Type 1N | Titanium

A combination of the words "Renaissance" and "essentiel", Ressence is a young, independent brand with a unique approach to contemporary watchmaking. Founded by the Belgian industrial designer Benoît Mintiens in 2010, all of the brand’s watches carry ever-changing “regulator” dials, in which the sub-dials and main disc continually orbit one another.

Unconventional in design as well as appearance, the Ressence Type 1N aspires towards minimalism and efficiency, influenced by current industrial design trends. The Type 1 has an almost pebble-like appearance and is remarkably thin, thanks to the absence of a sapphire caseback and the fact that the closed caseback doubles up as a crown.

The “N” in Type 1N is intended to represent the night sky, distinguishing the dial by its deep, greyish-blue

colour that is made from convex German silver and which blends into the case. The orbital display shows hours and minutes on convex discs, as well as the day of the week, with weekends outlined in yellow. Meanwhile, the polished, grade 5 titanium case measures 42 mm, yet wears smaller than expected, due to the absence of the external case seen in traditional watchmaking. The piece also happens to have a caseback number of below 35, making it one of the earlier pieces produced in the series.

The watch is split into two modules – a lower half comprised of a customised self-winding ETA 2824/2 ébauche, and a display module, or Ressence Orbital Convex System. Composed of 107 parts, 27 gears and 40 jewels, the gears in the ROCS calculates the hours, seconds and day, taking only the minute as a reference from the movement.

If sold within the United Kingdom, this Ressence Type 1N will be subject to 20% VAT.

Closer look

This Ressence Type 1N is in very good condition overall, with a few superficial marks throughout consistent with minimal wear.

The watch comes with a two-year warranty from A Collected Man, alongside a lifetime guarantee of authenticity.