Richard Mille announced the new RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal. It weighs 11.5 grams excluding its strap, a world record. Price CHF980,000
Richard Mille has just announced the new RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal. This exceptional model weighs 11.5 grams excluding its strap and can withstand a g-force of 14,000, for a two-fold record for a manual winding tourbillon watch.
With this record-breaking model, Richard Mille and Rafael Nadal bring to a remarkable conclusion a saga that began in 2010 with the design of the RM 027 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal, a watch that marked a significant milestone from both a technical and marketing perspective.
At the time, it was the world’s lightest mechanical wristwatch at just 19 grams, including the strap. This hyper-expensive watch was worn by the famous tennis champion during his matches. The lightness of the watch was a requirement not only for comfort but also because a lighter watch proved to be more resistant to shocks.
The inaugural RM 027 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal - 2010
This timepiece inaugurated the new collection of Rafa Nadal tourbillons, each of which took Richard Mille further along the road of achievement and innovation: RM 27-01 in 2013, RM 27-02 in 2015, RM 27-03 in 2017 and RM 27-04 in 2020 (follow the links to learn more on each of these timepieces).
With the RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal, technical progress and reflections on aesthetics have pushed Richard Mille's expertise to the limit.
The movement, based on the ultra-thin RMUP-01 calibre, has a power reserve of 55 hours and incorporates a flying tourbillon that oscillates at a frequency of 3 Hz (21,600 vibrations per hour). Its PVD-treated titanium baseplate is optimally skeletonised and hand-finished, even the hidden parts. The bridges are also made of grade 5 titanium and Carbon TPT to make them even lighter.
The calibre measures 3.75 mm thick and weighs just 3.79 grams. Thanks to a base fitted with ball bearings, the tourbillon retains its performance while making it possible to do away with a bridge and achieve the extreme thinness of 0.72mm.
4,000 hours of work went into designing the calibre and case. The design sobriety marks a return to the collection’s roots.
There are no screws holding the movement to the case. The entire mechanism rests inside the monobloc back/caseband unit, which is then topped by the flange and bezel.
The whole assembly presses down on the calibre to hold it firmly in place. What gives this model a major advantage are the qualities of a new composite, Carbon TPT B.4, developed over the course of five years with Richard Mille's Swiss partner North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT).
Carbon TPT B.4 is an optimised anisotropic material that makes it possible to machine the case to ever thinner cross-sections. Compared with earlier Carbon TPT, the new composite is 4% denser, the fibre 15% stiffer and the resin 30% stronger.
These values make it possible to lighten the whole without losing stiffness (for more on the high-tech materials used by Richard Mille, you can read our feature article: "Richard Mille’s quest for innovation: hi-tech materials").
Finite element calculations, multiple simulations and analyses, tomography and numerous impact tests were used to confirm the relevance of each technical option over the course of the prototypes, endowing the RM 27-05 with extraordinary endurance at accelerations in excess of 14,000 g.
Instead of a sapphire crystal, which was too heavy for the challenge, Richard Mille found a lighter alternative in PMMA, a polymer with an anti-scratch treatment that ensures a level of transparency far superior to that of sapphire, makes the application of an anti-glare coating unnecessary.
The case, measuring 37.25 x 47.25 x 7.20 mm, is water-resistant to 10 metres. It is paired with a fabric strap without a rubber coating (thus eliminating half a gram from the whole watch).
A limited edition of 80 pieces, the new Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal is priced at CHF 980,000, excluding local sales taxes. richardmille.com
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Unbelievable lightness. Indeed an impressive achievement.
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