Richard Mille

RM 27-04 Tourbillon Raphael Nadal

The brand celebrated its 10-year partnership with the athlete by launching a limited edition.

For Rafael Nadal, "unstoppable" is the word that best expresses Richard Miller and his team spirit. Impossible to achieve. This has been the brand's credo for the past decade when designing the unique pieces worn by Spaniards on the tennis courts of the world. Their latest collaboration, the RM 27-04, is no exception.

The RM 27-04 balances a lightweight design (weighing only 30 grams including the strap) with massive resistance. Its tourbillon movement suspended within the case resists accelerations of more than 12,000 grams, a record by Richard Mille. The movement is entirely supported by a micro-sandblasted mesh with a surface of just 855mm², consisting of a braided steel cable with a diameter of 0.27mm, secured by two PVD-treated 5N gold tensioners. This structure is unprecedented in the watchmaking world.

Inspired by the same principles as tennis racket strings, the watchmaker fastened the cable to the tensioner at 5 o'clock, then began to create the grid, tying each main string before adding the cross strings. Braided above and below the main string, the cable is threaded 38 times through a hollow bezel in grade 5 titanium and finished in a tensioner at 10 o'clock. The movement is placed diagonally and is attached to the grid by five grade 5 polished titanium hooks that extend from the back of the baseplate with a 5N gold PVD ​​​​coating.

However, the singularity of the RM 27-04 doesn't stop at its grid. Sandblasted and polished, the case is also innovative in its use of the unique material TitaCarb®. This high-performance polyamide has been reinforced with a 38.5% carbon fiber content. This addition of carbon gives TitaCarb® excellent tensile strength - 370 MPa (3,700 kg/cm2) - making it one of the most corrosion resistant polymers in the world.

This new model fits perfectly with the watch collection previously created for the Spanish champion. It is unique in many ways, as it also marks the tenth anniversary of the collaboration between Rafael Nadal and Richard Miller. What started as a purely professional relationship between the 12-time French Open champion and the founder of the brand that bears his name turned into a strong friendship. According to the Mallorcan, it was a "very special" relationship, a friendship that stemmed from their mutual trust and admiration for their respective professions. The RM 27-04 is "Rafa"'s new ally on the field, with an abbreviated version of his name engraved on the case.