Watch Paparazzi

Royal Khalifa Bin Hamad spotted wearing Richard Mille

Qatari royal and prominent watch collector Khalifa Bin Hamad (@khk) was recently photographed wearing one of the most technically ambitious pieces Richard Mille has produced in recent years: the Richard Mille RM 35-03 Rafael Nadal, built from white quartz TPT and carbon TPT, and representing the fourth and final collaboration between the Geneva-based manufacture and the legendary Spanish tennis champion on this reference line.

The RM 35-03 sits at the apex of the RM 035 series, a collection that Richard Mille developed specifically around Rafael Nadal's punishing on-court demands. The case construction combines white quartz TPT — a material made from layers of quartz filaments infused with resin and sliced at precise angles to produce its distinctive striated surface — with carbon TPT, which adds structural rigidity while keeping weight to an absolute minimum. The result is a case that can withstand the shock and vibration of a 130 mph tennis serve without compromising the movement inside.

The defining technical breakthrough of the RM 35-03, however, is its proprietary butterfly rotor with user-controlled winding speed. For the first time in Richard Mille's history, a wearer can press a dedicated push-button to adjust the rotor's winding rate based on current physical activity — a logical evolution for a watch designed to be worn during professional sport. The RMAL1 automatic movement that powers the piece offers functions including hours, minutes, seconds, and a variable geometry rotor system that no other manufacture currently offers in this form.

For collectors, the RM 35-03 carries added significance as the concluding installment of the Nadal chapter. The RM 035 line spans over a decade of Richard Mille's most visible brand-building period, and the 03 variant closes that story with its most complex execution yet. Production numbers remain extremely limited, as is standard for Richard Mille's athlete-edition pieces, and the combination of technical novelty and cultural weight makes this reference particularly desirable to serious collectors.

Khalifa Bin Hamad is a well-documented connoisseur of high-complications and ultra-rare independent watchmaking, making the RM 35-03 a natural fit for his collection. At a retail price of $220,000 USD, the piece is already positioned at the upper tier of the Richard Mille catalogue — yet on the grey market it commands figures approaching $1,000,000 USD, a near-fivefold premium that speaks to both scarcity and sustained demand.