Rapper Drake spotted wearing a Richard Mille

Drake was photographed courtside at an NBA game wearing what is unquestionably one of the most technically audacious wristwatches ever produced: his customised Richard Mille RM 056 'Pepsi,' a Piece Unique valued at $5.5 million. For a man known for wearing serious horology in casual settings, this sighting still managed to raise eyebrows.

The Richard Mille RM 056 sits at the absolute apex of the manufacture's technical ambitions. Its case — baseplate, middle, and crystal — is machined entirely from grade-5 sapphire, a material so hard it ranks 9 on the Mohs scale, second only to diamond. Achieving the optical clarity and structural tolerances required for a functioning case demands up to 1,000 hours of machining per unit, a figure that makes even the most labour-intensive traditional watchmaking look routine. Inside beats a manual-winding Calibre RM 056, a skeletonised movement incorporating a tourbillon, split-seconds chronograph, and hours-and-minutes display — all visible in full through the transparent sapphire architecture.

First introduced in 2012 as a collaboration with tennis champion Rafael Nadal, the RM 056 immediately redefined what was considered possible in case engineering. The standard production references were already vanishingly rare; a Piece Unique commission of this nature places Drake's example in a category shared by fewer than a handful of watches worldwide. The 'Pepsi' designation on this specific piece refers to its blue inner bezel and red crown details — a colour combination the watch community has long associated with iconic GMT bezels, here reinterpreted in pure sapphire and titanium hardware.

Drake has assembled one of the most documented watch collections in entertainment, with Richard Mille featuring prominently alongside Patek Philippe and Rolex. Wearing a $5.5 million Piece Unique to a basketball game speaks to his relationship with the brand — these are not safe-box acquisitions but objects he clearly intends to use.

On the secondary market, sapphire-cased Richard Mille RM 056 references have traded well above original retail when they surface at auction, with standard examples achieving between $3 million and $4.5 million at major houses. A documented Piece Unique of this specification, with direct celebrity provenance, would almost certainly command a premium beyond any published comparable.