Since their founding in 1999, Richard Mille have stunned with their bold designs, ultra high-tech materials and big price tags, typified by watches like the RM 029. Because of the £145,000+ an RM costs, for the most part they’re only to be seen on the wrists of international megastars like Jay-Z and Rafael Nadal. For the vast majority of collectors, a Richard Mille will forever be an aspiration.
The RM 029 is discontinued now, so short of hunting one down on the second-hand market, owning one is off the table. That doesn’t mean you can’t embrace urban and sporty tonneau wristwatches, though – here are plenty of affordable alternatives to the Richard Mille RM 029.
Under £1,000
Tornado Xenith Multi Function, $265 (approx. £210)
The Tornado Xenith Multi Function is the most affordable alternative to the Richard Mille RM 029 on this list at $265 (approx. £210). Tornado hand you a tonneau case in brushed stainless steel, with a sapphire crystal, 10 ATM of water resistance and a three-year warranty for a shade over £200. That’s remarkable value however you look at it. The barrel case has the broad, screwed-down presence the look demands, finished here in stealthy all-black on a tapering FKM rubber strap. It sits sharply against the red accents on the subdials, second hand and crown.
The one thing to be upfront about is the movement: a Seiko VX9J Japanese quartz multifunction rather than anything mechanical. If you want the RM silhouette and aren’t precious about a beating heart, it’s hard to argue with.
More details at Tornado.
Ingersoll Challenger Automatic, £375
Ingersoll’s Challenger Automatic is impressively affordable for an automatic watch with a 44.6mm tonneau case in stainless steel.
Aesthetically, it has a strong likeness to Richard Mille with a thick bezel featuring decorative screws and an integrated bracelet. It has a skeletonised dial, although the sharp contrast of the white hands and black frame means it’s more legible than most skeleton watches.
More details at Ingersoll.
Yonger & Bresson Singulier, $590 (approx. £450)
Considering that Yonger & Bresson worked with the Franck Muller design team to create the Singulier, it’s little surprise that it’s a solid alternative to the Richard Mille RM 029. Better still, it’s genuinely affordable at $590 (approx. £450).
It has a skeleton dial with a geometric overlay displaying core components of the movement. The movement itself is the Miyota 8N24 automatic with 42-hour power reserve. It’s housed inside a 36mm x 39mm tonneau case made from stainless steel.
More details at Yonger & Bresson.
Between £1,000 – £10,000
CIGA Design Hunter Vintage, TBC
The Hunter Vintage is CIGA Design’s 2026 reworking of its open-worked skeleton, offered in three warm tones: sand, rose and brown gold. Not yet released, it’s currently available to pre-order ahead of its launch later this year. The signature three-layer tonneau case is made up of micro-sandblasted 316L stainless steel, with a curved sapphire crystal, and the fully skeletonised dial is visible front and back.
Inside is CIGA’s self-developed CD-07 automatic, with a 40-hour power reserve. It’s a genuine automatic skeleton in the RM mould for a fraction of the price, from a brand with seventeen international design awards to its name.
More details at CIGA Design.
MTW Genève MT1 GTR EVO-2 ALLBLACK ICE, CHF 2,390 (approx. £2,260)
You can’t talk about Richard Mille alternatives without mentioning MTW Genève. Their tonneau cases with stylised ribbing immediately conjure images of the silhouette of an RM 029. Although, in stark black and white, the MT1 GTR EVO-2 ALLBLACK ICE is reminiscent of a different and particularly desirable Mille, the Bubba Watson.
Of course, the MT1’s CHF 2,390 (approx. £2,260) price tag is a little different to the £350,000 of an actual Bubba Watson. MTW’s accessibility comes from using off-the-shelf movements like the ETA/Valjoux 7750.
More details at MTW Geneve.
Blackout XP1 Tourbillon Swiss Made, £6,650
We’ve been hands-on with this one, and it makes the case for accessible haute horlogerie as well as anything here. It’s a 44mm forged-carbon tonneau – Blackout’s UAC composite, which glows under UV – housing a genuine Swiss-made flying tourbillon from Geneva workshop DW&Co, with an 80-hour reserve and chronometer-grade accuracy of -0/+6 seconds a day.
It’s limited to 50 pieces, and if the tonneau sports-watch archetype is your thing, it’s exactly where you should be looking. It’s also the most affordable Swiss tourbillon on the list.
More details at Blackout Watches.
Over £10,000
Franck Muller V 45 CC GD SQT BR (NR), POA
Franck Muller are only 8 years Richard Mille’s elder so it’s not that surprising that they share similar ideas on watchmaking – they come from the same era. However, it’s notable that the Franck Muller Skafander and Vanguard – both of which are worthy RM 029 alternatives – were produced well after Richard Mille developed their signature style.
Of the two, the Vanguard is the more suitable for inclusion here, and looks-wise it’s the closer match, particularly in Grande Date Skeleton form. The 44mm case is finished in brushed black, with the dial cut away to show the movement beneath. It’s no impulse buy, but set against a six-figure RM it’s still a tiny fraction of the price.
More details at Franck Muller.
Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Chronograph Titanium, £20,700
Unfortunately, if you want a watch with a similar performance and reputation to a Richard Mille, the price tags tend to get higher fast. The last few watches presented here can only be considered affordable in relation to the extreme price of an RM. Like Richard Mille, Hublot are well known for their high prices and the Spirit of Big Bang Chronograph Titanium sits at £20,700.
Titanium is the perfect material for high-end sports watches and the darker tone of its colouration, compared to steel, gives the 42mm tonneau case a serious aspect. It houses the skeletonised HUB4700 chronograph calibre with automatic winding and a 50-hour power reserve.
More details at Hublot.
Bianchet Tonneau UltraFino, CHF 85,500 (approx. £77,000)
It says a lot about RM pricing that the RM 029, a time-and-date watch, costs comfortably more than this in-house flying tourbillon: Bianchet’s rose gold Tonneau UltraFino.
The flying tourbillon movement has been skeletonised with special attention paid to keeping it ultra-thin, its main plate, bridges and tourbillon cage all machined from grade-5 titanium. At just 8.9mm thick, it has a 60-hour power reserve and is shock resistant up to 5,000G – haute horlogerie that, for once, doesn’t demand a Richard Mille budget. If you’re weighing Bianchet vs Richard Mille, the UltraFino’s pitch is simple: comparable materials engineering and wearability for a fraction of the outlay.
More details at Bianchet.
