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Model reference: RM 035
Richard Mille RM 035 Rafael Nadal Americas, published at 48 mm by 39.7 mm, shown in the frames with a matte black case held by splined screws, a gear train visible under the crystal and a white strap.
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About this watch
The RM 035 Rafael Nadal is Richard Mille's skeletonised tonneau, published at 48 mm by 39.7 mm, and this page is built around one Americas edition of it as the four frames below show it. What those frames establish is narrow and specific: a matte black case held together by splined screws, a gear train visible under the crystal with a red plate lettered RM035 AMERICAS inside it, the brand name printed on a strip at twelve o'clock and again on a lower bridge, and a white strap with the brand name embossed along it and on a folding clasp.
There is no dial plate on this watch, so the marks that identify it sit inside the assembly rather than on a surface. That is why the third frame is a close-up of the gear train instead of a dial, and why the model plate, the only printed element that names the edition, is the thing to look for when comparing this reference with other RM 035 editions.
Everything the frames do not settle is written as a question further down rather than stated as fact here: the metal of the case, the movement actually fitted, the strap and clasp supplied with the watch being offered, and the state of its seals. Published records for the Americas edition and the maker's own description of the RM 035 family are both used on this page, and both are kept separated from what the frames themselves show.
The RM 035 Rafael Nadal Americas is an edition of Richard Mille's skeletonised tonneau sports watch, published at 48 mm by 39.7 mm with a skeletonised dial carrying red accents and paperwork naming the RM 035 family, and records for the edition describe a run of 50 pieces. The maker's own page for the RM 035 Rafael Nadal describes the family case as a tonneau built as a screwed assembly and the dial as skeletonised, and those published figures and that description are where the design details on this page come from.
What the four frames add is what the watch in front of the camera actually carries: a matte black case, splined screws across the bezel, a red plate inside the gear train lettered RM035 AMERICAS, and a white strap. The two sources are not the same kind of evidence. One describes a design that every RM 035 shares; the other describes one object, and only that object, which is why the frame notes and the published data are labelled separately in the specification list below.
Because there is no dial plate on this watch for it to sit on. The dial is skeletonised, meaning the gear train, the bridges and the wheels are the visible surface of the face, so the element that fixes the model's identity had to be printed onto a bridge inside the movement instead, and that is exactly where the red plate lettered RM035 AMERICAS appears in the frames.
That placement changes how you read the watch. Rather than a name under twelve o'clock, you find the model number among the gear wheels, sitting a short distance from the bridge printed 24 JEWELS and above the words SWISS MADE along the bottom edge, which is why the third frame is a close-up of the gear train rather than of a dial. If you are comparing this reference with photographs of other RM 035 editions, the plate is the single most useful thing to check, because it is the one printed element that a change of case colour or strap would not explain away.
The case is an assembly rather than a single shell. In the frames the bezel is a separate ring sitting above the crystal opening and held down by eight splined screws whose heads are visible across it, and the strap is bolted to the case rather than threaded through lugs.
That construction is the reason an RM 035 reads the way it does at a distance: the screws are part of the design rather than concealed fasteners, so their spacing and the way their heads sit are among the first things a photograph shows. What the frames cannot tell you is what those parts are made from, so the metal of the case, the bezel and the case middle is asked for in the question list rather than stated here.
They show a white strap with a moulded grid pattern cut into it and the brand name embossed along the strap itself, closed by a folding clasp that carries the brand name embossed on its top plate. The fourth frame is held on its side so that the strap and the clasp are both in focus at the same time.
The strap in the frames is described here by colour and pattern only, because a photograph shows a white moulded strap rather than what it is made from; the material is asked for instead. The two things worth settling beyond that are what the strap is cut to and what comes with the watch, because a moulded strap already trimmed for a smaller wrist can be shortened again but never lengthened.
Those are the published dimensions of the RM 035 family: 48 mm in one direction and 39.7 mm in the other, on a tonneau outline rather than a round one. The shape matters as much as the numbers, because a tonneau curves away at the corners, so most of the bearing surface sits along the middle of the case rather than at its widest points.
In practice the figure people check first, the diameter, does not settle the fit question on a case like this. The bezel stands proud of the case top in the frames, the crown projects from the right side, and the strap turns down steeply out of the case, and all three alter how the watch settles on a wrist. Ask for the lug-to-lug measurement and the weight in grams on the watch being offered, then compare them with a watch you already wear rather than with the published dimensions alone.
They cannot tell you what the case is made of, which movement is fitted, what strap and clasp come with the watch being offered, how much it weighs, whether its seals hold, or when it was last serviced. None of that is visible in a still image, and each of those answers changes the value of an offer far more than the dial does.
The frames also stop short of showing the watch working. You cannot see the gear train turning or the hands sweeping, and a watch that photographs well can still arrive not running. The practical answer is a short video taken before you commit, showing the watch held in the hand with the hands moving, followed by the case back and the clasp. That, and the five questions at the foot of this page, will settle more than any further still images.
Specification
| Detail | Description |
|---|---|
| Model reference | RM 035 |
| Model size | 48 mm x 39.7 mm |
| Dial | Skeletonised, with a black outer ring |
| Dial print | Brand name on a strip at twelve o'clock and again on a lower bridge; red plate lettered RM035 AMERICAS inside the gear train |
| Bezel design | Tonneau bezel held by eight splined screws, matte black in the frames |
| Bezel graduations | No scale on the bezel itself; the minutes are printed on the black outer ring inside it |
| Hour markers | Printed batons on the black outer ring with a pale dot between each pair |
| Hour-marker layout | One baton to each hour around the outer ring, clear of the gear train at the centre |
| Hand arrangement | Two centre hands, slim and skeletonised with red tips, carried above the visible gear train |
| Date display | No date aperture or date numeral in the frames |
| Subdial layout | No counters; the movement is left open under the crystal |
| Colour combination | Matte black case ring and bezel, pale gear train, red on the model plate and hand tips, white strap |
| Case shown | Matte black tonneau case with eight splined screws across the bezel and the crown standing off the right side |
| Case (reference design) | Tonneau outline built as a screwed assembly, per the maker's description of the RM 035 family; the metal of the offered watch is one of the questions below |
| Strap shown | White strap with a moulded grid pattern and the brand name embossed along it |
| Clasp | Folding clasp with the brand name embossed on its top plate |
| Crystal | Follows the tonneau outline of the case rather than a round aperture |
| Case back | Not visible in the frames; ask for a photograph of it with the offer |
| Movement (reference design) | Skeletonised construction with the model plate carried inside the gear train, as the maker describes the RM 035 family |
Questions
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Six frames that answer more than a long description: daylight dial, bezel straight on, bracelet closed, clasp, case back and a short video of the moving parts.
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