Watch Paparazzi

Tennis player Rafael Nadal spotted wearing Richard Mille

Rafael Nadal has been photographed wearing the newly released Richard Mille RM 35-03 in White TPT carbon, a watch that represents the most technically ambitious iteration of the brand's long-running collaboration with the eighteen-time Grand Slam champion. The sighting confirms the piece is already in Nadal's personal rotation, consistent with his habit of wearing Richard Mille references on and off the court simultaneously.

The RM 35-03 introduces a caliber RMAL1 automatic movement to the RM 35 family — a lineage that previously relied on manual winding through the RM 35-01 and RM 35-02. The new butterfly rotor is the headline technical statement: a symmetrical, twin-arm oscillating weight machined from grade 5 titanium and skeletonized for visual drama, visible through the multilayer sapphire caseback. The movement delivers approximately 55 hours of power reserve and runs at 28,800 vph. The baseplate and bridges are constructed from NTPT carbon, offering exceptional rigidity at minimal mass.

The case material — White TPT carbon — is a hallmark of Richard Mille's upper-tier production. TPT, or Thin Ply Technology, involves layering carbon filaments at precise angles under extreme pressure, producing a surface with a distinctive rippled grain pattern that is unique to each watch. The result is a case that measures 49.94 × 44.30 mm yet weighs just 33 grams on the wrist. This is engineering borrowed directly from aerospace and Formula 1 composite construction.

Nadal's association with Richard Mille began in 2010 and has produced some of the most recognizable sports watches of the modern era. He wore early RM 27 and RM 35 references during Grand Slam finals, placing the brand in front of a global audience. The RM 35-03 is positioned as his definitive everyday sports companion — robust enough for professional athletic use, refined enough to carry automatic haute horlogerie credentials.

With a list price of $285,000 USD, the RM 35-03 White TPT sits firmly in Richard Mille's core collector bracket. Grey-market premiums on Nadal-associated references have historically been modest given production volumes, but the introduction of automatic winding in this reference is likely to sustain strong secondary demand among collectors who found earlier manual models less practical.