL1, featuring a variable-geometry rotor system and a free-sprung balance with a frequency of 4 Hz. The baseplate and bridges are machined from grade 5 titanium to tolerances measured in microns. The tonneau-shaped case is constructed from NTPT carbon — North Thin Ply Technology — a filament-wound composite in which carbon layers are laid at 45-degree offsets and compressed under heat and pressure, producing the distinctive wood-grain surface pattern unique to every individual case. Water resistance is rated to 50 metres, and the entire assembly weighs just 33 grams on the wrist.

Richard Mille introduced the RM 35-01 in 2013 as a refinement of the RM 027 Nadal line, incorporating lessons learned from years of on-court abuse at Grand Slam level. Nadal famously wore earlier RM models through entire French Open campaigns, which gave the collection a genuine athletic provenance that most luxury sports watches can only gesture toward. The RM 35-01 sits in the brand's core sport catalogue and has maintained strong secondary market demand since its release.

For collectors, the RM 35-01 represents an accessible — by Richard Mille standards — entry point into the NTPT carbon universe. The reference lacks the headline rarity of limited tourbillon editions, but its combination of legitimate technical content, Nadal association, and immediately legible case architecture gives it enduring appeal among first-time RM buyers and established collectors alike.

Ed Sheeran is no stranger to serious timepieces; the singer has been spotted in high-end watches on multiple occasions, but the Brit Awards appearance with the Richard Mille RM 35-01 carries weight. At a list price of approximately $130,000 USD and with grey market values tracking closely to retail, it remains one of the more liquid references in the brand's portfolio.