Entrepreneur Todd Graves spotted wearing a Richard Mille

Todd Graves, CEO of fast-casual chicken chain Raising Canes, was photographed at a Fourth of July celebration wearing an 18k white gold Richard Mille RM 72-01 factory snow-set chronograph, fully pavé with brilliant-cut diamonds. The sighting underscores the Texan entrepreneur's alignment with ultra-luxury horology and the Richard Mille brand's dominance among high-net-worth individuals and chief executives in the hospitality sector.

The Richard Mille RM 72-01 is a dual-time chronograph calibre housed in the manufacture's signature tonneau case. The movement comprises 451 components and delivers approximately 72 hours of power reserve via a single barrel. Chronograph functions include a 30-minute counter at 3 o'clock, subsidiary seconds at 9 o'clock, and a split-seconds mechanism for lap timing. The dial presents a layered, skeletonised architecture typical of Richard Mille's design language, with applied numerals and indices. The 18k white gold case measures 38.8 × 48.6 mm and carries a water-resistance rating of 50 metres. In standard form, the RM 72-01 sports a DLC-coated titanium case; this white gold iteration with factory diamond pavé-setting represents a significant material and aesthetic departure, with each stone individually hand-placed by specialist craftspeople.

Richard Mille snow-set configurations—where hundreds of diamonds blanket the case, bezel, and lugs with no visible metalwork—demand six to eight weeks of labour per watch. Only a handful of RM 72-01 examples are produced annually in this specification, making it one of the manufacture's most exclusive variations. Collectors distinguish between factory snow-set pieces (executed by Richard Mille's atelier in Geneva) and custom aftermarket pavé work, the latter significantly undermining resale value and collectibility. The Graves example is clearly a factory execution, identifiable by the precision of stone placement and the seamless integration of setting into the case geometry.

Todd Graves has cultivated a reputation for bold horological choices consonant with Raising Canes' premium positioning and rapid expansion. The RM 72-01 snow-set white gold signals not merely timekeeping capability but a commitment to mechanical artistry at the extreme end of the market. For a CEO in the QSR (quick-service restaurant) space to wear a $470,000 dual-time chronograph represents a deliberate statement about brand confidence and personal aesthetic conviction.

Retail pricing for the Richard Mille RM 72-01 snow-set in 18k white gold begins at approximately $470,000 USD. Pre-owned examples rarely enter the secondary market; those that do command prices within 5–10% of retail, a testament to the reference's limited production and sustained collector demand. Waitlists for factory-configured snow-set variants typically exceed 18–24 months, contingent on prior Richard Mille purchase history and established relationships with authorised dealers.