Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Reece James spotted wearing Richard Mille

Reece James was photographed wearing the Richard Mille RM 35-03 White TPT in the aftermath of Chelsea's FIFA Club World Cup triumph — a fitting moment for a watch whose entire engineering brief is built around athletic performance under extreme stress. The sighting places one of the most technically rarefied wristwatches in production squarely on the wrist of one of European football's most decorated young defenders.

The RM 35-03 sits at the top of Richard Mille's Rafael Nadal-associated RM 35 family, which the brand developed in direct collaboration with the Spanish tennis champion to withstand the punishment of professional sport. The case is constructed from White TPT, Richard Mille's proprietary composite material produced by layering silica filaments in a resin matrix at alternating 45-degree angles under heat and pressure — the result is a case of exceptional rigidity and shock resistance that weighs just a few grams. The defining upgrade in this latest iteration is the new butterfly rotor, an openworked, symmetrical automatic winding mass that doubles as an aesthetic centrepiece visible through the skeletonized dial. The RMAL1 automatic calibre inside offers a variable geometry rotor system and a baseplate and bridges machined from grade-5 titanium, delivering a 55-hour power reserve.

For collectors, the RM 35-03 in White TPT represents a significant step up from the more common NTPT carbon variants. White TPT production volumes are tightly controlled — the material is harder to machine and more labor-intensive to finish — which keeps supply genuinely constrained. The butterfly rotor specification adds a further layer of desirability for those tracking the evolution of the RM 35 lineage.

Reece James has established himself as one of football's most serious watch collectors, with a documented affinity for Richard Mille. His choice of the RM 35-03 White TPT aligns with the brand's long-standing strategy of associating its sport-focused references with world-class athletes, and the FIFA Club World Cup win gives the sighting an additional layer of narrative weight.

At a list price of approximately $220,000, the RM 35-03 White TPT is already positioned at the top of the sport-watch market. On the secondary market, however, confirmed White TPT examples with the butterfly rotor have been trading at multiples of retail — current grey-market valuations place the piece in the region of $1,600,000, reflecting both material scarcity and the fierce demand that characterizes the most collectible Richard Mille references.