Ressence has finally achieved its dream of being independent
Ressence, is an independent watch company established in 2010 by a Belgian watch enthusiast and product designer, Benoit Mintiens. I think you know where this is going: something outrageous and spectacular, and yes, that’s exactly what he did. He interprets the art of time-telling according to his idea, which is a convex dial that curves to the exact curvature of the dome sapphire crystal itself and the sub-dials that will rotate around the dial every 12 hours, also known as ROCS (Ressence Orbital Convex System). They also gave us the incredible oil-filled dial for the magnification of the markings on the dial.
We are here to talk about Ressence going oil-free, and it all started with Ressence Type 9. It was as oil-free as the inaugural Type 1, but much simpler, pared down to just the hours sub-dial and the minutes hand rotating and orbiting around the dial; one could say it was a purist dream watch.
This leads us to the latest release unveiled at the recent Watches and Wonders 2026, the Type 11. Having tasted the more grounded oil-free Type 9, Type 11 is also oil-free, and this time, there is a whole lot more going on the dial, and an explosion of surprise under the dial as well. The entire watch as a whole, as we know, is inspired and shaped like a smooth pebble, comfortable to hold and elegant and gentle on the wrist. The iconic DNA convex titanium grade 5 dial curved exactly like the dome sapphire crystal and this time it not only has an hours sub-dial and a rotating long minute indicator on the rotating dial, but it also has small seconds sun-dial next to the hours dial on the right, and a fascinating and mesmerising power reserve indicator which is made up of a string of small bi-coloured ceramic micro-balls with one in blue as a prime indicator. All indicators are coated with SuperLuminova, and come in three different coloured dials- sunburst sand, green and blue.
What comes as a surprise, or may be long-awaited, is the Type 11’s movement. This time around, Ressence has gone all the way and taken their first step towards being fully independent, introducing their very first designed and developed movement, a COSC-certified Calibre Werk RW-01, in collaboration with a Swiss movement developer. This movement was designed specifically to power their iconic ROCS, and it also enables Ressence to have full control over what they can do without any hiccoughs. The movement is rather unique; it has a triangular architecture to accommodate the three sub-dials. It is powered by two barrels and still maintains a decent 60 hours of power reserve, as the wizardry needs a lot of energy to make the magic happen. The calibre has a new hand-wound system, allowing the wearer to wind freely via the caseback. All that advancement allows the movement to shed its heft and now looks super-svelte from the side. Simplifying the dial is the philosophy behind Ressence, after all, and it only displays what is necessary to tell the time, pretty precise as well.
The entire collection of fascinating wonders is housed in a 41mm polished titanium grade 5 pebble-shaped case, and they weigh, as you can surmise, superlight and comfortable, and you barely know it’s there. Do you want to own something uniquely different? Well, this is one timepiece that definitely fits that requirement.
