Watch Paparazzi

Actor Michelle Yeoh spotted wearing Richard Mille

Michelle Yeoh, the Malaysian-born actress who claimed the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2023 for Everything Everywhere All at Once, was recently spotted wearing what may be the most conversation-stopping watch in Richard Mille's entire catalogue: the RM 26-02 Evil Eye Tourbillon, a piece limited to just 25 examples globally.

The Richard Mille RM 26-02 is built around a manually wound tourbillon movement — calibre RM26-02 — beating at 21,600 vph and offering approximately 70 hours of power reserve. The baseplate and bridges are fashioned from grade 5 titanium, keeping the overall weight negligible on the wrist, a signature Richard Mille engineering priority. But the mechanical architecture almost plays second fiddle to the dial concept: the tourbillon cage is encircled by a stylised evil eye amulet, set with diamonds and coloured gemstones, integrating talisman iconography directly into the movement architecture. The case measures 42.7 mm × 34.4 mm in Richard Mille's characteristic tonneau form, crafted in 18-carat red gold.

From a collector's standpoint, the RM 26-02 sits at the intersection of haute horlogerie and wearable art — a space Richard Mille has colonised almost entirely alone at this price stratum. With only 25 pieces produced, secondary market appearances are genuinely rare. The evil eye motif carries cross-cultural resonance across the Middle East, Mediterranean, and Asia, which likely contributed to its collector appeal beyond Richard Mille's traditional European and American strongholds. Provenance and condition are everything with pieces this scarce.

Yeoh's relationship with Richard Mille is no accident of styling — she has been a formal brand ambassador for the Geneva-based manufacture for several years, and her wrist has become something of a showcase for the brand's most architecturally ambitious references. Her global profile, spanning Hollywood, Hong Kong cinema, and high fashion, maps cleanly onto Richard Mille's own international positioning.

At a UK list price exceeding £543,000 — translating to roughly $685,000 USD at current exchange — the RM 26-02 Evil Eye Tourbillon is not a watch that trades on the grey market with any frequency. When examples do surface, premiums above retail are reliably reported given the 25-piece production ceiling. For collectors tracking ultra-limited Richard Mille tourbillons, this remains one of the most visually distinctive references the brand has produced this decade.