Richard Mille unveils its new Tourbillon RM 27-02 Rafael Nadal watch

On Saturday, May 23, the Swiss watchmaker presented the "RM 27-02 Rafael Nadal" tourbillon watch, celebrating once again its collaboration with the Spanish tennis star, currently competing for his tenth French Open title at Roland Garros. This model will be reserved for insiders only, and Richard Mille will a very limited number.

Advanced, modern and high precision: these are the words that the experts at Richard Mille had in mind for the creation of this new timepiece. And so, the "RM 27-02 Rafael Nadal" is fitted with a brand new, in-house made, hand-wound tourbillon calibre.

Supporting the ensemble of the mechanical movement components is a skeletonized unibody baseplate, the first in the history of Richard Mille, in which the caseband and the baseplate have been fused into a single piece. This structure, inspired by the chassis of racing cars, dramatically enhances rigidity and optimizes shock resistance.

The baseplate supports the titanium bridges that are unique for their three-dimensional construction, their finishes and their titanium and carbon composition. These bridges support the sophisticated hand-wound tourbillon calibre that offers 70 hours of constant power.

If the mechanical aspects of the "RM 27-02 Rafael Nadal" have been conceived to offer the ultimate in precision, the watch's case is no less innovative. In partnership with long-term partner North Thin Ply Technology, Richard Mille's engineers have developed TPT quartz, a new material composed of hundreds of layers of quartz filaments piled on top of each other that is meant to offer greater resistance to high temperatures and electromagnetic waves.

The waterproof watch, to be worn by Rafael Nadal throughout his upcoming international competition, including the 2015 French Open, will only have a production run of 50 pieces.