Style Edit: Richard Mille RM 27-05 Rafael Nadal – the latest timepiece worthy of tennis’ ‘King of Clay’

“The design of the RM 027 began,” says director Yves Mathys, “with the desire to develop an extremely light timepiece for Rafa. We looked at the materials we could use to make it even lighter and more robust.”

The piece was a success. Nadal wore it as he clinched the 2010 French Open as a 24-year-old and since then, the collection – alongside Nadal – has gone from strength to strength.

For the collection’s sixth and final piece, Richard Mille have pulled out all the stops. The piece weighs 11.5 grams excluding strap, and can withstand a 14,000Gs, an impressive figure for a manual winding tourbillon timepiece.

Developed with Richard Mille’s long-time partner North Thin Ply Technology, Carbon TPT B.4 makes the lightness and durability of the RM27-05 possible. As compared to its forerunner Carbon TPT, the composite is 4 per cent denser, with fibres 15 per cent stiffer and resin 30 per cent stronger.

“All the research into materials contributed to this record of resistance and lightness.” explains Julien Boillat, Richard Mille’s technical director for cases. “Credit for this achievement is also due to our use of a crystal made of [polymethyl methacrylate], a polymer with an anti-scratch treatment. Sapphire was too heavy for the challenge.”

The design ethos hearkens back to a sobriety close to the collection’s roots. When he was first approached about a watch collaboration, Nadal almost dismissed the idea entirely as any distraction, even on the wrist, could be critical to his concentration during a game. “My main condition,” Nadal says, “for wearing a watch during competition was its lightness, I didn’t want to feel it on my wrist.”