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Actor Michelle Yeoh spotted wearing Richard Mille

Michelle Yeoh, the Oscar-winning actress best known for Everything Everywhere All at Once and her decades-long career spanning action cinema and prestige drama, was recently spotted wearing a Richard Mille RM27-01 'Rafael Nadal' — a limited edition of just 50 pieces and one of the most extreme sports watches ever made. For a collector of her standing, this is not a casual choice.

The Richard Mille RM27-01 was developed in close collaboration with Rafael Nadal and debuted in 2013. Its core engineering achievement is a manual-winding tourbillon movement — calibre RM27-01 — whose baseplate is replaced entirely by a system of braided steel cables, just 0.33 mm in diameter, that suspend the movement within the case. The result is a watch rated to withstand shocks of up to 5,000 g, a figure verified during Nadal's match play at Roland Garros. The case itself is fabricated from NTPT Carbon, a layered carbon composite originally developed for the aerospace and sailing industries, keeping the total weight to approximately 19 grams.

From a collector perspective, the RM27-01 occupies a specific and rarefied tier within Richard Mille's already stratospheric catalogue. The Rafael Nadal collaboration references — RM27-01, RM27-02, RM27-03, and RM27-04 — each push materials science and movement architecture further than the last, and each commands serious secondary-market premiums. The 50-piece production ceiling guarantees scarcity, and examples rarely surface publicly.

Michelle Yeoh has long been associated with Richard Mille. The brand appointed her a brand ambassador, and she has appeared at Richard Mille-sponsored events at the Formula 1 and in fine arts contexts. Her wearing the RM27-01 is consistent with an ambassador relationship, but her history with the brand suggests genuine affinity rather than contractual obligation. She has been photographed in multiple Richard Mille references over the years.

At a UK list price of approximately £700,000 — translating to roughly $880,000 at current exchange — the Richard Mille RM27-01 sits firmly among the most expensive wristwatches in regular production. On the grey market, verified examples have traded above list, reflecting both the limited edition status and the sustained global demand for the Nadal collaboration series. Acquiring one today requires either a deep relationship with an authorised dealer or a significant premium at auction.