30 Famous Quotes That Will Inspire Success In You

30 Famous Quotes That Will Inspire Success In You.

Rafa Nadal’s $690,000 watch is part of his game now

 

17 hours ago

Richard Mille

Detail of the Richard Mille RM027 watch he made for Rafael Nadal. It cost $690.000 and was designed to withstand 5,000 G’s of force during a tennis match.

Power, precision, timing — all the qualities a tennis star needs to be successful on court.

And that’s what World No. 2 Rafael Nadal has — right on his wrist as he plays in the U.S. Open this week.

Nadal is one of the most obsessive, ritual-oriented players on the tour. From the placement of his two water bottles, to tying his shoes and wiping off the sweat from his face (always nose first, left ear, nose again then right ear), he is a man who relies on routine to win.

So when a little-known watchmaker asked if Nadal might consider wearing a watch during his matches, the answer was simple.

“I said no way,” said Carlos Costa, Nadal’s manager. “I know Rafa, and … he’s complicated.”

In the year that followed, however, Nadal and the watchmaker Richard Mille worked together to create a superlight, hyper-engineered watch that the Spanish player could wear during his matches.

After selling out of the first Nadal watch, priced at $525,000 and launched in 2010, Mille and Nadal this year launched a second watch. It’s called the RM027. The price: a whopping $690,000.