Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal

Quick specs Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal
Price: $ 1,150,000 | approx. € 1.010.000 | approx. £ 842,700 | CHF 980’000
Size: 37.25 x 47.25 mm
Reference: RM 27-05 – limited to 80 pieces

Super light and super shock-resistant is what makes the Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal unique, including all its tech. Now, every Richard Mille is kind of unique, but this fifth collaboration with one of the world’s greatest tennis players enters a new level. It’s all about grams and g’s.

To start with that, the whole watch, however the strap excluded, weights 11.5 grams. Keep in mind that a regular sheet of A4 paper is 5 grams. So, the watch is super light. When it comes to withstanding shocks and acceleration it can go beyond 14,000 g’s. Quite a lot, as flying a jet generates a g-force of about 8, a serious car crash about 50, and the impact of a tennis racket swing on a ball can do 1,000 g.

Titanium + Carbon TPT B.4

To obtain lightness and rigidity the Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal has some special features. The base plate and bridges are from micro-blasted and PVD-treated grade 5 titanium, the V-shaped gear train bridge is machined from Carbon TPT B.4.

Carbon TPT B.4 is an optimized anisotropic material of multiple layers of parallel carbon filaments. These are impregnated with resin and then stacked with a 45° shift between layers. Then it is heated to 120°C at a pressure of 6 bars before machining, leading to an excellent resistance to microcracks and splits. It’s 15% stiffer than regular Carbon TPT, for instance used on the Richard Mille RM 21-02 Tourbillon Aerodyne. And the resin is 30% more resistant so one can use thinner pieces for the case. That makes the case lighter without loss of rigidity.

Monobloc case back

The RM 27-05 has a monobloc case back and the caliber rests on it, on protrusions directly machined into the case. So, there are no screws. The bezel and the flange hold the caliber against the case back. And the movement contributes to the rigidity of the case and vice versa.

The watch has a flying tourbillon that is single-sided mounted, so there is no need for a conventional upper bridge. Furthermore, there is a large Carbon TPT curved bridge that highlights the caliber, and the flying barrel and tourbillon are 5N PVD treated.

The Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal has a power reserve of 55 hours

The Richard Mille caliber RM27-05 inside is only visible from the front, has a power reserve of about 55 hours and is fully hand-finished. Think micro-blasting, polishing, beveling, and circular finishing. The movement itself only weights 3.79 grams.

The Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal comes on a lightweight black elastic strap. And the model is limited to 80 pieces. All this tech has a price of $ 1,150,000, which shouldn’t be a problem. If you are a world class tennis player.