Richard Mille - RM 27-04 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal

To mark the 10th anniversary of its partnership with Rafa Nadal, Richard Mille has presented the new RM 27-04 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal. Price and specs

To mark the 10th anniversary of its partnership with Rafael Nadal, Richard Mille has presented the new RM 27-04 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal, the latest timepiece dedicated to the Spanish tennis champion, the ninth of an exceptional series that we list below.

RM 027 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal - 2010

RM 010 Rafa Nadal Foundation (one-off piece for charity) - 2011

RM 035 Rafael Nadal - 2011

RM 27-01 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal - 2013

RM 35-01 Rafael Nadal - 2014

RM 27-02 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal - 2015

RM 35-02 Automatique Rafael Nadal - 2016

RM 27-03 Tourbillon Rafel Nadal - 2017

An innovative timepiece from multiple angles, the new RM 27-04 balances a lightweight design – 30 grams including the strap! – with exceptional resistance.

Its tourbillon calibre, which is suspended within the case, can resist accelerations of more than 12,000 g’s, a record for Richard Mille. The movement is entirely supported by a micro-blasted mesh just 855 square millimetres in surface, comprised of a single cable in braided steel measuring 0.27mm in diameter, and held in place by two tensioners in PVD-treated 5N gold. This construction is a complete first in the world of watchmaking.

Inspired by the same principle as the strings of a tennis racquet, the watchmaker anchors the steel cable to a tensioner positioned at 5 o’clock and then begins to create the mesh, tying each of the main strings before adding the cross strings. Weaving above and below the main strings, the cable passes 38 times through the hollow bezel in grade 5 titanium before finishing in a tensioner positioned at 10 o’clock.

The movement is positioned diagonally, connected to the mesh by five grade 5 polished titanium hooks with 5N gold PVD coating that extend from the back of the baseplate.

Assembly of the movement on the string mesh is complete as soon as the watchmaker tightens the cable by loosening the turnbuckle screws.

Measuring 38.40 x 47.25 x 11.40 mm and water resistant to 50 metres / 165 feet, the case, with its sandblasted and polished surfaces, is also very innovative being crafted from TitaCarb. This high- performance polyamide has been strengthened with a 38.5% carbon fibre content. This addition of carbon gives TitaCarb exceptional tensile strength — 370 MPa (3,700 kg/cm2) — making it one of the most resistant polymers in the world.

In addition to its elevated fracture resistance – which is close to that of steel – this material, used in the most demanding industries, is ideal for machining the components of this case thanks to its solidity and rigidity, coupled with low thermal expansion coefficient and high resistance to humidity and temperature. 

The hand-wound caliber RM27-04 beats at the frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz) with a power reserve of 38 hours  (±10%). 

A limited edition of 50 pieces, the new Richard Mille RM 27-04 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal has a price of Swiss  Francs 952,000 sales taxes excluded. richardmille.com