Another day, another watch flex by Tom Brady.
The NFL great, who has been on one hell of a horological hot streak of late, showed off a dazzling Richard Mille in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
In the pic, the former Patriot can be seen standing next to Spurs star Victor Wembanyama with what appears to be an RM 72-01 on his wrist. Six-foot-four Brady is a good head shorter than seven-foot-four Wembanyama, but his steely chronograph ensures he is equally imposing.
Released in 2020, the RM 72-01 is the elegant successor to the Swiss watchmaker’s landmark RM 11 chronograph. The signature curved tonneau case spans 38.4 mm by 47.3 mm and is held together with 20 spline screws. The model comes in various materials and colorways, but the GOAT opted for a titanium case and a black rubber strap.
In true Richard Mille fashion, the dial is at once complex and beautiful. It showcases skeletonized bridges and plates, as well as three unconventionally placed subdials with colorful hands. (The 60-minute counter sits at 2 o’clock, the 24-hour counter at 5 o’clock, and the small seconds counter at 9 o’clock.)
Richard Mille RM 72-01 in red gold and titanium.
Flip it over, a wide sapphire display gives a clear view of the automatic movement. Caliber CRMC1 was actually the first flyback chronograph that Richard Mille produced entirely in-house. Crafted from titanium, the movement measures just 6.05 mm yet comprises some 425 components. The centerpiece is the double-clutch system with oscillating pinions. Essentially, the coupling system divorces the timekeeping functionality from the performance of the chronograph. This means the 50 hours of power reserve will remain steady regardless of how much the timing feature is used. A true mechanical masterpiece, the caliber required more than 30 months of full-time work from Richard Mille’s movement construction team to complete.
The Caliber CRMC1.
All that clever engineering comes at a cost, of course. The watch retailed for $188,000 at the time of release, but can now sell for over $300,000 on the second-hand market. Not that six figures will deter Brady. The seven-time Super Bowl champ has been spending big on his collection over the past year, shelling out for vintage Rolex Daytonas, new Richard Milles, and holy grail Pateks. Hey, there are worse things to invest in.
Click here to see all the best watches from Tom Brady’s bonkers collection.
Tom Brady at Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty