Watch Paparazzi

Royal Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani spotted wearing Richard Mille

Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani, younger brother of Emir Tamim and one of the most influential figures in global sport administration, was recently photographed wearing a Richard Mille RM 38-01 Bubba Watson Tourbillon on a brown leather strap — a piece limited to just 38 examples worldwide and valued on the UK price list at £400,000.

The RM 38-01 is one of Richard Mille's most technically specific collaborations. Developed alongside two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, the brief was blunt: create a tourbillon that could withstand the kinetic violence of a professional golf drive. Richard Mille's engineers answered with a manual-winding calibre RMTG featuring a variable-geometry rotor system and a baseplate constructed from grade-5 titanium, Carbon TPT, and Quartz TPT composite materials. The movement is shock-resistant to approximately 1,000 Gs — the measured force at the moment a driver face contacts a golf ball. The case measures 50.00 mm × 42.70 mm, characteristically large by traditional standards but ergonomically resolved on the wrist through its tonneau architecture and featherweight construction.

The tourbillon cage itself runs at a relatively conventional 3 Hz (21,600 vph), but the engineering emphasis here is structural rather than purely horological. Richard Mille used the RM 38-01 to demonstrate that haute horlogerie complication and extreme sport utility are not mutually exclusive — an argument the brand has built its entire identity around since 2001. With only 38 references produced, the RM 38-01 sits firmly in the ultra-limited tier of the Richard Mille catalogue, rarer than many of the brand's headline references.

Sheikh Joaan serves as President of the Qatar Olympic Committee and oversaw Qatar's landmark hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. His family's deep interest in sport makes the Bubba Watson collaboration a contextually fitting choice — this is not a watch worn for shock value but one whose engineering narrative aligns with his professional world.

On the secondary market, examples of the RM 38-01 trade well above list when they surface — which is rarely. The £400,000 UK retail price translates to approximately $500,000 USD at prevailing rates, and grey-market transactions for ultra-limited Richard Mille tourbillons of this vintage consistently command premiums. Collectors regard the Bubba Watson series as among the most coherent and technically justified of Richard Mille's athlete partnerships, which sustains demand.