Watch Paparazzi

American football player Antonio Brown spotted wearing Richard Mille

Antonio Brown has long operated at the extreme end of the celebrity watch-collecting spectrum, and his latest sighting does nothing to soften that reputation. The former NFL All-Pro was recently photographed wearing the Richard Mille RM 65-01 Automatic Split Seconds Chronograph, a reference that represents one of the most technically ambitious watches the Le Brassus manufacture has ever produced.

The RM 65-01 marked a genuine milestone for Richard Mille when it debuted: it was the brand's first in-house automatic split-seconds chronograph, a complication historically reserved for the most serious haute horlogerie houses. The skeletonised automatic movement delivers hours, minutes, a subsidiary seconds dial at 6 o'clock, and a full split-seconds chronograph with a 30-minute totaliser at 3 o'clock and a 12-hour counter at 9 o'clock. A function selector, rapid winding system, and variable-geometry rotor round out a movement spec sheet that reads like an engineering brief. The case combines 18-carat rose gold — providing structural integrity and warm visual weight — with Carbon NTPT, Richard Mille's proprietary carbon composite constructed from hundreds of layered filaments producing its signature irregular wood-grain texture. The result is a case that is simultaneously precious and high-performance.

Among collectors, the RM 65-01 occupies a specific and respected tier. Split-seconds chronographs demand a secondary column wheel and an additional set of levers and couplings, dramatically increasing movement complexity and the cost of production. The fact that Richard Mille executed this in-house, skeletonised, and within their signature avant-garde aesthetic, raised eyebrows — and appreciation — across the serious collecting community.

Antonio Brown has been a consistent presence on the Richard Mille radar for years, with a collection that reflects both his financial ambition and genuine appetite for the brand's most provocative references. The RM 65-01 in rose gold and Carbon NTPT suits his profile: it is loud in presence but technically justified.

At a retail price of $344,000, the RM 65-01 is already positioned at the summit of the market. On the secondary market, however, the reference currently trades at approximately $650,000 — nearly double retail — underscoring the demand-to-supply imbalance that defines Richard Mille's most complex pieces. For collectors tracking the RM 65-01, Brown's wrist time only reinforces its cultural cachet.