Watch Paparazzi

Singer Hussain Al Jasmi spotted wearing Richard Mille

Hussain Al Jasmi, the Emirati singer whose fanbase spans the entire Arab world from Morocco to the Gulf, was spotted wearing one of the more visually arresting limited editions in the Richard Mille catalogue: the RM 011 'Romain Grosjean', a flyback chronograph built in close collaboration with the French-Swiss Formula 1 driver during his tenure at the Lotus F1 team. The red detail work on the case is no coincidence — it is a direct homage to the iconic black-and-gold-and-red Lotus livery that made Grosjean's car one of the most recognisable on the grid at the time.

The Richard Mille RM 011 is built around calibre RMAC1, an automatic flyback chronograph movement with annual calendar and GMT function — a genuinely complex module stack that Richard Mille achieved inside a case measuring just 50mm × 40mm × 19.8mm. The baseplate and bridges are machined from grade 5 titanium and ALUSIC, keeping the movement to roughly 7 grams on its own. The case architecture on the Grosjean edition uses Carbon NTPT — North Thin Ply Technology — for both the bezel and the back plate. NTPT carbon is produced by layering filaments at 45-degree angles in 45-micron plies, then curing them under heat and pressure; the result is a unique wood-grain-like surface pattern that means no two cases are visually identical. The inner case band and crown are rose gold, a combination that creates a deliberate tension between the industrial and the precious.

The RM 011 reference holds a foundational place in Richard Mille's collector hierarchy. Introduced in 2007 and produced across numerous limited and special editions through the early 2010s, it was the watch that proved Richard Mille could execute genuine horological complexity — not just striking aesthetics — at the highest level. The Grosjean editions, tied to a specific driver and a specific team era, carry additional narrative weight that drives secondary-market premiums well above standard RM 011 references.

Hussain Al Jasmi's public profile in the MENA region is difficult to overstate. With hit records across multiple Arabic dialects and collaborations spanning pop, khaleeji, and pan-Arab genres, he commands the kind of cultural authority that makes his watch choices visible to tens of millions of followers. Seeing a technically serious, motorsport-heritage piece on his wrist — rather than the diamond-set showpieces more common in Gulf celebrity culture — signals genuine collecting intent.

On the grey market, Carbon NTPT versions of the RM 011 Grosjean trade at significant premiums over standard production pieces, reflecting both the scarcity of the Lotus-era editions and sustained global demand for flyback complications in Richard Mille's sport-heritage line.