STYLE Edit: Richard Mille debuts the new signature Rafael Nadal watch, the RM 35-03 that features an ingenious butterfly rotor complication and shifts into sports mode like a breeze

Jan 26 , 2022

Tennis star Rafael Nadal wearing Richard Mille’s RM 35-03 Automatic Rafael Nadal watch. Photo: Mathieu Cesar

The luxury watchmaker’s new RM 35-03 Automatic Rafael Nadal is the fourth timepiece in the RM 035 ‘baby Nadal’ collection and took three years to make

The watch is available in two versions – white quartz TPT and carbon TPT with a case band in carbon TPT, and blue quartz TPT with a white quartz TPT case band

Not many watches boast a whole new form of horological complication. But then the RM 35-03 Automatic Rafael Nadal, a timepiece that brought together two legendary names, is no ordinary watch: driven by that ingenious new complication known as a butterfly rotor feels like an extension of the wearer’s body.

Three years in development, the watch is the fourth to be unveiled in the RM 035 collection, otherwise known as the Baby Nadal collection, which shares its DNA with and is inspired by RM 027, the collection of tourbillon watches that the Spanish tennis legend wears on court.

Richard Mille’s RM 35-03 Automatic Rafael Nadal watch in white quartz, which includes a butterfly rotor. Photo: Richard Mille

It achieves that remarkable feat by the innovative move of putting the wearer in charge of its winding speed. In its regular mode, the watch converts energy from movement into torque that winds the barrel; with a press of a push-piece at 7 o’clock, however, the wearer can switch the watch into sports mode, turning that function off and helping to guard against excessive winding.

The butterfly rotor is made from two grade five titanium arms mounted with heavy metal weight segments that convert the wearer’s movement to winding energy, a process that is suspended when the push-piece is pressed, forcing those weights apart.

A look inside Richard Mille’s RM 35-03 butterfly rotor enclosed with two grade 5 titanium arms. Photo: Richard Mille

A variable geometry rotor is a feature of many Richard Mille watches, and was present and correct in the Rma1 calibre that powered its predecessor the RM 35-02. Changing that geometry previously required the attentions of a Richard Mille watchmaking professional – whereas with the new RM 35-03, the wearer is the one in charge.

Richard Mille’s RM 35-03 Automatic Rafael Nadal watch in blue quartz. Photo: Richard Mille

The timepiece even provides the wearer with so-called haptic feedback – allowing them to actually feel the weight segments springing apart when they make the switch to sports mode. They can also confirm which mode the watch is in at any time via a winding indicator at 6 o’clock; while a second push-piece, at 2 o’clock, allows the wearer to toggle between winding, neutral and time setting functions.