Watch Paparazzi

Royal Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani spotted wearing Richard Mille

Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani, Prince of Qatar and president of the Qatar Olympic Committee, was recently spotted on the wrist with a Richard Mille RM 11-03 McLaren Automatic Flyback Chronograph — the limited 500-piece titanium collaboration that sits at one of the most technically ambitious intersections of haute horlogerie and motorsport.

The RM 11-03 McLaren is built around Richard Mille's in-house Cal. RMAC3 automatic movement, a skeletonized caliber offering flyback chronograph, GMT function, and annual calendar — all integrated into a package that weighs practically nothing on the wrist. The grade-5 titanium and carbon TPT case measures 50mm × 40mm, designed using finite element analysis to distribute stress across the structure rather than concentrate it at weak points. The result is a case that can absorb shock and vibration at levels most Swiss manufactures wouldn't dare engineer for. Water resistance sits at 50 meters — adequate, though few owners are likely to test that particular specification.

The McLaren branding on the RM 11-03 is no cosmetic exercise. Richard Mille became an official partner of the McLaren Formula 1 team, and the engineering philosophy underpinning this watch directly mirrors the team's approach to chassis design: reduce mass, maximize rigidity, survive extreme stress. The McLaren orange accents on the skeletonized dial and the 500-piece production cap give this reference genuine collectibility within the broader RM ecosystem, which already commands fierce secondary market attention.

For Sheikh Joaan, the choice of the RM 11-03 reads as considered rather than casual. As the driving force behind Qatar's ambitious sporting infrastructure — from the FIFA World Cup to elite athletics — he moves in exactly the circles for which Richard Mille engineers these watches: high-performance environments where visibility, status, and technical credibility all matter simultaneously.

On the grey market, the RM 11-03 McLaren trades well above its already significant list price. With a UK retail of approximately £135,000, demand from Gulf collectors, motorsport enthusiasts, and Richard Mille loyalists keeps supply perpetually tight. Expect secondary market premiums of 20–40% on clean examples, with full set configurations commanding the upper end.