Watch Paparazzi

Artist Alec Monopoly spotted wearing Richard Mille

Alec Monopoly, the anonymous street artist turned global luxury-lifestyle fixture, took to Snapchat to unveil his latest horological acquisition: a Richard Mille RM35-01, shot casually on the wrist in the unfiltered, immediate way the platform encourages. The sighting is a natural fit — Monopoly's art is loud, layered, and technically deliberate, qualities that mirror Richard Mille's own design philosophy almost point for point.

The Richard Mille RM35-01 was born directly from the brand's long-running partnership with tennis champion Rafael Nadal. Richard Mille engineers set out to create a watch robust enough to survive a Grand Slam match strapped to a professional athlete's wrist, and the RM35-01 was their answer. The case is constructed from Carbon TPT — NTPT's proprietary material produced by stacking hundreds of carbon fiber plies at 45-degree alternating angles, then infusing them with resin under heat and pressure. The resulting composite produces that immediately recognizable irregular marbled surface while keeping case weight to a minimum. Power comes from the in-house Caliber RMAL1, a manual-winding movement with a variable-geometry rotor system and a baseplate produced in the same Carbon TPT material. Functions are time-only with hours, minutes, and seconds — radical restraint by Richard Mille standards.

Among collectors, the RM35-01 occupies a specific and respected position in the Richard Mille catalogue. It is not the most complication-heavy reference the brand produces, but that simplicity is precisely the point. The movement architecture, case engineering, and material execution demand attention on their own terms. The Caliber RMAL1's free-sprung balance and fast-beat regulation give it genuine technical credibility beyond the case aesthetics. Production numbers remain tightly controlled, keeping secondary market demand consistent.

Alec Monopoly has cultivated a public image built around wealth iconography — dollar bills, Monopoly boards, champagne — so a Richard Mille sitting on the wrist is less a surprise than a logical extension of his personal branding. His audience skews young, affluent, and deeply attuned to luxury signals, and the RM35-01 registers loudly in that register.

On the current market, the Richard Mille RM35-01 commands significant premiums over its already substantial retail price. Grey-market transactions routinely exceed list, reflecting both constrained supply and the Nadal association that gives the reference a clear narrative hook for new buyers.