Jay-Z Just Rocked an Insane $1 Million Richard Mille

Full of outrageously rare APs, complicated, diamond-studded Pateks, and double-signed, vintage Rolexes, Jay-Z’s watch collection has to be one of the most exclusive, valuable, and enviable on the planet.

Even so, it’s likely that you’ve never seen anything quite like the watch that Hov strapped on a few days ago while hanging with close friend and designer June Ambrose. Introduced in 2022, the Richard Mille RM47 is simply a bonkers piece of wrist-worn art—even by the Swiss watchmaker’s famously high-end standards. Limited to 75 pieces and retailing for roughly $1M, its construction and decorative detail are the stuff of dreams.

Inspired by the story of Samurai warrior Asano Naganori, daimyo of the Asano clan of Hiroshima—whose death was famously avenged by his 47 rōnin—the RM47 is a tourbillon-equipped, tonneau-shaped, time-only watch decorated with a helmet featuring the Asano family crest, or kamon. The manually-wound RM47 movement within, which features a power reserve of 72 hours, was specially designed to ensure that the samurai uniform would fit snugly above it and beneath the watch’s crystal.

Atop a skeletonized baseplate crafted from Grade 5 titanium are a free-sprung balance (which results in increased reliability when the watch is subjected to shocks) and a fast-rotating barrel (which increased movement performance). Protecting the movement is the watch’s pièce de resistance—armor made from 3N yellow gold. Hand engraved over the course of 16 hours, the armor features a mind-numbing amount of detail, from ribbons on the helmet to two crossed falcon feathers on the tourbillon to the expression on the samurai mask. Once the details are engraved, the armor is hand painted in a translucent coat and baked.

The watch’s 42.7mm x 50mm case is typical Richard Mille: Machined from scratch-resistant TPZ black ceramic and 18K 3N yellow gold, it’s assembled with 20 Grade 5 titanium spline screws and finished with two Nitrile o-rings, assuring water resistance to 30m. The crown, meanwhile, features a torque-limiting system that prevents overwinding. All this to say: If the incredible artistry of the dial wasn’t enough to sate your horological lust, the maison’s tech-forward approach to case and movement construction are sure to leave you impressed. (And, to be fair: They better impress you for a sticker price of $1,080,000.)

Watch collecting, of course, is subjective: Some people find a simple Rolex Submariner to be the best-looking, sexiest watch imaginable; others revel in the complex mechanism governing the functions on a perpetual calendar, while others still are attracted to the finishing on high-end Lange movements. Regardless of how you feel about Richard Mille as a brand, it’s tough to deny the incredible workmanship that goes into the RM47.

Heck—if I were Jay-Z, I’d probably own a pair of ‘em.