Fernando Alonso reportedly a big part of designing ultra luxury watch worth $1M

Two-time F1 Champion Fernando Alonso reportedly helped with the design of the Richard Mille released in 2022. Alonso and RM drew inspiration from Japanese Samurai beliefs and ideology for this specific watch, which was released at a price of over $1 million.

Aston Martin star Fernando Alonso lives his life by the bushido code, which was a strict code of conduct followed by samurai in feudal Japan, meaning "the way of the warrior". Just like a samurai warrior, the Spaniard has dedicated his life to courage, respect, and honor. Alonso adhered to its principles of live, fight, and die in the racing world.

The 42-year-old also has a tattoo of a samurai warrior on his back extending from the back of his neck to the middle of his back. The Japanese GP has always been a special place for Alonso, who came up with Samurai-themed special helmets for the race in previous years. The Japanese GP is also the place where Fernando Alonso made the iconic pass on Michael Schumacher around the 130R in 2005.

The Spaniard is a known watch enthusiast and has often been spotted wearing a Richard Mille. Back in 2022, Fernando Alonso got the opportunity to work with luxury watch brand Richard Mille as they released the limited run RM 47 manual winding Tourbillon.

The watch run was limited to 75 units, which have all been sold out. The RM 47 Tourbillon was launched at a price tag of $1,040,000, with Fernando Alonso owning one of the 75 units. The Spaniard uploaded a post about the same on his Instagram back in 2022, which read:

“A true piece of art. A true honor to be part of this project and the Richard Mille family. @richardmille #samurai”

Richard Mille's website also gave insights into more details about this collaboration with Alonso for their limited edition timepiece.

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Richard Mille revealed the details of the RM 47 Tourbillon, designed in collaboration with Fernando Alonso

The Fernando Alonso collaborated RM47 took inspiration from the samurai warrior, specifically the Asano Clan from the 18th century, which symbolizes the bushido spirit. The watch features a Samurai warrior on the dial, which is engraved by Pierre-Alain Lozeron and painted by his wife Valérie.

Richard Mille’s website revealed the intricacies of the RM47 as it read:

“In total, it took no less than 16 hours of engraving and 9 hours of painting – in all, more than a whole day – to obtain the 11 components that make up the Samurai. Like a guardian, the armour provides precious protection for the manual-winding calibre RM47 with hours and minutes.” “To ensure optimal functioning of the movement, the baseplate and skeletonised bridges are made of grade 5 titanium, a biocompatible alloy often used in the aerospace industry, with a black PVD treatment. This combination offers high corrosion-resistance, remarkable rigidity and perfectly flat surfaces.”

Alonso is often spotted flaunting the special edition Richard Mille, with the most recent spotting being in February 2025, where the Spaniard got out of his $4.5 million Aston Martin Valkyrie wearing the RM 47 Tourbillon.

Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar