Richard Mile and Rafael Nadal partner for one of the lightest tourbillon wristwatches ever produced, the RM 027.
What? Watch brands have a long affiliation with the sporting world, timing races, sponsoring championships, and signing athletes as ambassadors. Richard Mille has taken the alliance one step further, developing watches in partnership with champions who will then wear them at play. For the past six years, speed king Felipe Massa has steered his Formula One Grand Prix cars while sporting a Richard Mille watch; this summer Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal shot to victory at the French Open and Wimbledon wearing the RM 027, his powerful serve, ground strokes and volleys unimpaired by the tourbillon on his wrist.
How? Naturally this is not just any old heavy or cumbersome timepiece. The new RM 027 Tourbillon, with its titanium and aluminium lithium inner workings, is the lightest mechanical watch in the world. It was designed and made especially for Nadal after Mille met him two years ago and the men hit it off. Nadal was involved in the watch development, testing prototypes on the court.
Why? Richard Mille has experimented with the concept of weight reduction in haute horology since the conception of the brand. “When I first produced tourbillons with titanium and Alusic cases and carbon baseplates, I was fighting against perceived value,”says the watchmaker. “A titanium watch could not be a luxurious timepiece as it did not weigh enough. However mentalities rapidly changed . . [people] soon appreciated the extreme lightness of my watches being associated with the best technology.”
Hot Shot At only 24 and with eight Grand Slam titles under his belt, Nadal promises to dominate tennis in the coming years. He aired the RM 027 again at the US Open last month – the perfect fit for his power play.
TENNIS TECH SPECS
RM 027 TOURBILLON
Size 48mm by 39.7mm by 11.85mm Weight Just under 20 g (including strap)
Case Carbon composite
Movement Manual winding tourbillon with hours and minutes. Titanium base plate with bridges of aluminium lithium (one of the lightest elements, also used in the aerospace industry for its great strength)
Power reserve 48 hours Innovations Variable inertia free sprung balance for better reliability in the event of shocks; fast rotating barrel (six hours per revolution instead of 7.5); winding barrel teeth and third-wheel pinion with central involute profile for excellent torque transmission and improved performance
Strap Ultra light and flexible polyurethane
Limited 50 pieces worldwide