Post Contents:
On 10 October 2024, Rafael Nadal announced that he would retire from professional tennis. The 38-year-old Spaniard closed the curtain on one of the greatest careers the sport has seen, finishing with 22 Grand Slam singles titles, 14 of them at Roland Garros. That total sits second only to Novak Djokovic in the men's game, two clear of Roger Federer. His final appearance came at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga in November 2024, ending an era defined by his rivalry with Federer and Djokovic.
(Image from BBC, 2024)
Nadal's trophy cabinet has a horological counterpart that is just as stacked. He has been a Richard Mille ambassador since 2010, and over that decade and a half the brand built him a run of watches that pushed weight and shock resistance further than almost anything else in watchmaking. What makes the partnership unusual is that it began while Nadal was still at the top of the game, with each piece engineered to survive the most violent forehand in tennis.
(Image from Britannica, 2019)
The story started in 2008. When Richard Mille first approached Nadal about wearing a watch on court, the obvious problem was that a tennis player generating that much racket-head speed would never tolerate the weight or risk the damage. Mille set out to build something so light that Nadal would forget it was on his wrist, and the result was the RM 027. Nadal debuted the prototype at the 2010 French Open, a tournament he won wearing it, and 2010 turned into a three-Slam year as he went on to take Wimbledon and the US Open as well.
What follows is the full collection, grouped into three parts: the RM 027 competition tourbillons he wore while playing, the RM 35 "Baby Nadal" line built for everyday wear and the off-court RM 11-03 chronograph. Every one of these references is rare and made in tiny numbers, so where a piece appears on the secondary market we source it for clients across the UK rather than holding it in standing stock.
Richard Mille RM 027 (2010)
The RM 027 marked Richard Mille's entry into tennis and the start of the Nadal partnership. It paired a tourbillon movement with a baseplate built from a lithium and aluminium alloy borrowed from aerospace, bringing the whole watch in at under 20 grams. At launch it was the lightest mechanical tourbillon wristwatch made, a record Richard Mille would go on to beat several times with its own later Nadal pieces.
The tourbillon itself is worth explaining. The complication was patented by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1801 to counter the effect of gravity on a pocket watch's accuracy by housing the escapement in a rotating cage. In a watch strapped to a moving wrist its practical benefit is debated, but as a statement of watchmaking it carries real weight, and pairing it with Nadal's power and precision was a deliberate piece of brand storytelling. The RM 027 was limited to 50 pieces.
The RM 027 has not been in production for years, so the only route to one now is the secondary market. We handle that sourcing directly for UK buyers.
Richard Mille RM 027 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal
2010 · Limited to 50
- MovementManual tourbillon
- WeightUnder 20g
- CaseCarbon, tonneau
Richard Mille RM 27-01 (2013)
Three years on, Richard Mille set out to break its own weight record, and the RM 27-01 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal did it. The complete watch weighed 18.83 grams, with the strap accounting for most of that figure. The engineering trick was a skeletonised baseplate suspended inside the case on four braided steel cables of 0.35mm, which isolated the movement and let it absorb shock rather than transmit it.
That suspension system meant the watch could withstand accelerations of more than 5,000G, a level of abuse no conventional movement would survive. Nadal could swing freely without worrying about damaging it, which was the entire point. Like the original, the RM 27-01 was limited to 50 pieces.
Richard Mille RM 27-01 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal
2013 · Limited to 50
- MovementManual tourbillon
- Weight18.83g
- ShockOver 5,000G
Richard Mille RM 27-02 (2015)
The RM 27-02 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal introduced a structural change. Richard Mille fused the caseband and the baseplate into a single skeletonised Carbon TPT component, a unibody construction it had not used before. Instead of bolting a movement into a case, the case and the movement's foundation became one part.
The idea came from motorsport, where a racing car's monocoque chassis carries loads through a single rigid structure. Applied to a watch, it raised both stiffness and shock resistance while keeping weight down. The RM 27-02 was again a 50-piece limited edition.
Richard Mille RM 27-02 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal
2015 · Limited to 50
- MovementManual tourbillon
- CaseCarbon TPT unibody
- Edition50 pieces
Richard Mille RM 27-03 (2017)
The RM 27-03 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal is the most visually loud of the run. Its red and yellow Quartz TPT case is a direct nod to the Spanish flag and Nadal's roots, finished with bridges shaped to echo a bull's horns. It is a tribute piece dressed as a competition watch.
Underneath the colour scheme is the most shock-resistant tourbillon Richard Mille had produced to that point. The RM 27-03 survives accelerations of up to 10,000G, a figure the brand reached only after years of pendulum impact testing. Each jump in resistance across the line tracked the growing understanding of just how much force Nadal's game generated.
Richard Mille RM 27-03 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal
2017 · Spanish flag colourway
- MovementManual tourbillon
- CaseQuartz TPT, red and yellow
- ShockUp to 10,000G
Richard Mille RM 27-04 (2020)
Released to mark ten years of the partnership, the RM 27-04 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal is the fifth generation of the line and one of its most technically interesting. The headline feature is the dial, which is built from a fine woven mesh of steel cable strung in 38 crossings to mimic the strings of a tennis racket, with the movement suspended within it.
The case is made from TitaCarb, a carbon-fibre-reinforced polyamide rather than a metal, which is where the original article got it wrong by describing it as titanium. The material gives high tensile strength at very low weight, bringing the finished watch to 30 grams and a shock resistance of 12,000G. It was limited to 50 pieces.
Richard Mille RM 27-04 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal
2020 · 10th anniversary, limited to 50
- MovementManual tourbillon
- Weight30g
- Shock12,000G
Richard Mille RM 27-05 (2024)
The RM 27-05 Manual Winding Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal is the last chapter in the RM 27 saga and the most extreme of the lot. It set a dual record for a manual-winding tourbillon, taking both the lowest weight and the highest shock resistance in that category. The watch weighs 11.5 grams excluding the strap and survives 14,000G, built around an ultra-thin movement derived from the record-setting RM UP-01.
This corrects two further points from the original write-up. The 11.5 gram figure is the weight without the strap, not including it, and the record being claimed is for manual-winding tourbillons specifically rather than all watches. The RM 27-05 was limited to 80 pieces and carried a price in the region of CHF 980,000.
Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal
2024 · Limited to 80
- MovementManual flying tourbillon
- Weight11.5g (excl strap)
- Shock14,000G
The RM 35 "Baby Nadal" Line
Alongside the competition tourbillons, Richard Mille built Nadal a more wearable family of watches that became known as the "Baby Nadal" line. It traces back to the original RM 035, launched around 2011 with a magnesium and aluminium alloy case and a movement certified to survive over 5,000G. From there the line evolved through three references that are easier to live with day to day than a six-figure tourbillon, while still carrying the carbon cases, tonneau shape and skeletonised dials that define the brand. Nadal has said he does not wear these in matches because they lack the suspended baseplate of the RM 27 series.
Richard Mille RM 35-01 (2014)
The RM 35-01 was the first true Baby Nadal, a manual-winding time-only watch in a Carbon TPT case with a 55-hour power reserve. It stripped away the tourbillon and the competition-grade suspension to deliver the Richard Mille look at a fraction of the complexity, and it became one of the more attainable entry points into Nadal's collection on the secondary market.
Richard Mille RM 35-01 Rafael Nadal
2014 · First Baby Nadal
- MovementManual winding
- CaseCarbon TPT
- Power reserve55 hours
Richard Mille RM 35-02 (2016)
The RM 35-02 is the reference that introduced the first automatic movement to the Nadal collection, the Calibre RMAL1 with a variable-geometry rotor and a 55-hour power reserve across twin barrels. It came in a black NTPT carbon case or a striking red Quartz TPT version, and its arrival is the reason the original article's claim about the RM 027 being the lightest automatic does not hold up: the RM 027 is manual-winding, and the first automatic Nadal watch was this one.
Richard Mille RM 35-02 Rafael Nadal
2016 · First automatic Nadal
- MovementAutomatic, Calibre RMAL1
- CaseNTPT or red Quartz TPT
- Power reserve55 hours
Richard Mille RM 35-03 (2022)
The most recent Baby Nadal is the RM 35-03, an automatic running the Calibre RMAL2 with Richard Mille's patented butterfly rotor. Its standout feature is a function selector pusher that lets the wearer switch the rotor into a Sport Mode, winding more aggressively during high activity. Nadal has been photographed in two colourways, one with a dark blue case, white strap and red crown, the other with a light grey case and a baby blue strap.
It keeps the carbon case, tonneau shape and skeletonised dial of the tourbillon pieces but drops the suspended baseplate, which is why Nadal treated it as a watch for life away from the court rather than during play. This is the most widely produced reference in the run, which makes it the one most likely to surface on the secondary market.
Richard Mille RM 35-03 Rafael Nadal
2022 · Butterfly rotor, Sport Mode
- MovementAutomatic, Calibre RMAL2
- CaseCarbon TPT
- FunctionSport Mode selector
Richard Mille RM 11-03 (Off-Court)
The RM 11-03 Automatic Flyback Chronograph is the one watch in Nadal's rotation that was not built specifically for him. It is a core Richard Mille model, and Nadal favours an 18-carat rose gold version on a black strap for off-court wear. It is also the most complicated piece he wears.
A flyback chronograph lets the wearer reset and restart the timing in a single press while it is still running, where a standard chronograph needs three separate actions. On top of that the RM 11-03 carries a 60-minute countdown at nine o'clock, a 12-hour totaliser, an oversized date, a month indicator that makes it an annual calendar and a variable-geometry rotor that adjusts winding to the wearer's activity. It is a lot of watch on one wrist.
Richard Mille RM 11-03 Automatic Flyback Chronograph
Off-court, rose gold
- MovementAutomatic flyback chrono
- Case18ct rose gold, 44mm
- CalendarAnnual calendar
RM 27 Series at a Glance
The six generations of the RM 27 line read as a fairly clear record of Richard Mille chasing its own limits on weight and shock resistance over fourteen years.
| Model | Year | Movement | Weight | Shock resistance | Limited to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM 027 | 2010 | Manual tourbillon | Under 20g | Not disclosed | 50 |
| RM 27-01 | 2013 | Manual tourbillon | 18.83g | Over 5,000G | 50 |
| RM 27-02 | 2015 | Manual tourbillon | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 50 |
| RM 27-03 | 2017 | Manual tourbillon | Not disclosed | Up to 10,000G | 50 |
| RM 27-04 | 2020 | Manual tourbillon | 30g | 12,000G | 50 |
| RM 27-05 | 2024 | Manual flying tourbillon | 11.5g (excl strap) | 14,000G | 80 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What watch does Rafael Nadal wear?
On court Nadal wore the Richard Mille RM 27 series of tourbillons, progressing through six generations from the RM 027 in 2010 to the RM 27-05 in 2024. Off court he favours the RM 11-03 flyback chronograph in rose gold, and he also owns the RM 35 "Baby Nadal" line for everyday wear.
How much do Rafael Nadal's Richard Mille watches cost?
Prices vary widely by reference and condition. The original RM 027 launched at roughly 525,000 US dollars and trades higher on the secondary market, the RM 27-04 sat around 1.05 million, and the RM 27-05 was priced in the region of 980,000 Swiss francs. The RM 35 line is more attainable but still runs to several hundred thousand. Secondary-market values move constantly, so treat these as guides rather than fixed figures.
Why did Nadal wear a watch while playing?
As a Richard Mille ambassador, Nadal wore the watches in competition to demonstrate that they could survive the most demanding conditions in sport. Each RM 27 generation was engineered with a suspended baseplate and shock resistance high enough to withstand the force of his game, which is the whole point the partnership was built to prove.
How many Richard Mille watches has Nadal worn?
The core collection covers the six RM 27 tourbillons, the three references in the RM 35 line plus the original RM 035 that started it and the off-court RM 11-03 chronograph. That makes a run of around ten distinct models developed with or worn by him since 2010.
What is the lightest Nadal Richard Mille watch?
The RM 27-05 from 2024 is the lightest, at 11.5 grams excluding the strap. It holds a dual record for a manual-winding tourbillon, combining that weight with shock resistance of 14,000G.
What is the difference between the RM 27 and RM 35 Nadal watches?
The RM 27 series are competition tourbillons with suspended baseplates that Nadal wore during matches. The RM 35 line is the "Baby Nadal" range, time-only and later automatic, built for everyday wear without the tourbillon or the match-grade suspension, and produced in larger numbers.
What is Next for Nadal and Richard Mille?
No new Nadal-specific Richard Mille has appeared since his retirement, which leaves the RM 27-05 standing as the closing statement of the RM 27 saga. Whether the brand marks the end of his career with a commemorative piece remains to be seen, and topping a record-setting flying tourbillon would be a tall order. For now the collection is complete, and the only way to add one of these references to a watch box is through the secondary market.
If you are looking to source a Nadal Richard Mille, or you want something built to your own brief, our team handles both secondary-market sourcing and bespoke commissions. You can see the wider luxury watch collection or browse the full watch range to start.
