For the second piece in Ressence’s suite of four 10th anniversary watches, the ingenious Belgian brand has turned to Eugenio Amos, the man who founded, Automobili Amos, a passion project that rebuilds Lancia Delta Integrales as Delta Futuristas.
The collaboration, a limited edition of 40 pieces, focuses its attention on Ressence’s Type 5, a wildly innovative titanium watch half-filled with oil to achieve its 100m water resistance and produce a dial that is perfectly legible underwater thanks to the fluid’s reflection-cancelling properties. Did I mention it features an oil temperature gauge, hydraulic shock absorbing system and is completely crownless too?
As mentioned previously (link to the Ressence Type 1 Slim X here) the four watches in Ressence’s X collection will, when they are all released, be tied together through the use of a matching dark olive colour. This is especially fitting for any project involving Amos, whose personal fleet of supercars including a Ferrari F40, Porsche 911 GT2 RS and Bentley Continental R Lightweight Coupe are all painted in manufacturer-correct shades of dark green.
That the Type 5’s rotating bezel has been redesigned should be obvious, with its two prominent raised sections, but what is the significance of its red and white markings? Well, remember that oil temperature gauge I mentioned on the Type 5? That’s clearly why Amos and Ressence are working together on the Type 5X.
The Integrale uses a turbo, as pretty much all ‘hot’ cars from the decade did, a system that can see oil temperatures reach double those inside the rest of the engine. As such, proper warm-up and cooldown procedures should be observed to prolong the life of a turbo. So that’s what this is, a world-first Turbo scale for drivers of turbo-boosted automobiles, marking out a 15-minute warm-up period with Start (S), Drive (D) and Race (R) increments and a 10-minute cooldown period to allow oil temperatures to normalise before the engine is switched off.
The now sold out Automobili Amos Lancia Delta Futurista.
The dial of the Ressence has taken on some of the design sensibilities and graphics from the interior of Automobili Amos’s Delta Futurista’s too and of course features the X hourglass motif used at the 10 o’clock position. The dial is the same olive green used on the earlier Type 1 Slim X, not that you’d know it, the oil under the crystal apparently making it appear almost black, which, depending on your view on olive green watch dials, will either be a plus or a minus.
The Type 5X is presented with both brown Velcro Alcantara and green (what else?) rubber straps and a ‘levati’ rubber accessory for wearing the watch on the side of the wrist for better visibility when driving.
One other thing the Ressence Type 5X has in common with the Automobili Amos Lancia Delta Futurista, it’s bound to sell out fast.
Price & Specs:
Model: Ressence Type 5X
Case/Dial: 46mm diameter, polished grade 5 titanium, domed sapphire crystal case
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Calibre 2824/2, patented ROCS 5 – Ressence Orbital Convex System, automatic, 41 jewels
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 36h
Functions: Hours, minutes, shock absorber runner (90 Seconds), oil temperature
Strap: Brown Alacantara and green levati rubber
Price/availability: €34,200, limited to 40 pieces
More details at Ressence.
