Fourteen years after its release, Richard Mille and Rafael Nadal have teamed up to create the last-ever RM 027 tourbillon timepiece.
Richard Mille and Rafael Nadal have been by each other’s side since 2010 when the two powerhouses decided to form a formidable partnership. What has yielded from this partnership has been nothing short of extraordinary. With the tennis superstar working alongside Richard Mille’s engineering and design teams, the two have been able to create timepeices that still to this day carry incredible feats in the world of horology.
Nadal is also extremely fond of Richard Mille’s timepieces. He was the first player I’ve witnessed playing an intense, gruelling tennis match while wearing a heavy-hitting luxury watch. Back then you didn’t see too many players wearing expensive wristwatches, let alone timepieces at all. But that was the beauty of Nadal’s RM watches, they were designed specifically to be worn while playing on the court, to be able to withstand the sudden change in wrist movements and g-forces that may occur. On top of that, the watches were designed to be super-lightweight. The last thing you need while playing a tough game is a watch weighing your wrist down.
“My relationship with Richard Mille, the company, as well as Richard as a person, has undoubtedly been a pillar of my sports career since 2010. They have supported me in all circumstances, and I hope that this bond will continue for many more years. Richard Mille is not just a simple partner: he has never stopped being by my side, in good times and in difficult ones. Today, after these 14 years, they are part of my family and my life.”
– Rafael Nadal –
Nadal’s love for Richard Mille is shown through the numerous RM timepieces he owns. In fact, the Spanish superstar has a Richard Mille collection worth upwards of fourteen million dollars! See our Celebrity Watch Spotting article here to see this incredible RM collection! While many of the timepieces he owns are part of the RM 27 collection (a partnership between Nadal and Richard Mille), he also owns watches from other collections, including a collection of RM 35 and RM 11 pieces.
Now, the climax of the RM 27 story is coming to a close with the release of the RM 27-05 Manual Winding Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal. The last RM 27 timepiece is leaving the spotlight with a bang, setting a two-fold record for a manual winding tourbillon watch, with the watch’s weight being just 11.5 grams and another record for withstand g-forces of up to 14,000.
The RM 27-05’s mere weight of 11.5 grams makes it the world’s lightest and most resilient mechanical tourbillon watch ever made. While the movement mechanics plays a major role in the lightness of this timepiece, another big reason is the case construction. The RM 27-05 comes with Carbon TPT® B.4, which is a new material at Richard Mille, developed on the back of their previous innovation Carbon TPT®.
So, what makes this new carbon variant different? Richard Mille explains it as “the production of Carbon TPT® B4 is the same production process as Carbon TPT®. Hundreds of layers or parallel carbon filaments no more than 50 microns across are impregnated with an all-new high-performance resin, then stacked using a machine unique to NTPT™ that modifies the fibres’ orientation by 70° between layers. This specific weave optimises the material’s strength-to-weight ratio when machined. The composite is then heated to 120° at a pressure of 6 bars for subsequent machining at Richard Mille.”
“Carbon TPT® B.4 is an optimised anisotropic material. Compared to standard Carbon TPT®, this new composite is 4% denser, its fibres are 15% stiffer, and the resin is 30% more resistant. These qualities make it possible to machine thinner pieces for the case and thus lighten the whole without loss of rigidity—as, for instance, on the monobloc caseback.”
Bridges 
Flying Tourbillon 
Baseplate
The movement construction is just as genius of a solution as the case. The calibre RM 27-05 movement rests on the caseback on protrusions that are directly machined into the case, without the use of screws! The bezel and flange then firmly hold the movement in place against the caseback, with the structure of the movement adding to the rigidity of the case and vice versa.
The RM 27-5 calibre is quite impressive as well, to say the least. This ultralight movement weighs only just 3.79 grams and has been subjected to incredibly harsh tests to validate that it meets the rigorous optimal strength requirements. Before Rafael Nadal came along, Richard Mille timepieces weren’t pushed through extreme validation tests to see the deformation of the tomographic study of the watches, especially after multiple shock phases. The final release of the RM 27 collection is to be the best ever, as it stands as a paragon of resistance, effortlessly withstanding shocks beyond 14,000 g’s. A symbol of pure performance.
Calibre RM 27-05 
The fast-rotating flying barrel 
Flying Toourbillon #2
The calibre RM 27-05 movement also features the fastest-rotating flying barrel, spinning at a rate of 5.2 hours per revolution. The brand states that through this, “the phenomenon of periodic internal mainspring adhesion is significantly diminished, thereby increasing performance and provision of an excellent mainspring delta curve with an ideal power reserve/performance and regularity ratio.” The end result is the RM 27-05 calibre putting out a power reserve of approximately 55 hours while operating at a frequency of 3hz (21,600 VpH).
Final Thoughts
Richard Mille didn’t hold back in the finale of RM 27’s saga. The brand has certainly captured the core essence of what the RM 27 Rafael Nadal collection has been about creating timepieces that push the boundaries of material innovation, strength, and durability while also being extremely light!
It must be said, though, that this isn’t the end of the partnership between Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille. While it may have looked like that at first, with the brand closing off the RM 27 collection, on the contrary, it paves the way for new beginnings. As they say, “When one door closes, another opens”. Here’s to hoping that the next collection between the two is just as remarkable. But then again, what’s to hope when we all know quite well what both Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille are capable of?
References: Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal
Specification
- Size: 37.25mm x 47.25mm Thickness: 7.20mm
- Case: Carbon TPT Tonneau shaped case
- Dial: Skeletonised dial showing calibre RM 27-05 movement.
- Crystal: Lightweight PMMA polymer with scratch-resistant coating.
- Water resistance: 10m
- Movement: Calibre RM 27-05
- Movement Frequency: 3hz (21, 600 VpH)
- Power reserve: Approximately 55 hours
- Strap: Black textile strap
