The Ressence Type 3 watch was shown last year as BaselWorld and received a lot of press and even the Revelation Watch Prize at last tear”s Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix. It was one sexy watch, really unlike anything else on the market. The closest looking product on the market would be a smart watch with e-ink, but the Ressence is pure mechanical watchmaking beauty. Now, in time for BaselWorld 2014 comes the Type 1 from Ressence.
The Type 1 looses the date complication from the Type 3, which I think cleans up the look a bit. It also looses the liquid filled crystal, which should hopefully make the watch a bit more affordable. It looks to be quite a leap from the earlier, similarly styled Type 1001…, reviewed here at ABTW. The watch dial uses 4 casino online rotating disks, with the three subdials orbiting the center of the watch. The main disk has a hand that points to the outer chapter ring and reads the minutes. The largest of the subdials sits opposite the “minute hand,” with its own rotating disk that points to the hours on an independent chapter ring. This whole subdial orbits about the face, with 12:00 always oriented at, well, 12:00. Two other subdials also orbit the face, one for the seconds, and one for day of the week. Here is a video of the watch in motion.
The watch has no crown, and it set using adjustments integrated into the caseback. The entire design flows from one curve and surface area to the next. The domed sapphire crystal mates to the edges of the case, which then flow to the wire style lugs, machined from the same block instead of soldered. The face itself is curved, requiring the subdials to be set at an angle to the movement. The watch is available in 3 finishes, with another 2 available this summer: the matt black dial green Super Luminova, matt white dial with dark grey Super Luminova and metallic sandblasted champagne with soft polished rhodium index rings are available now, with a metallic sunray dark grey a silver metallic with blued hands coming later this year.
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Ressence Type 1
- Price: $TBD, but not cheap
- Who we think it might be for: Someone looking to make a subtle statement.
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I”ve seen?: If I could afford it.
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: Keep pushing the envelope.
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: The organic beauty of the design with the innovative movement.
