The Netflix Slam 2024 was a huge success with Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz entertaining tennis fans with their action-packed bout. Even though Alcaraz won the match 3-6, 6-4, 14-12, Nadal impressed enthusiasts from around the world with the watch that he wore for the occasion.
Rafael Nadal was wearing a watch made by luxury watchmaker Richard Mille, a brand he’s been associated with for almost 14 years now. In particular, the Spaniard was donning the Rafael Nadal Richard Mille RM 35-03 White that we’ve previously seen him wear more famously in his 2022 Australian Open win.
The Richard Mille RM 35-03 Automatic Rafael Nadal is one of the fanciest watches made by the brand. Also called RM35-03 Baby Nadal, the watch has a “Sport” mode with the patented Butterfly Rotor. According to the Richard Mille website, the timepiece took three years to develop. And when we take a look at its features, it seems pretty understandable why it took so long.
Apart from the watch having a 55-hour power reserve, it operates on 4 Hertz and features a skeleton look that is made up of Grade 5 titanium. The watch also has a double-barrel system, helping with the torque stability over a long period.
As one can expect, the watch is quite expensively priced. As per sources, the retail price of the watch is $238,000. However, prices of pre-owned watches significantly rise. Hence, the RM 35-03 is available for over half a million dollars and has a similar price tag of €500,000 in the European market on Chrono 24.
Rafael Nadal has been associated with Richard Mille since 2010
Luxury watch brands aim to have the best tennis players promoting them. While Rolex, Hublot, and Audemars Piguet are among the more popular choices, Rafael Nadal decided to join the Richard Mille family in 2010.
After a 2-year pursuit, Richard Mille finally got Rafa to sign a deal with the Swiss brand. 14 years later, their relationship is still rock solid. In fact, Rafael Nadal is known to have the most expensive watch made for any tennis player in history. They completed 10 years of partnership in 2020 and to commemorate the occasion, Mille launched the RM 27-04 watch, priced at $1.05 million for retail (Forbes). Again, only 50 pieces were made for public sale. Rapper Drake is one of the few to own the million-dollar watch, which weighs only about 30 grams.
