Ressence

The Belgian brand Ressence has made a name for itself by designing watches that are unlike anything you’ve seen before. Ressence watches have no crown, so the overall design is dynamic and puristic. The entire dial rotates simultaneously with the minute hand, while the other displays are mounted on rotating disks connected by a planetary gear. As there is no crown, all winding and hand settings are made by turning the C-ring on the caseback. The minimalist and futuristic design, in keeping with modern esthetics – so much so that it is more reminiscent of a smartwatch than a mechanical watch– is the project of Belgian designer Benoît Mintiens, who founded the brand in 2010. His idea was to create a watch with an unusual, unconventional design but with a user-friendly, ergonomic and intuitive time display system, although some people have commented that the watch is too difficult to read. To make this idea a reality, he developed a mechanical display module installed on a Swiss-made base caliber, usually the Eta 2824. However, the unusual concept was no guarantee that someone else would come up with a similar idea – and that is exactly what happened. The history of the brand began with a very unpleasant coincidence for a start-up: in the same year, a similar concept for a watch with a planetary time display system was presented by movement designer and manufacturer Jean-François Mojon, who had designed the Opus 10watch for Harry Winston. Nevertheless, Mintiens withstood the onslaught and, through years of effort, brought the production of Ressence watches to several hundred pieces per year (the New York Times reports 650 pieces in 2023), while the Opus series was discontinued in 2014 with the Opus 14 and never renewed.

This Ressence Type 1 Squared X Time by Colour seems to be an signature model to the history of the independent Belgian brand, released in honor of its tenth anniversary. Ressence has a unique positioning in the world of modern watchmaking, standing out from the general luxury watch industry and offering its own vision of modern design, ergonomics and functionality. The watch clearly feels the influence of the style of modern smartwatches, although these two were developed in parallel. Nevertheless, the Type 1 Squared X Time by Colour is a purely mechanical watch that does not require a battery or charging and will not lose its relevance over the years. This watch belongs to a rare anniversary edition of 40 pieces, which guarantees rarity and attractiveness for a collector.