I’ve Never Seen a Dive Watch Combine These Features Before

The result just may be the most legible dive watch ever made.

a diver wearing a luminous ressence dive watch underwater

Published June 28, 2024

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Given that the basic technology powering mechanical watches is hundreds of years old, you wouldn’t think there would be much room for innovation in the industry. And yet, we’ve seen time and time again just how clever brands can be when it comes to reinventing the mechanical watch.

One of the most innovative today, without question, is Ressence. The brand’s watches both look and function like nothing else. Lacking a traditional dial and handset, Ressence’s watches instead feature a proprietary display of rotating discs to display the time.

Ressence’s dive watch, the Type 5, features additional innovations. The most notable is an oil-filled case—a first for a mechanical watch—that completely eliminates light reflections from the crystal, making the watch readable from any angle.

Now, the brand is at it again with its latest dive watch, the Ressence Type 5 L. This watch is even more legible underwater than its predecessor, thanks to yet another clever innovation.

Ressence Type 5 L

$39,900 at Hodinkee

Like an Oil Lamp

The Type 5 L isn’t really a brand-new watch, but rather a new reference in the small Type 5 family.

It features all of the same specs as the black and blue Type 5 divers, which include a lightweight Grade 5 titanium case, domed sapphire crystals, 100m of water resistance and a heavily modified ETA 2824/2 automatic movement driving Ressence’s custom ROCS system with separate indicators for the hours, minutes, running seconds and oil temperature.

ressence watch underwater — The oil-filled dial of the Type 5 L eliminates light reflections, enhancing legibility from all angles.

Like the other Type 5 divers, the Type 5 L is comprised of two separated and sealed chambers — one for the movement, another for the oil-filled dial — united by a magnetic coupler. It also meets the ISO 6425 standard to be classified as a diver’s watch.

But here’s the lone difference: While the standard Type 5 utilizes Super-LumiNova luminescence for its hands and markers against a black background, the Type 5 L coats the entire dial with a ludicrous amount of green Super-LumiNova, while the hands and markers are coated in blue Super-LumiNova. The unidirectional bezel also has lumed markers, and it functions just as it would on a more traditional diver.

To my knowledge, this is the first time a fully-luminous dial has been combined with an oil-filled display in a watch. The combination of the reflection-eliminating oil with the copious amounts of lume to light up the display create a watch that should be readable from any angle and at any depth. It’s also huge at 46mm across, giving the display plenty of real estate and further enhancing its legibility.

What all that means, theoretically, is this should be the most legible dive watch in existence.

ressence watch glowing in the dark — The fully luminous dial creates a display that’s easily read in any light.

Pricing and Availability

Given the amount of custom engineering and proprietary technology involved in their construction, Ressence watches are not cheap. The Swiss outfit is considered a luxury brand, and the Type 5 L is priced accordingly.

The new luminous, oil-filled dive watch is available now from Ressence and its dealer network for $39,900, making it one of the most expensive purpose-built divers on the market.

It’s a high price to pay for uniqueness, but if your ultimate goal is underwater legibility — or just having a conversation piece on your wrist — then the Type 5 L may be for you.

Ressence Type 5 L

Ressence made its unusual and highly visible dive watch even more visible underwater, creating perhaps the most legible diver ever. The Type 5 already boasted an oil-filled dial that made it readable from any angle, but the Type 5 L adds a fully-luminous display for clear legibility even in total darkness.