Ressence marks the 10th Anniversary of its revolutionary approach to watchmaking this year and is releasing a collection of commemorative limited-edition watches to celebrate.
We hear that four watches will be produced under the Collection X banner using dark olive green dials as a common link. Seeing as the first applies this distinct colour scheme to the Type 1 Slim, it’s a safe bet that each of the remaining three will represent three of the Belgian brand’s other models.
Considering the Silberstein-esque colour palatte used for the watch that Ressence has just made to auction off in aid of Coronavirus research, dark olive is a somewhat sober choice for a celebratory watch but it does sit nicely against the yellowy-orange Grade A Super-LumiNova, a title apparently awarded to batches of the luminous material that glow longer and 25% brighter than standard. On any other watch this colour pairing would be used as shorthand for a military aesthetic but the Type 1 Slim X is far too refined to be confused for that.
The lume sits in the engraved recesses of the watch’s German silver dial or rather its Ressence Orbital Convex System (ROCS for short), the name given to the complex arrangement of independently rotating discs that display seconds, minutes, hours and weekdays.
Ressence here plays with texture as well as colour; with both the main minute disc and smaller hour disc bisected using contrasting smooth matt and circular grained finishes. These align neatly on either side of the watch at midday and midnight.
As this (and the other forthcoming watches of Collection X) celebrates the first ten years of the Belgian brand (X representing ten in Roman numerals), Ressence has replaced the 10 o’clock hour marker with a stylised X, transfigured into the form of an hourglass. It’s a nice idea but it also, confusing, looks a lot like the number 8, so probably a little too clever for its own good.
Elsewhere the Ressence Type 1 Slim X is much as we know the Type 1 Slim to be with its 42mm Grade 5 Titanium case, integrated lugs and crownless design (adjustment and winding is managed using a foldaway lever ingeniously built in to the caseback which, we assume, is the reason for the Type 1 Slim’s aversion to getting wet, its water resistance is just 1 ATM, equivalent to 10m. Inside a customised ETA 2892/A beats at 28,800vph and has a power reserve of 36 hours.
Ressence will produce 40 pieces of the Type 1 Slim X with each watch individually numbered on the caseback.
Price & Specs:
Brand: Ressence
Model Name: Type 1 Slim X
Case/Dial: 42mm diameter x 11mm thickness, grade 5 titanium
Water Resistance: 10m (1 bar)
Movement: Patented ROCS 1 (Ressence Orbital Convex System) driven by the minute axle of a specially customised 2892/A calibre, automatic, 40 jewels
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power Reserve: 36h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, weekdays
Strap: Olive green calfskin leather with Ardillon buckle
Price: £17,650 GBP, limited to 40 pieces
More details at Ressence.
