A combination of the words 'Renaissance' and 'essentiel',
Ressence is a young, independent brand with a unique approach to contemporary watchmaking. Their motto “Built on the expertise of yesterday, crafted with today’s technology, our watches are designed for tomorrow” - very much speaks to this, innnovative identity. 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.
First debuted at
Baselworld 2014, the
Type 1 followed on from the
Type 3, as a reinvention of the original
Type 1001, with a new
crown-less winding system and thinner case. In comparison to the
Type 1001 with its large crown and thick case size, and the
Type 3 with its innovative oil-filled dial, the
Type 1 expresses perhaps the most minimalist vision of the brand.
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
ROCS (
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. In the
Type 1, there's a mechanical link between the movement and the
ROCS display.
The
’N’ in
‘Type 1N’ refers to the
night blue colour of the dial, which is convex German silver. The orbital display shows hours and minutes on convex discs, as well as the day of the week (with weekends shown). All indicators are filled with generous quantities of
Superluminova, for maximum low-light visibility.
With a highly-domed, sapphire crystal encasing the front side of the watch, the
Type 1 has an
almost pebble-like appearance, clearly influenced by current industrial design trends. The case of this
Type 1N is thinner still, due to the absence of a sapphire case-back, acting as a crown. Instead, there is a small retractable lever, which, when setting the time, corresponds exactly to the movement of the discs on the dial (in a ratio of 1-to-1), with each rotation. 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 watch also forgoes a traditional crown, increasing the organic feel, with the user instead interacting with the
retractable lever on the case-back, to wind the movement and set the time.
This
Type 1N is an ex-demonstration piece, which has recently been fully serviced by the manufacture and
comes with a 1 year warranty from Ressence. It’s a full-set, with box, papers, warranty card and its original blue leather strap, with corresponding tang buckle.
Viewings can be arranged in Central London by appointment only.
Closer look
| Brand: |
Ressence |
| Model: |
Type 1N |
| Movement: |
automatic ETA 2824/2 base, modified with in-house ROCS display module |
| Functions: |
day, hours, minutes, seconds |
| Features: |
regulator display, winding case back |
| Case: |
42 mm x 11.5 mm grade 5 titanium |
| Crystal: |
domed sapphire front |
| Bracelet: |
navy blue leather Ressence strap and original buckle |
| Year: |
ex-demonstration piece |
| Box & papers: |
box, product literature, warranty card |
This Ressence
Type 1N is an ex-demonstration piece in mint condition, having recently returned from a full service at the manufacture. It comes with a one-year-warranty from
Ressence.
