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Royal Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah spotted wearing Richard Mille

The Crown Prince of Brunei, Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, was recently photographed wearing a Richard Mille RM35-01 — a piece that sits at the intersection of haute horology and extreme materials engineering. The sighting, shared via the Brunei royal family's social media presence, offers a rare glimpse into the personal taste of one of Southeast Asia's most prominent royal figures.

The Richard Mille RM35-01 is no casual luxury accessory. Developed in close partnership with tennis legend Rafael Nadal, the RM35-01 houses the in-house manual-winding caliber RMUL1, featuring a baseplate and bridges machined from grade 5 titanium. The movement delivers a 55-hour power reserve and operates at 4Hz (28,800 vph). Its free-sprung balance with variable inertia ensures positional stability — critical given the watch's original brief to survive the punishment of professional-level tennis. The case itself is constructed from Carbon TPT, Richard Mille's proprietary material formed by stacking hundreds of carbon filament layers at alternating angles under intense heat and pressure, yielding a case that is extraordinarily rigid yet weighs just 33 grams complete.

Within the collector community, the RM35-01 holds a firm position as a gateway into Richard Mille's serious sporting lineage without reaching the stratospheric complexity of the RM27 series. Its relative accessibility — by Richard Mille standards — combined with the Nadal provenance gives it strong secondary market traction. The Carbon TPT reference in particular is considered the definitive execution of the model, prized for the unique veined patterning of each individual case.

Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah has been Crown Prince of Brunei since 1998, serving as Senior Minister in the Prime Minister's office. The sultanate of Brunei's immense oil wealth is well documented, and the royal family's affinity for haute horology is consistent with that context. The Crown Prince's choice of an RM35-01 over more overtly ostentatious complications suggests a collector's sensibility — an appreciation for materials innovation over simple price signaling.

At retail, the Richard Mille RM35-01 in Carbon TPT is listed at approximately £85,000 in the UK market, translating to roughly $105,000 USD. On the grey market, demand remains steady, with examples frequently trading at or slightly above retail — a reflection of limited production and enduring brand heat.