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Actor Michelle Yeoh spotted wearing Richard Mille

On the night of March 12, 2023, Michelle Yeoh made history as the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. On her wrist as she took the stage was something equally singular: the Richard Mille RM 07-02 in sapphire, a watch that stops watch collectors cold the moment they recognize it.

The RM 07-02 is Richard Mille's dedicated ladies' sports watch, first introduced in 2012, but the sapphire variant elevates the concept to an entirely different register. The case — measuring approximately 52.63 × 34.40 mm — is milled from a single block of synthetic corundum, the same material as sapphire crystal glass but machined in three dimensions. The process takes close to 40 days per case, combining laser cutting, ultrasonic machining, and hand-finishing. The result is a structure of extreme hardness (Vickers hardness of 2,000 HV) that is simultaneously transparent, allowing full visibility of the movement from every angle. Inside sits a calibre CRMA7, an in-house automatic movement with variable geometry rotor, offering approximately 50 hours of power reserve.

The dial architecture reinforces the spectacle: a partially skeletonised layout reveals the movement beneath, while an 18-carat white gold baseplate is entirely paved in brilliant-cut diamonds. The combination of industrial transparency and high jewellery craftsmanship is characteristic of the RM 07-02's design language — technical theatre executed at the highest level.

From a collector standpoint, the RM 07-02 Sapphire occupies a category with almost no peers. Production numbers are extraordinarily limited, and owners are predominantly drawn from Richard Mille's innermost client circle. The sapphire case construction, once a novelty introduced by the brand with the RM 056 in 2012, has become one of the house's most coveted signatures — and the RM 07-02 brings that technology into its ladies' sports architecture for the first time.

Yeoh has long been associated with Richard Mille, serving as a brand ambassador, but the choice of this specific reference — on the most-watched night of her career — signals something beyond contractual obligation. At a retail price of $1,050,000 USD, the RM 07-02 Sapphire rarely appears on the secondary market. When it does, grey-market premiums are substantial, reflecting genuine scarcity rather than speculative inflation.