Footballer Demba Ba spotted wearing a Richard Mille

Demba Ba has never hidden his taste for serious watchmaking, and a recent sighting of the former Chelsea and Newcastle United striker confirmed his wrist is occupied by one of Richard Mille's most technically celebrated references: the RM35-01, a tourbillon designed in direct collaboration with Rafael Nadal and engineered to withstand forces that would destroy a conventional luxury watch.

The Richard Mille RM35-01 sits at the intersection of materials science and haute horlogerie. Its case is constructed from Carbon TPT — a proprietary composite in which carbon fibre filaments of less than 30 microns in diameter are stacked in parallel plies, rotated 45 degrees between each layer, then compressed under six tonnes of pressure and infused with a carbon matrix. The result is a case that weighs virtually nothing and displays the brand's signature dark, almost topographic grain pattern. Inside beats the Calibre RMAL1, a manually wound tourbillon with a baseplate and bridges machined from grade 5 titanium and carbon nanofibre. Power reserve sits at approximately 55 hours, frequency at 3Hz, and the movement achieves COSC-grade precision despite being constructed to absorb lateral G-forces well beyond what any conventional movement is designed to tolerate.

For collectors, the RM35-01 occupies an interesting position in the Richard Mille catalogue. It carries the Nadal DNA — the original RM027 tourbillon launched in 2010 established the blueprint — while offering the RM35-01 as a more accessible, though still deeply exotic, entry into the tourbillon family. Its Carbon TPT execution makes each case unique in its patterning, which collectors treat as a positive differentiator rather than a manufacturing inconsistency.

Demba Ba is one of African football's more prominent watch collectors. The Senegalese forward, who scored 29 Premier League goals for Newcastle before high-profile moves to Chelsea and Besiktas, has been seen with serious horological pieces throughout his career. His stint at Shanghai Shenhua brought him to one of the world's great luxury consumption markets, where Richard Mille's cultural cachet among athletes is particularly strong.

At retail, the Richard Mille RM35-01 in Carbon TPT commands prices in the region of £85,000 in the UK, translating to approximately $105,000–$110,000 at current rates. On the secondary market, demand from the sport and entertainment world keeps grey-market values robust, typically trading at or above retail — a hallmark of almost any Richard Mille reference bearing Nadal's engineering legacy.