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Basketball player James Harden spotted wearing Richard Mille

James Harden, then shooting guard for the Houston Rockets, was photographed wearing a Richard Mille RM 55 'Bubba Watson' with factory-set diamonds — a piece that sits at the intersection of motorsport-grade engineering and unapologetic jewelry-level decoration. It is the kind of watch that stops conversations in locker rooms and boardrooms alike.

The Richard Mille RM 55 was created in partnership with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, first unveiled in 2012. The brief was specific: build a watch that could survive a 180 mph golf swing without compromising timekeeping accuracy. The result is a tonneau-shaped case constructed primarily from NTPT Carbon — a material derived from aerospace manufacturing, formed from layered carbon filaments impregnated with resin and pressed under heat to create a matrix with exceptional rigidity at minimal weight. The movement, Richard Mille's manual-winding CRMT2 caliber, is skeletonized to an almost architectural degree, offering a direct view into its grades 5 titanium and aluminum components. Power reserve sits at approximately 38 hours.

From a collector standpoint, the RM 55 occupies a specific niche within the Richard Mille catalog. It is not the brand's most technically complex reference — the RM 27 and RM 50 series claim that ground — but the Bubba Watson association and the scarcity of diamond-set variants make it highly covetable. Factory gem-setting on an RM is performed in-house and is considered far more desirable among serious collectors than aftermarket stone work, preserving both value and structural integrity of the case.

Harden has long been one of the NBA's most visible watch collectors, with a well-documented preference for Richard Mille across multiple references. His affinity for the brand aligns with a broader trend among professional athletes who respond to Richard Mille's combination of extreme technical specification, limited production numbers, and unmistakable visual identity. The RM 55 on his wrist signals familiarity with the catalog, not merely the brand name.

At UK list price of approximately £185,000, the factory diamond RM 55 translates to roughly $230,000 USD at prevailing rates. On the grey market, set examples trade at meaningful premiums depending on diamond configuration and provenance, with well-documented pieces regularly clearing $250,000 and above.