Lionel Messi in Vantara: Anant Ambani gifts ₹10 crore Richard Mille RM 003-V2 Tourbillon to football legend. Details here

During football giant Lionel Messi's recent visit to India, Anant Ambani gifted him an ultra-rare RM 003-V2 GMT Tourbillon “Asia Edition”, priced at approximately $1.1 million (~₹10 crore), at Vantara. The watch is said to be a limited edition, with only 12 pieces available globally.

The Ambani scion himself was wearing one of the most exclusive Richard Mille watches ever, the Piece Unique RM 056 Sapphire Tourbillon. 

About the RM 003-V2 GMT Tourbillon “Asia Edition” watch

The watch features a manual-winding tourbillon movement with hours, minutes, a dual time zone indicator, a function selector, power-reserve and torque indicators, along with a black carbon case, a skeleton dial, and a titanium baseplate.

It has a 38mm tripartite case made of Carbon TPT (Thin Ply Technology), a material initially developed for aerospace and Formula 1 racing.

The RM 003 marked the next stage after the RM 002, introducing a second time zone to the tourbillon movement. Its innovative sapphire disc made black hour numerals appear to “light up” over a white section at 3 o’clock. This concept later appeared in other Richard Mille models, with the time zone adjustable via a pusher at 9 o’clock.

Moreover, the tourbillon movement is designed to counteract the effects of gravity on the watch's accuracy. The manual-winding movement includes a torque indicator between 1 and 2 o'clock to monitor mainspring tension, and a power-reserve indicator at 10:30 showing up to 70 hours.

Akin to a car's gearbox, a pusher in the watch's crown allows the wearer to switch between W (Winding), N (Neutral) and H (Hand-Setting) modes.

Other celebrities who own the watch

Several other personalities known to own this ultra-rare, limited-timepiece include the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher, former FIA president and Ferrari team principal Jean Todt, Crown Prince of Johor Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, and renowned watchmaker Kari Voutilainen.

($1 = ₹90.26 today)