Olympics; and South African speed-master
Wayde van Niekerk. At the 2016 Rio
Olympics, it was van Niekerk who ran the
400metresin43.03seconds–shaving0.15
secondsofftheworldrecordsetbyMichael
Johnsonbackin1999.
“Whatinspiresmeaboutsportis
performanceandtechnique,”explainsMille.
“Athleteshavethepowertofascinate.These
gods of the stadium are winning machines,
yetnolesshumanforallthat;itisprecisely
thisparadoxwhichhasalwaysinterestedme.”
TheirstofRichardMille’ssix-igure
sports watches designed speciically to absorb
extremeshockdebutedatthe2010French
Open on the wrist of Nadal.
Priortothetournament,Nadaland
specialist movement maker Audemars Piguet
Renaud&Papi–whichhascreatedcalibres
forMillesincethebeginning–hadspentsix
months testing seven prototypes duringpractise sessions. Six of the watches broke.
But by itting Nadal with force-reading
sensors,andtinkeringwiththetourbillon’s
carbon-ibrecaseandcrowntube,the32g
‘RM27’waseventuallycertiiedtowithstand
800 Gs – more than enough to see Nadal
triumphatRoland-Garros,beforeclaiming
theWimbledontitlejustamonthlater.
Milledidn’tstopthere.
“Oncewehadachievedourgoalofmaking
thelightest[mechanical]watchontheplanet,
Iwantedtomoveawayfromthisidea,which
couldhavebecomeanendlessquestwhichno
longerhadanymeaning.Forthenewversion
oftheRafaelNadaltimepiece,Idecidedto
focusonfurtherimprovingthetechnical
parameters of the watch.”
Theupdated‘RM27-02’arrivedin2015
andfeaturedacase-backthatdoubledasa
baseplate–aunibodytypeofconstruction
inspiredbythechassisofaracecar.Itsfront
andbackbezelswerecomprisedofQuartz
TPT, a brand new carbon-quartz compound
that withstood tests usually reserved for the
aeronautical industry.CLOCKWISE
FROM FAR LEFT
Alexander Zverev
returns serve against
Nadal during the 2018
Italian Open final;
Felipe Massa on the
grid at the 2008 Brazil
Grand Prix; South
African sprinter
Wayde van Niekerk
celebrates winning
Olympic gold at Rio
2016; Nadal and
Zverev display their
trophies - and their
Mille timepieces -
after the final.“Athletes
have the
power to
fascinate.
These gods of
the stadium
are winning
machines.”
WAYDE VAN
NIEKERK’S ‘RM
67-02’, POA.“Thismodelcorrespondstoeverything
that the brand is about,” says Tim Malachard,
thebrand’smarketingdirector.“Innovation
andextremetechnicaretheessenceand
perfectly represented in this model.”
Back at the Foco Italico in Rome, Zverev
had the advantage, watch-wise at least. The
worldnumberthreewassportingthe‘RM
67-02’, the lightest and one of the thinnest
automaticsRichardMillehaseverproduced.
Comprised of the same super-strong,
super-lightweight carbon-quartz compound
asNadal’s‘RM27-02’,the‘RM67-02’
weighsthesame32gbuthasbeenittedwith
the brand’s newly developed, non-slip,
lighter-than-Velcro elastic strap. Nadal may
havewoninRome,butZverevhadalready
prevailed at the 2018 Madrid Open while
wearingthe‘RM67-02’theweekbefore.
BesidesZverevandvanNiekerk,the‘RM
67-02’iscurrentlyallottedtothreeother
Mille’s ambassadors: French skier Alexis
Pinturault, fellow countryman and World
RallyChampionSébastienOgier,and
Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim.
Each version is injected with bright resins
andthenhand-paintedtomirrorthecolours
of the athlete’s nationallag. Each is also
equipped with Mille’s seventh in-house
movement,theCRMA7–aremarkable
achievementinitselfforawatchbrand
yettocelebrateits20thbirthday. WORDS: RICHARD BROWN. PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES.
AUGUST 2018 GQ.COM.AU 71