Understanding Richard Mille Ferrari Watches

Richard Mille and Ferrari officially teamed up in 2021, combining two brands already deeply involved in motorsport and high-performance engineering. Since then, the collaboration has led to some of Richard Mille’s most ambitious watch designs yet, including ultra-thin technical feats and brash chronographs inspired by Ferrari’s automotive world. Alongside these Richard Mille x Ferrari releases, the partnership has extended to Ferrari F1 drivers like Charles Leclerc and, more recently, Lewis Hamilton, who joined the team in 2025. Here’s a closer look at the watches that define the Richard Mille Ferrari connection.

Official Partnership Between Richard Mille and the Ferrari F1 Team

In 2021, Richard Mille announced a long-term partnership with Ferrari — a natural fit for a brand already steeped in high-performance engineering and motorsport. While Richard Mille has long been involved in Formula 1 through sponsorships with drivers like Felipe Massa, Charles Leclerc, and Fernando Alonso, this marked the brand’s first official alliance with an entire team. And not just any team — Ferrari, the most iconic name in the sport.

For Richard Mille, the partnership provides a unique opportunity to develop watches that channel Ferrari’s design language, material experimentation, and relentless pursuit of speed. That mindset helped shape the groundbreaking RM UP-01 Ferrari, the first co-branded watch from the partnership and one of the most technically advanced timepieces the brand has ever released.

RM UP-01 Ferrari

With a case thickness of just 1.75mm, the RM UP-01 Ferrari set a new benchmark for ultra-thin mechanical watches when it debuted in 2022, and it’s still one of the world’s thinnest watches. Born from the collaboration between Richard Mille and Ferrari, the RM UP-01 took over 6,000 hours of development and dozens of prototypes to complete.

The movement, Caliber RMUP-01, was developed in partnership with Audemars Piguet Le Locle (formerly APRP). To achieve the ultra-slim profile, the architecture had to be completely rethought; instead of layering components, the movement is spread laterally across the wide case and assembled traditionally inside it (rather than built into the caseback, like some concept watches). Despite its extreme thinness, the RM UP-01 is built for real-world use with shock resistance tested to over 5,000 Gs and a 45-hour power reserve.

The patented ultra-flat escapement eliminates height-increasing parts like the guard pin and safety roller, replacing them with a redesigned anchor fork. A variable-inertia balance wheel in grade 5 titanium and a fast-rotating barrel round out the movement specs. The caliber measures a mere 1.18mm thick.

Meanwhile, the case — which resembles a platinum Amex card — measures 51mm by 39mm and is machined from grade 5 titanium, complete with ceramic inserts around the crowns and laser-engraved Ferrari branding. Functions are minimal: hours, minutes, and a function selector to toggle between winding and setting. There are two sapphire crystals on the dial (well, it’s not a traditional dial; it would be more accurate to call it the watch face in this case): one shielding the hour/minute display and the other covering the balance wheel.

The RM UP-01 Richard Mille Ferrari watch was made in a limited edition run of 150 pieces, each priced at a jaw-dropping $1.88 million.

RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari

Richard Mille and Ferrari followed up their record-thin RM UP-01 with a very different kind of technical flex: the RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari. Unveiled as part of the 2025 Richard Mille watch releases, this model takes one of the brand’s most complex complication stacks and runs it through a Ferrari filter, with visual cues pulled from crankcases, clutch wheels, and dashboard tachometers. Production is capped at 150 pieces: 75 with microblasted titanium cases and Carbon TPT casebands, and 75 in full Carbon TPT. The cases keep Richard Mille’s signature tonneau shape, measuring 42.9mm across and 51.2mm lug-to-lug.

At the heart of the watch is the RM43-01 caliber, again developed in collaboration with Audemars Piguet Le Locle. The manually wound movement combines a tourbillon with a split-seconds chronograph, wrapped in a highly architectural layout with a 70-hour power reserve. There’s also a torque indicator and a function selector, giving the dial a dashboard-like display. The tourbillon itself is offset from center and framed by a five-blade active seconds display that completes a rotation every 12 seconds. The movement’s baseplate is made from grade 5 titanium, with bridges in both titanium and Carbon TPT, finished with contrasting textures and golden screws for an engine-block feel.

Ferrari’s Centro Stile worked directly on the case design, crown, hands, and even the strap, which features a pattern pulled from the Purosangue’s interior. The titanium version channels a more refined, “gentleman driver” vibe, while the carbon model is designed to be louder and more aggressive. Prices are aggressive too: $1,300,000 for the titanium RM 43-01 and $1,535,000 for the Carbon TPT version.

Charles Leclerc’s Richard Mille Watches

Monégasque racing driver Charles Leclerc has been part of the Richard Mille family since the early days of his F1 career. The brand was one of his earliest sponsors, and their partnership has only grown stronger since he joined Scuderia Ferrari in 2019. As one of the sport’s most promising talents, Leclerc is a natural fit for the brand’s mix of cutting-edge performance and high-adrenaline lifestyle appeal.

As a Richard Mille ambassador, it’s no surprise that Leclerc has worn a variety of the brand’s watches over the years, including prototypes and limited editions. One of the most notable was the RM 67-02 Automatic Winding Extra Flat Charles Leclerc Prototype — a red-and-white version made in honor of his national flag, often seen on his wrist during races. That piece was later donated to the Only Watch charity auction in 2021, where it fetched CHF 2.1 million.

He’s also been spotted with the RM UP-01 Ferrari, the ultra-thin collab piece mentioned above, as well as models from the Richard Mille Rafael Nadal line like the RM 35-03 and RM 35-01, both known for their sporty builds and skeletonized dials. Another piece in his rotation includes the RM 61-01 Ultimate Edition, part of the Yohan Blake RM collection.

Most recently, Richard Mille released a new piece that puts Leclerc’s name front and center: the RM 72-01 “Leclerc”, marking another milestone in the ongoing partnership between the brand and the Ferrari F1 driver.

Lewis Hamilton’s Richard Mille Watches

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton made headlines in 2024 when he announced his move from Mercedes to Ferrari, set to begin in the 2025 season. While with Mercedes, Hamilton was an IWC brand ambassador — but with Ferrari comes a new chapter, and a new watch brand. Thanks to Ferrari’s partnership with Richard Mille, Hamilton is now regularly seen wearing RM watches.

Since the announcement, he’s been spotted with several models, starting with the RM 67-02 “Italy” edition — a lightweight carbon-cased piece decked out in the colors of the Italian flag. He also wears the RM 43-01 Ferrari Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph detailed above, as well as the RM 74-02 Automatic Tourbillon in not one but two versions: gold carbon TPT and gold quartz TPT.

Hamilton’s relationship with Richard Mille is just getting started, so it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing even more RM watches on his wrist soon.

Richard Mille x Ferrari

The Richard Mille Ferrari partnership goes far beyond logo placement. From ultra-thin record-setters to complicated chronographs and high-profile wrist time on Formula 1 drivers, the collaboration reflects both brands’ obsession with pushing performance, whether in watchmaking or motorsport.

While the relationship is still in its early stages (and Ferrari has partnered with other watch brands in the past), there’s every reason to expect more technically ambitious releases and deeper ties to the Ferrari F1 team in the years ahead.