Pilot Carlos Sainz spotted wearing a Richard Mille

Carlos Sainz, the Formula 1 driver currently competing for the Williams Racing team, was recently photographed wearing a Richard Mille RM 67-02 'Alexander Zverev' edition — a watch that shares more engineering philosophy with a racing car's chassis than with any traditional Swiss timepiece. The sighting is entirely consistent with Sainz's well-documented appreciation for technically ambitious watches, and the choice of this particular reference speaks to a genuine understanding of what separates a serious collector's piece from mere brand signalling.

The Richard Mille RM 67-02 was developed in close collaboration with German tennis champion Alexander Zverev and represents the brand's relentless pursuit of mass reduction without mechanical compromise. The 38.70 x 47.52mm case — ultrathin at just 7.8mm — is constructed from Carbon Quartz TPT, a proprietary composite material created by layering carbon fibres at alternating 45-degree angles and impregnating them with quartz silica, producing a structure of remarkable rigidity and negligible mass. Bridges and movement components are machined from grade 5 titanium and forged carbon. The cumulative result: a fully equipped watch and strap assembly weighing a mere 32 grams. The automatic movement, calibre RMAS7, offers hours, minutes, seconds, and date with a 50-hour power reserve.

From a collector's standpoint, the RM 67-02 athlete editions occupy a specific and fiercely contested tier within the Richard Mille ecosystem. Limited production numbers, named athlete collaborations, and the inherent difficulty of working with Carbon Quartz TPT — no two cases are visually identical due to the material's natural patterning — mean these references rarely surface on the secondary market. When they do, premiums over retail are extreme and persistent, as current grey-market valuations confirm.

Sainz's connection to weight-critical engineering is professional rather than incidental. In Formula 1, grams matter as much as horsepower, and the RM 67-02's obsessive approach to mass reduction mirrors the aerodynamic and structural calculus that defines his daily working environment. The watch is, in that sense, a coherent extension of his professional world.

Retail on the Richard Mille RM 67-02 'Alexander Zverev' edition is listed at $116,800 USD, a figure that already places it among the upper tier of the Richard Mille catalogue. Grey-market valuations have climbed to approximately $396,000 USD — a premium of roughly 239% over retail — reflecting both the reference's scarcity and the sustained demand that named RM athlete editions consistently command among serious collectors worldwide.