Rafa, a legend of Roland Garros, is not only a partner but also a close friend of Richard Mille, as are all the partners who work with the brand in the development of these exceptional timepieces. Richard Mille supports Rafael Nadal wholeheartedly, during good or bad days, wins or defeats and has done so from the beginning of their partnership and even beyond his tennis career. 2015 was a great year for Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille who created the RM 27-02, with an extraordinary tourbillon caliber launched together during Roland Garros.

Named the Rafael Nadal, this watch allowed the brand to make major advances in terms of movement construction with a monobloc baseplate of which the caseband is an integral part — never applied before in watchmaking, extremely technical TPT quartz® was used for the first time for the case. In terms of Shock resistance the tourbillon caliber resists shocks of up to 5000g. This watch is very important for the brand and defines a new architectural approach within the Richard Mille range, emphasizing the depth of the movement by the three-dimensionality of each component. The renowned tennis player no longer likes playing without his watch. His ”Lucky RM Charm” has become a necessity for the player who is known for his rituals. Rafael Nadal also has a special interest in this RM 27-02, as it is an essential tool when calculating his strategy during a game.

The 2015 Richard Mille/Rafael Nadal season was also marked by the auction of their RM 27-02 prototype at Only Watch. Rafa donated his match attire to the Monegasque Association against Myopathies and which was provided to the successful bidder of his watch. All proceeds went to Luc Pettavino’s Foundation which raises funds for research. The RM 27-02 reached the second best auction price of the evening and the watch helped to reinforce the success of Only Watch.

One thing is apparent: the New Year marked the return of Rafa to his best level. At the end of 2015, Rafa found his form during his excellent performance at the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), an annual team tennis league that takes place in various cities throughout Asia. The Swiss player Roger Federer had no hesitation about the Spanish player’s abilities who “shows his best tennis on the Grand Slam tournaments”. Feelings confirmed by Rafael’s uncle Toni Nadal: “ last month, he was not so far from the time he was number one. “

The return to top of the mallorcan is confirmed again on January 2nd with his 3rd victory at the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament where the Spanish player offered an outstanding performance against Milos Raonic (7-6, 6-3, in just 1 hour and 30 mins), after winning the previous day against his compatriot David Ferrer in 3 sets.

His humility and his determination to reach and stay at the top of the world tennis ranking proves the engagement of Rafael Nadal: “If you are number one, you must constantly improve your performance because you know others are working hard too. We wish all the best for 2016 to our friend Rafael. We hope he will regain the first position in the ATP ranking, and continue to thrill us during some great Grand Slam finals”. According to Richard Mille.

« Vamos Rafa! »