Most Expensive Richard Mille: Auction Records and Reported Prices (2026)

The most expensive Richard Mille on record is the RM 52-01 Skull Tourbillon known as the Vanitas Vanitatum. This one-off piece sold for EUR 6,747,500 at Antiquorum in Monaco on July 19, 2022, per the house's own catalogue. No one can be fully sure of the "most expensive" title, because the brand publishes no prices and private sales stay private. The highest result in Sotheby's own ranking is an RM 53-02 Sapphire Tourbillon, sold for HK$35.5 million (about US$4.5 million) in Hong Kong in October 2023. Bizak & Co. is a sourcing desk, not an authorized Richard Mille dealer: every watch here is found to order, not held in stock.

Last updated on November 2, 2026. Sources: Antiquorum, Sotheby's, Phillips, Bonhams, Richard Mille, SJX Watches.

Which Richard Mille is the most expensive ever sold?

The RM 52-01 Skull Tourbillon "Vanitas Vanitatum" is the most expensive Richard Mille sold at public auction. Antiquorum listed it as lot 373 of its Monaco sale on July 19, 2022. The estimate was EUR 4,970,000 to 7,950,000. It sold for EUR 6,747,500. The catalogue describes a unique piece made in 2019, with a case cut from brown sapphire crystal. Inside is caliber RM 52-01, a hand-wound one-minute tourbillon on a grade 5 titanium baseplate. One odd note from the catalogue: the watch was first sold in Buenos Aires in February 2020, and that first buyer was never named. Swisswatches Magazine quotes the same result as about 6.66 million Swiss francs.

How sure can anyone be? Less sure than the headlines suggest. Richard Mille's product pages show no prices at all. Each sale reports in its own currency, so dollar figures for sales outside the US are conversions. Houses do not always say whether a result includes the buyer's premium. And private sales never reach a catalogue. So "most expensive" here means "highest public auction result". On that measure the skull leads. At Sotheby's, the leader is the RM 53-02 at HK$35.5 million. Sotheby's says eight of that model were made. The brand's own page says ten.

What are the confirmed auction results?

The confirmed results in the table below run from EUR 6,747,500 for the skull down to HK$8,005,000 for an RM UP-01. Each comes from the auction house's own lot page, press release or article. Sotheby's reports in Hong Kong dollars or Swiss francs. Phillips in Geneva reports in Swiss francs, and Antiquorum in Monaco reports in euros. The US dollar figures are Sotheby's own rough conversions.

Two gaps need saying. Christie's results are not in the table. Its own results page tops out at CHF 3,654,000 for an RM 56-01 and US$3,014,500 for an RM 56-02, both well below the skull. Only Watch charity results are not listed either. A sale left out is not a small sale. It was just not checked lot by lot.

What do the sapphire and Nadal models cost at retail?

At launch, these models were reported at roughly seven hundred thousand dollars to just over two million dollars. Richard Mille gives no list prices on its site. The figures below are launch prices reported by the press at the time. Treat them as reported, not official. They are also before tax in most cases.

Launch price and resale price are not the same thing. The RM 27-04 was reported at about one million dollars in 2020. A year later, number 21 of 50 sold for CHF 1,663,500 at Phillips in Geneva. The RM 56-02 was reported at just over two million dollars in 2014. Number 10 of 10 sold for HK$14.5 million at Sotheby's in Hong Kong in October 2017. The RM UP-01 was reported in the low seven figures in Swiss francs, before tax. One sold for HK$8,005,000 at Bonhams in Hong Kong on May 23, 2025, inside its estimate of HK$6.4 million to HK$11 million. For the full map of what the catalogue costs, read our Richard Mille price guide.

Why do sapphire cases cost so much?

Sapphire cases cost so much because of machine time. The brand's RM 53-02 page says each sapphire block grows for more than four weeks. The case then needs more than 1,000 hours of machining. Its triple-curved shape needs a multi-axis machine from start to finish. The bezel, caseband and caseback are each cut from a single block. For the RM 56-02, the brand's page says one case takes 40 days of round-the-clock machining. The bridges need another 400 hours of machining and finishing. Its cases are milled and ground by Stettler in Lyss, Switzerland. The older RM 056 of 2012 took more than 1,000 hours, with 430 hours of pre-forming and 350 hours of polishing. The RM 056 and RM 56-01 were made in five pieces each. The RM 56-02 and RM 53-02 were made in ten. Most of the Richard Mille catalogue uses carbon composites, titanium, gold or ceramic instead.

Why do tourbillons add so much?

A tourbillon adds cost because of who makes it and how it is mounted. SJX reported in 2017 that all Richard Mille tourbillon calibers came from Renaud & Papi, the movement maker owned by Audemars Piguet. The Nadal tourbillons go further. The RM 27-04 hangs its movement on a braided steel wire only 0.27 mm thick, looped through the bezel 38 times. The watch weighs 30 grams with its strap and is rated to about 12,000 g of shock. The RM 27-05 is rated to about 14,000 g and weighs 11.5 grams without the strap. The RM 53-02 uses 0.27 mm cables and ten pulleys to hold its movement inside the sapphire case. Each of these is a small engineering project built for 10 to 80 watches. So the development cost lands on few buyers. See the RM 27-03 in red and yellow Quartz TPT, the RM 27-04 in TitaCarb, the RM 17-01 tourbillon in Carbon TPT, the RM 66 flying tourbillon and the RM 50-04 split-seconds tourbillon chronograph. We explain the wider cost stack in why Richard Mille is so expensive.

How do small runs push prices up?

Small runs push prices up because the fixed costs land on few watches. Richard Mille made about 3,000 watches a year in 2014, per NBC News. Swisswatches Magazine put output at about 5,600 watches in 2023. Within that, the record pieces are tiny editions. The RM 056 and RM 56-01: five each. The RM 56-02 and RM 53-02: ten each. The RM 27-03 and RM 27-04: fifty each. The RM 27-05: eighty. The RM UP-01: 150. The Vanitas Vanitatum skull: one. When few exist and far more collectors want one, the auction room sets the price, not the boutique. That is how a fifty-piece RM 27-04 went from a reported one million dollars to CHF 1,663,500 at Phillips. The RM 52-06 Red Mask Tourbillon shares the RM 52 numbering with the skull and the Pharrell Williams piece. Whether these pieces hold value is a separate question, covered in is Richard Mille a good investment.

How much is a Richard Mille at the entry level?

At the entry level, a Richard Mille costs mid five figures to low six figures. That band comes from public results, not from a price list. At Phillips' New York Watch Auction XIII, an RM 016 sold for $69,850 against an estimate of $30,000 to $60,000. Phillips' results for the RM 033 and the RM 010 sit in the same band. Sotheby's own marketplace listed an RM 016 in the high five figures in 2026, with an RM 011 and an RM 67-02 in the low-to-mid six figures. So the realistic floor for a used older reference is mid to high five figures. An entry-level current catalogue model lands in the low-to-mid six figures. We go model by model in the cheapest Richard Mille, and the buying steps in how to buy a Richard Mille.

Verdict: buy a sapphire or Nadal tourbillon if you want a piece that auction rooms fight over, and you can pay seven figures. Buy an RM 016, RM 010 or RM 033 if you want the brand's design for mid five to low six figures. Either way, the market sets the price, not a list.

Related reading: The most expensive watches in the world, Why is Richard Mille so expensive? and Richard Mille price guide.

Quick answers

What is the most expensive Richard Mille ever sold?

The RM 52-01 Skull Tourbillon known as the Vanitas Vanitatum. It sold for EUR 6,747,500 at Antiquorum in Monaco on July 19, 2022, per the house's own catalogue.

How much is a Richard Mille?

Older references such as the RM 016 and RM 010 sell in the mid five figures to low six figures at auction. Sapphire and Nadal tourbillons run from the high six figures into seven figures, per press reports and auction results.

Does Richard Mille publish prices?

No. The brand's product pages show no prices. Launch prices come from press reports, and resale prices come from auction results.

What is the most expensive Richard Mille sold at Sotheby's?

An RM 53-02 Sapphire Tourbillon. It sold in Hong Kong in October 2023 for HK$35.5 million, about US$4.5 million, per Sotheby's.

Why are sapphire Richard Mille cases so expensive?

On the RM 53-02, each sapphire block grows for more than four weeks, then needs over 1,000 hours of machining, per the brand. The RM 056, RM 56-01, RM 56-02 and RM 53-02 were made in runs of five or ten.

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