Richard Mille RM035 Rafael Nadal AL ALMG

The Richard Mille RM035 Rafael Nadal is all about materials. From the bright red fabric strap (with a Velcro clasp, no less) to the magnesium-aluminium case, the RM035 AL ALMG is built to play hard without weighing you down.
A word about that strap. The RM035 Rafael Nadal is one of the Richard Mille models that has been available with a colourful fabric strap since (roughly) the end of 2014. It's big, it's brash, and it's incredibly hard to drag off the wrist accidentally—which is what you want when you're sporting a timepiece as recognisable and valuable as this one. The watch is normally supplied with a black rubber sports watch strap, which is secured with a titanium double-fold clasp (the more recognisable Richard Mille strap, in other words).
Rafael Nadal is probably Richard Mille's most famous partner. This old pal of the brand has been smashing cross-court forehands wearing various Richard Mille luxury watches since the pair's first meeting in 2007 (and subsequent collaboration on several successful watch models). Nadal trains wearing his Richard Mille timepieces, and he competes in Grand Slam tournaments wearing them too.
The Richard Mille Rafa Nadal timepieces have become legends of modern horology. In my opinion, they represent every fine personality trait the luxury watch brand is able to show (and they sidestep some of the company's more excessive habits). They combine smooth, quality case lines with epic movement finishing. And of course those movements are clearly visible thanks to Richard Mille's ever-more-confident skeletonising.
Inside the RM035 Rafael Nadal, you'll find Calibre RMUL1—a manual winding movement with central hours, minutes, and seconds. It's Chronofiable certified, meaning it conforms to a standard meant to measure reliability over time. The Chronofiable tests, of which there are many, subject a watch to simulated ageing, subjecting it to extremes of temperature, shock, humidity, and magnetism while compressing 6 months' worth of average wear into an accelerated 21-day period.
In other words: this is a luxury watch that can take a beating and still tell the time.
So, why magnesium-aluminium? This alloy is extremely light. incredibly hard, and resistant to light, wear, and corrosion. Rafa won't feel the weight of the watch on his wrist, and impacts sustained during play shouldn't affect the finish of the case. The aluminium and magnesium-aluminium case is water resistant to 50 m, so Nadal can even wear it when he's doing training laps in the pool.
Legibility on the RM035 AL ALMG is really good, for a Richard Mille. I've said before that Richard Mille's watches are less about being able to read the dial, and more about appreciating the sheer engineering complexity of the movement. But when Mr Mille designs a luxury watch with a simple face, everything comes together perfectly. On the RM035 the materials around and behind the hands are either black, or a shade of gunmetal grey (except those wonderfully-polished bridges, which shine just the right amount to not detract from the hands). The hands themselves are as brightly angled and gleamingly finished as a pair of swords, and they're intelligently lumed too. Look at this timepiece in the dark, and you'll get the time right with a single glance.
Like all Richard Mille watches, the RM035 has a free-sprung balance with variable inertia. What this means is that the balance wheel is not hampered by a regulator. Instead, the watchmaker must regulate the rate of the watch by adjusting four little weights screwed to the balance. This process is more time-consuming and tricky than incorporating a balance wheel with a regulator, but it ultimately leads to better time-keeping.
Even the screws on a Richard Mille luxury watch are designed with function in mind. The spline screws that hold the bezel to the caseband are forged from grade 5 titanium, ensuring outstanding strength and rigidity over time (for example, during servicing).
The Richard Mille RM035 Rafael Nadal AL ALMG is one of the finest luxury watches in this brand's collection. It's internally complex, superbly light and strong, and—for Richard Mille at least—unusually understated. If it were a tennis shot, it would be a first-serve ace, unstoppably delivered to win the match.
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