Watch Paparazzi

Athlete Julija Levčenko spotted wearing Richard Mille

Yulija Levčenko, one of Ukraine's most celebrated track-and-field athletes, was recently seen wearing a Richard Mille RM 07-01 in 18k rose gold — the fully pavé diamond-set version with the brand's signature open-link bracelet. As an official Richard Mille partner, Levčenko's choice is no coincidence: the RM 07-01 is the house's primary statement piece for female ambassadors who operate at the intersection of extreme physicality and high glamour.

The RM 07-01 was introduced as Richard Mille's first watch conceived specifically for women, debuting in the mid-2000s and refined through successive iterations. The reference houses a manual-winding tourbillon movement — Calibre RM07-01 — constructed from grade-5 titanium bridges and baseplate, with a free-sprung balance and variable-geometry rotor geometry borrowed directly from the brand's motorsport lineage. The movement achieves approximately 70 hours of power reserve and is shock-resistant to 5,000 Gs, a specification that makes it legitimately wearable during athletic competition, not merely a marketing claim.

The rose gold case of this particular configuration measures 45.7 × 31.4 mm — substantial for a ladies' watch — and the open bracelet design, set entirely in white pavé diamonds, represents one of the most labour-intensive finishing operations in contemporary Swiss watchmaking. Each link is hand-set, and the overall diamond count across the bracelet and case typically exceeds several hundred stones. The result sits closer to Parisian high jewellery than conventional sports watchmaking, which is precisely Richard Mille's intent with this reference.

Levčenko, born in 1997 in Kherson, claimed silver at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London and has consistently cleared 2.00 metres at international level. Her partnership with Richard Mille aligns with the brand's long-standing strategy of signing elite female athletes — Serena Williams, Alexia Putellas, and Leïla Nasser among them — who embody the mechanical resilience the watches are engineered to demonstrate.

On the market, the pavé diamond RM 07-01 in rose gold carries a retail price of approximately $300,000 USD. Grey-market values for fully set configurations have historically tracked near or above retail given constrained production volumes, making this one of the few Richard Mille references where list price is not automatically a floor. Collectors regard the 07-01 as a foundational ladies' complication in the modern era.