Serenay Sarıkaya has never been particularly interested in following the expected route. Now, the award-winning Turkish actress is bringing that same instinct for individuality to Richard Mille, joining the Swiss watchmaker as its newest global partner.
It is an alliance built around considerably more than celebrity. Sarıkaya’s career has been characterised by an appetite for reinvention, moving confidently between television, film and theatre while steadily building an international profile that extends into fashion and contemporary culture.
For Richard Mille, a maison that has always revelled in challenging convention, the connection feels natural.
From Turkish Screen Star to Global Talent
Sarıkaya began working at just 15, entering an industry in which longevity is never guaranteed. What followed has been a career defined by curiosity, resilience and a willingness to take risks.
“When you start with nothing at a very young age, I guess you feel like you have nothing to lose,” she says. “You lose some, you learn some and you just keep going.”
That philosophy has taken her remarkably far. Sarıkaya has received five Golden Butterfly Awards, including two individual Best Actress honours, as well as being named GQ Türkiye’s Woman of the Year. Her starring performance in Alice the Musical marked another significant chapter, with the production receiving the Haldun Dormen Special Award at the prestigious Afife Theatre Awards.
Her reach is increasingly international, too. Her performance in Aile earned her a PRODU Award for Best Non-Spanish-Speaking Actress, reflecting the growing audience for her work far beyond Türkiye.
But Sarıkaya is looking further ahead. International films, time spent living abroad and the global film-festival circuit are all on her radar. More intriguingly, she is writing a film of her own, with ambitions to eventually see the project on the big screen.
Serenay Sarıkaya and Richard Mille: A Natural Fit
Sarıkaya was already a watch enthusiast and familiar with Richard Mille long before the partnership emerged. What appealed to her was not simply the technical brilliance or unmistakable design language of the watches, but the attitude behind them.
“To me, Richard Mille is about having the courage to create your own rules,” she explains.
Richard Mille has built its identity by refusing to separate high watchmaking from experimentation. Advanced materials, daring architecture and extraordinary mechanical complexity have become signatures of the maison, while its watches are as likely to appear on the wrists of elite athletes as collectors and cultural figures.
Sarıkaya identifies with that tension between heritage and progress.
“I love the idea of respecting where you come from without letting tradition define where you can go,” she says. “You can be sophisticated and daring, feminine and powerful, deeply rooted and still constantly evolving.”
As part of the partnership, Sarıkaya wears the Richard Mille RM 037 Automatic in white gold, finished with snow-set diamonds — a technically sophisticated yet unapologetically glamorous choice.
For Amanda Mille, Brand and Partnerships Director at Richard Mille, Sarıkaya’s appeal lies as much in character as achievement.
“Serenay perfectly embodies the very contemporary spirit of the brand,” she says, highlighting her long-term vision, grounded personality and commitment to family and human values.
That sense of discipline runs throughout Sarıkaya’s career. Her athletic background helped establish a mindset built around determination, teamwork and the constant pursuit of improvement. Acting, she argues, is never a solitary exercise.
“It is like an orchestra. Every instrument needs to be in beautiful harmony.”
It is another idea that sits comfortably within Richard Mille’s world, where extraordinary results depend upon hundreds of tiny components working in absolute synchronicity.
Sarıkaya’s influence now stretches considerably beyond acting.
In 2024, she received the GQ Türkiye Creativity Award and represented Türkiye at the GQ Global Creativity Awards in New York. In 2026, she was named ELLE Girl of the Year at the ELLE Style Awards after serving as guest Editor-in-Chief for ELLE Turkey’s landmark 300th issue.
Fashion has naturally become another part of that evolution. Known for an assured and highly individual sense of style, Sarıkaya has collaborated with major international luxury houses and developed an image that feels sophisticated without becoming predictable. Yet there is purpose behind the visibility.
She has consistently used her platform to champion women and speaks openly about drawing inspiration from both the women who shaped Turkish history and those within her own life. Through the characters she chooses to inhabit, she hopes to encourage others towards the same qualities that have driven her own journey: courage, curiosity and a willingness to take the unexpected path.
The Next Chapter
There is an intriguing symmetry between Serenay Sarıkaya and Richard Mille. Both are rooted in their respective worlds but distinctly uninterested in being confined by them. Both understand that elegance becomes more compelling when accompanied by strength, and that respecting tradition need not mean surrendering to it.
For Sarıkaya, whose ambitions are increasingly international and whose creative interests continue to expand beyond acting, the partnership arrives at an interesting moment.
Richard Mille may have found its newest ambassador, but Sarıkaya appears to be entering a chapter in which actress, fashion figure and emerging filmmaker begin to converge. And if her career so far is any indication, following the prescribed route was never going to be part of the plan.
