Welcome to Talking Points, a series that looks at what makes certain products worth talking about, brought to you by Gear Patrol Studios.
Original ideas are rare in any context. But they’re practically unheard of when it comes to a product category that’s existed for centuries. At least that was the consensus before encountering the work of Belgian designer Benoît Mintiens, founder of Ressence Watches. Since the company revealed its original ZERO SERIES well over a decade ago, the watch world has had to recalibrate its expectations of how watches work and function. And this isn’t just watch enthusiast hyperbole.
RessenceThe Backstory
How a novel design unlocked new possibilities
In 2013, Ressence won the Horological Revelation prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève for its TYPE 3, the first-ever oil-filled mechanical watch. As with all of Ressence’s watches today, the TYPE 3 was distinguished by its integration of a heavily modified ETA base movement with Ressence’s unique 3 dimensional patented in-house ROCS module, which functions and enables interactions like no other watch. The brand’s first and only dive watch, the Ressence TYPE 5, stands on the shoulders of the TYPE 3’s innovations, resulting in a watch with a rare claim to fame — the TYPE 5 is the most legible dive watch ever.
The Gist
When oil and water actually work nicely together
Any good dive watch is highly legible when viewed head-on. However, crystal refracts light and can create reflections that make reading a dive watch difficult from an off angle.
As strange as it sounds, the TYPE 5’s innovative oil-filled display system and dome-shaped dial eliminate all potential sources of these internal reflections — technically known as Total Internal Reflection — ensuring that the TYPE 5 is easily readable from any angle, which is a first-of-its-kind capability for any mechanical watch. Extra strong blue Super-LumiNova® luminous material helps make dial details pop further, even in daylight.
The watch also boasts a distinct streamlined aesthetic, in part because it lacks a crown poking out from the side, which also happens to make it a rare comfortable option for left-handed wearers.
Instead, Ressence developed a new caseback dubbed the RCLS (Ressence Compression Lock System), allowing wearers to lock the compression gasket to engage waterproofing. And like all Ressence watches, the TYPE 5’s movement can be “kickstarted” via manual winding by turning the caseback when unlocked clockwise and set by turning the caseback in both directions to adjust the hands. Once it’s on your wrist, its automatic movement will ensure the watch keeps running.
Rounding out the notable features of the TYPE 5 is a unidirectional rotating bezel and grade 5 titanium construction, which makes the watch extremely light, durable and comfortable to wear.
Our POV
A sports watch unlike any other
While the legibility chops of the TYPE 5 are undoubtedly excellent, what we love the most about the watch is how distinct and thoughtful it is as a total package. In a sea of sameness and copycat aesthetics, the Ressence TYPE 5 is in a class of its own and demands respect from watch enthusiasts and intrigue from bystanders accordingly.
From the deep black color of its oil-filled module to its pure round silhouette, titanium construction, pro-grade dive features and unique approach to winding and time setting — there’s no other dive watch remotely like it.
Price: CHF 30,800