This Minimalist Masterpiece May Be the Most Beautiful Watch of 2025, So Far

Many watches are rightfully considered works of art, and many others reproduce existing art on the dial, with varying results.

But an artist’s work has never harmonized so well with a watch design as with the Ressence Type 8 Daniel Engelberg.

Ressence

Ressence watches are instantly recognizable by the brand’s distinct dial layouts. Founder and chief designer Benoît Mintiens extracted hours and minutes, then rearranged how the two interact visually.

Each generation of Ressence watches has intricacies, but the Type 8 functions by the hour hand rotating within the smaller hour dial, and that dial moves as the larger minute hand moves.

Ressence

That layered rotation fits perfectly into Daniel Engelberg’s Inside Out series. The German artist blends sculpture and painting to create flat works that suggest depth and motion through visual tricks of color and geometry.

Depth and motion

Daniel Engelberg creates concentric circular arrangements of gradient colors, always emanating from a black center, to suggest concave shapes.

Ressence

“The optical illusion creates an incredible sense of depth,” explains Engelberg. “Pulling you in with mesmerizing gradients and ever-changing perspectives.”

His work has caught the attention of art collectors, designers and at least one watchmaker. It is a natural fit for Ressence’s ongoing Art Watch series, which began in 2020.

Ressence

The Type 8 Daniel Engelberg is available in two colors. Both have the same central black dot on the hour dial and a blue gradient on the minute hand panel. Likewise, both references have white hands and indices filled with Grade A Super-LumiNova.

The outer rim of the DE2 continues the blue theme and has a matching teal rubber strap, while the DE1 has pink hues on the minute track with a matching pink strap.

Ressence

Where Engelberg used machine-tooled wood for his artwork, Ressence uses laser-etched titanium for the dial. The sapphire crystal dome blends into the smoothed titanium case.

The band attaches to hidden lugs beneath the case, making the 43mm case feel smaller than that on the wrist.

Telling time

Despite its novel, artistic appearance, the Type 8 is a simple two-hand watch with an automatic movement. The hour dial consists of two smaller circles, with the hand circle rotating within the hour track circle.

Ressence

The minute hand is isolated on a crescent-shaped plate that rotates around the dial to register on a minute track etched into the outer rim. The entire dial is convex, so it functions like an inverted chapter ring.

Even though the movement is automatic, the Ressence ROCS 8 has a “kick start” function that works like a manual winding movement to get it started. As the etched warning insists, the time is set by slowly rotating the case back.

Ressence

Each of Ressence’s curved, rotating dials is a beautiful work of horological art, but the Type 8 Daniel Engelberg is a mesmerizing sculpture brought to life by an ingenious clockwork.

It brings new meaning to the phrase “wearable art.”

Availability and pricing

The Ressence Type 8 Daniel Engelberg is available for reservation now and goes on sale in late August 2025 for $22,500.

Each reference, the pink DE1 and teal DE1, is limited to 40 pieces.

Ressence

Ressence Type 8 Daniel Engelberg

Specs

Case Size	43mm
Movement	Ressence ROCS 8 automatic
Water Resistance	None

• $22,500 at Ressence

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