Politician Hun Sen spotted wearing a Richard Mille

Hun Sen, who has governed Cambodia since 1985 making him one of the world's longest-serving heads of government, was recently photographed on the golf course wearing a Richard Mille RM 38-01 Tourbillon 'Bubba Watson' — a watch so mechanically specific to the sport that it borders on purpose-built equipment rather than mere accessories.

The Richard Mille RM 38-01 was developed in close collaboration with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and introduced in 2013. Its defining technical feature is a purely mechanical G-force meter: a weighted lever system that captures the peak acceleration generated at impact during a golf swing and locks that reading on a dedicated subdial at twelve o'clock. No electronics, no sensors — the measurement is achieved entirely through classical watchmaking mechanics. Beneath the skeletonized baseplate, the manual-winding movement features a tourbillon regulator and is constructed from grade 5 titanium and Carbon TPT composite, materials borrowed directly from motorsport and aerospace applications.

The case itself is built from Carbon TPT and Quartz TPT layers, making it extraordinarily light and resistant to the torsional stresses of a full golf swing. Richard Mille rated the RM 38-01 to withstand the shock loads a driver swing produces — reportedly in excess of 1,000 Gs at impact. The movement carries a power reserve of approximately 70 hours.

With a production run of just 50 pieces, the Richard Mille RM 38-01 Tourbillon Bubba Watson is among the marque's most constrained limited editions. At an official retail price of $825,000, it was never a watch aimed at the general public. Collectors regard it as a landmark in applied complications — a piece that justifies its engineering rather than simply invoking sporting imagery for marketing purposes. Secondary market transactions, when they surface, typically clear well above retail.

Hun Sen's appearance on the course with the RM 38-01 on his wrist adds another data point to a pattern well established among powerful Asian political figures who favor Richard Mille's ultra-high-end sports references. The brand's combination of technical credibility, exclusivity, and overt price signaling has made it a consistent choice in those circles — and the 'Bubba Watson' tourbillon sits near the apex of that hierarchy.