Movie star Sylvester Stallone says Yohan Blake-inspired luxury watch is a showstopper
The partnership started shortly before Blake’s accomplishments during the 2012 Olympic Games in London when Blake ran 9.75 and 19.44 for silver medals behind Usain Bolt.
The model, which was created for and with Yohan Blake, was unveiled in 2013. The design of the RM 59-01 is one of the company’s most spectacular editions. Only 50 pieces were made and retailed for US$620,000.
The very first piece was sold to a Nigerian billionaire who received his watch from the athlete himself at Harrods in London, Sportsmax.TV understands. Since then, some of the world’s most famous personalities have sought after and added the RM 59-01 to their collections, among them Hollywood mogul Sylvester Stallone.
Stallone is one of the most important watch collectors of the last several decades, credited with boosting brands like Panerai and Richard Mille while ushering in an era of giant watches that lingers to this day.
He was very impressed with the RM 59-01, the Yohan Blake.
“This watch was designed by Richard Mille on the basis of speed,” Stallone said in a video Blake posted on his Instagram page on Sunday. “It’s named after a world-class sprinter. It looks like it’s moving when it’s standing still, the Yohan Blake. It looks fast. It’s like an animal.”
Blake worked with Richard Mille to develop a special calibre designed for sprinters the world over. The RM 59-01 Yohan Blake is described as an aerodynamic, ergonomic and high-performance tourbillon watch featuring a very original structure that meets all the requirements of the sprinter and the brand.
The piece has dynamic bridges that span the movement and hand-painted in green and yellow in tribute to the Jamaican flag.
“This watch has a sprinter’s movement,” Stallone continued. “This one is a show stopper.
“When I bought it, I wore it one time and I guess it was photographed by the Daily Mail or something like that. Six months later I went to Europe and I walked into a restaurant and the maître d goes ‘Aww, I thought you had worn the Yohan Blake I saw it the newspaper’. I said ‘No, I keep it packed away, I don’t want anything to happen to it’.
“This is what you call star quality. This one has it.”
Ever since they first met, Richard Mille took a liking to the Jamaican sprinter because of his athletic talents and his generosity.
According to the Richard Mille website, Blake may have conquered the world, but he has never forgotten his native Jamaica and makes sure that the fruits of his success are invested where they are needed - back home.
“Yohan is extremely generous, devoting much of his time to helping underprivileged children in his native Jamaica through his YBAfraid charity. He is the only sportsman to donate much of his own income towards his foundation. Richard Mille was immediately smitten with Yohan's personality, his commitment to humanitarian causes, his tremendous talent as a sprinter, his flawless technique and his bewildering capacity for breaking records.”