Richard Mille and Rafael Nadal have had a long-standing partnership since 2010 and over the years they’ve produced many timepieces together. They range from the bright, colourful and sporty RM 035-03 to their latest collaboration, which is the incredibly serious and haute horology focussed RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal.
Having lost their crown in the battle for the thinnest watch to Bulgari, RM have taken a different tack. This is a watch with a single-minded pursuit of one thing, being the most lightweight manual tourbillon watch ever produced.
In that endeavour, Richard Mille have succeeded. The RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal weighs just 11.5g excluding the strap, earning it the world record for being the lightest manual tourbillon watch. At the same time, it breaks a second record as it can also withstand a g-force of up to 14,000, which is important for surviving the acceleration of Nadal’s wrist during his tennis swing.
In order to achieve this, every possible weight-saving measure has been taken. They’ve even removed the screws that secure the movement to the case, instead sandwiching it in place between the monobloc caseback/caseband and the flange/bezel.
At the same time, they’ve used the most high tech materials possible to shave off as much weight as possible. The titanium movement is skeletonised as efficiently as possible, including areas that can’t be seen and the case itself is made from a brand new composite material.
That material is Carbon TPT B.4, the newest iteration of Richard Mille’s signature Carbon TPT. It took five years to develop this new composite and it is 4% denser with fibre that is 15% stiffer and resin that is 30% stronger. To learn more about TPT read our guide to important watchmaking materials, although note that while in the guide we discuss quartz TPT, the same techniques apply to carbon TPT. What the improvements listed above mean is that the strength to weight ratio has been improved. In turn that means you require less of the material to achieve the same results.
Aesthetically, it gives the Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal a dark, serious appearance. The bare Carbon TPT B.4 retains the customary striations of the material with its intricate layers. It’s also comparatively svelte with dimensions of 37.25mm x 47.25mm x 7.2mm in a tonneau shape. Compact and strong, like Nadal himself who has always won through his athleticism rather than being a giant and blasting people off the court with his serves like the 6’10” Isner or 6’11” Karlović.
Looking to the dial, that too features the bare minimum embellishment in order to save weight. The central hour and minute hands are partially skeletonised as is the barrel located at 11 o’clock and the flying tourbillon at 5. The only concession to style is the addition of lines on two prominent bridges that match the V shape of the tourbillon.
Interestingly, the watch has a solid caseback because the TPT is lighter than the glass that would typically feature in an exhibition caseback. In fact, the glass above the dial is a lightweight PMMA polymer glass with scratch-resistant coating rather than the more traditional and heavier sapphire crystal for the same reason.
The Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal is priced at CHF 980,000 (approx. £842,700, excl. taxes) and limited to 80 pieces, and is the last word in lightweight manual tourbillons, adding another accolade to Richard Mille’s already extensive trophy cabinet. Although they did recently lose the world record for thinnest watch to Bulgari. So perhaps another brand will take up the lightweight tourbillon challenge while RM themselves seek to take back the Iron Throne of Horology.
Price and Specs:
More details at Richard Mille.
