Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Mesut Özil spotted wearing Richard Mille

Mesut Özil was recently spotted on the wrist wearing the Richard Mille RM65-01 Automatic Winding Split Seconds Chronograph in Carbon TPT — a piece that, even by Richard Mille standards, sits in rarefied technical territory. The sighting adds another significant chapter to Özil's well-documented relationship with ultra-high-end horology.

The RM65-01 is built around Richard Mille's in-house RMAC4 calibre, a skeletonised automatic movement offering a split-seconds chronograph — known in French as a rattrapante — alongside hours, minutes, seconds, and a column-wheel flyback mechanism. The movement runs at 28,800 vph and delivers approximately 55 hours of power reserve. Achieving a reliable rattrapante in an automatic winding architecture is a genuine feat of micro-engineering; the split-seconds mechanism requires two superimposed chronograph wheels held in place by a heart-shaped cam and a precisely tensioned split-seconds brake. Very few manufactures execute this at volume.

The case material is Carbon TPT — a trademarked composite developed in partnership with North Thin Ply Technology, originally engineered for America's Cup yacht hulls. Layers of carbon filament are laid at 45-degree angles and compressed under high pressure, producing a material that is extraordinarily stiff relative to its mass and displays the distinctive rippled surface pattern that has become a Richard Mille visual signature. The case measures 44mm × 49.94mm, conforming to the brand's signature tonneau architecture.

Collector interest in the RM65-01 has been intense since release. The combination of a split-seconds complication — historically the preserve of grand complications from Patek Philippe or A. Lange & Söhne — with Richard Mille's motorsport-derived materials philosophy creates a piece that appeals to two distinct collector profiles simultaneously. Production is tightly controlled, which feeds the secondary market premium aggressively.

Özil has been photographed with multiple Richard Mille references over the years and is considered one of football's most knowledgeable watch enthusiasts. His choice of the RM65-01 rather than a flashier tourbillon variant signals a collector who prioritises mechanical complexity over visual spectacle — a distinction that watch circles note and respect.