Watch Paparazzi

Athlete Mutaz Essa Barshim spotted wearing Richard Mille

Mutaz Essa Barshim, Qatar's two-time World Athletics High Jump Champion and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist, was recently photographed wearing one of the most extreme objects in contemporary watchmaking: the Richard Mille RM50-02 NTPT, a piece limited to just five examples worldwide.

The RM50-02 houses one of Richard Mille's most technically demanding calibres — a manually wound tourbillon movement paired with a split-seconds chronograph complication, a combination that demands extraordinary skill to engineer at any scale, let alone inside a case measuring roughly 50mm. The baseplate and bridges are machined from titanium and grade 5 titanium, keeping the movement architecture light and rigid simultaneously. The defining element, however, is the case material: NTPT Carbon, or North Thin Ply Technology carbon. Developed for high-performance sailing, NTPT is constructed from layers of unidirectional carbon fibres just 45 microns thick, pre-impregnated with resin and compressed under heat and pressure. The result is a marbled, fingerprint-unique surface pattern and a strength-to-weight ratio that no traditional case material can match.

Five pieces. That number alone places the RM50-02 NTPT in a category that transcends conventional collector conversation. At a UK list price of £1 million — equivalent to roughly $1.25–1.3 million USD at prevailing rates — it sits at the absolute apex of the Richard Mille catalogue, above even the standard RM 50-03 McLaren F1 series. The combination of a legitimate grand complication, exotic case engineering, and a production run in single digits means secondary-market transactions are essentially private negotiations between serious collectors rather than conventional grey-market trades.

Barshim's relationship with Richard Mille aligns naturally with the brand's well-established strategy of partnering with elite athletes who embody precision, peak performance, and international visibility. His shared Olympic gold with Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi at Tokyo 2020 became one of the defining sporting moments of that Games, amplifying his global profile considerably.

For collectors, a confirmed public sighting of an RM50-02 NTPT on the wrist of a brand-affiliated athlete is a reminder of just how tightly Richard Mille controls the placement of its most exclusive references. With five units in existence, grey-market pricing is largely theoretical — when one does surface, expect a significant premium above the already extraordinary list price.