Richard Mille — Game Play Wrist Game

The shorts and mullet combo have gone on to become the look that everyone recalls of Agassi from his heyday. Very few would, however, remember that Agassi was possibly one of the first — if not the first — in the professional tennis circuit to wear a watch during game play.

Thanks to our friend Nick Gould (better known to you and I by his Instagram handle @niccoloy) we’re able to say that the watch on Agassi’s wrist was an Ebel timepiece. Nick even found the pertaining ad material to confirm this.

The first time Rafa wore a Richard Mille on court was during the 2010 French Open. That year he played against Robin Söderling during the finals and won straight sets to secure his fifth French Open and seventh Grand Slam title. The watch on his wrist during the entirety of  the French Open that year was the 20-gram RM 027.

Nine years since that day, Rafa has never played a game without a Richard Mille timepiece strapped to his right wrist. Richard Mille in the meantime has also gone on to create ever more extreme watches with Rafa in mind. These watches include the RM 035, RM 35-01 and evolutions of the RM 027, the RM 27-01, 27-02 and, most recently, the RM 27-03.

Editor’s Note:

Read more about Felipe Massa and Richard Mille, here.

Read more about Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille, here.

September 8th, 2019, on the occasion of winning his 19th Grand Slam and 4th US Open title, Rafa had the RM 27-03 on his wrist. But make no mistake, tennis was not the domain where Richard Mille established “game play wrist game”. That legacy belongs to Felipe Massa and the mythical RM 006 that he first wore in 2004.

Richard Mille gets past this concern by creating ever more lightweight wristwatches for athletes. Take for instance the RM 67-02, which weighs in at a mere 32 g. The other thing to consider is that most of the athletes who wear Richard Mille watches are all of the solo variety. Therein a watch on their person doesn’t exactly pose an issue to anyone else on the playing field. The only exception, in this regard, is perhaps Pablo Mac Donough — but polo, too isn’t exactly a contact sport. The game of American Football, however, is very much a contact sport and it’s where Richard Mille has made its latest — no pun intended — impact.

During said game, Browns wide receiver, 27-year old Odell Beckham Jr. was on the field the entire time with an RM 11-03 McLaren Flyback Chronograph on his left wrist. Immediately questions arise: can an RM 11-03 survive a high impact sport like American Football? Given Richard Mille’s track record, we can safely say, yes it can. However, can Odell Beckham Jr.’s teammates and opposing players survive being hit with an RM 11-03 in the midst of a skull crushing tackle? Looks like we’re going to have to pay close attention to the NFL 2019 season in order to answer this question.

Update, September 10, 2019:

The Associated Press has reported that the NFL has advised Odell Beckham Jr. to not wear his RM 11-03 McLaren Flyback Chronograph during game play.

The report states that on Monday, “league spokesman Michael Signora said while there are no rules prohibiting jewelry, there is a policy ‘prohibiting hard objects.'”

Browns coach Freddie Kitchens in turn responded saying that while he was unaware that Beckham had worn the watch to field, he will ensure that the team abides by league rules, “as long as they’re going to enforce that with everyone”.

More on Associated Press’ report on the matter, here.