Ressence -

Origins

Ressence embodies the beauty of watchmaking. This young independent brand was born in Antwerp, back in 2010, from the mind of Benoît Mintiens, a Belgian Industrial Designer. In a moment where nobody seemed able to create true innovation anymore he succeeded by approaching the industry from a completely different perspective.

Concept

As an industrial designer he started by drawing what was in his mind but it was with his engineering skills that he achieved the most impressive results. With his form follows function way of thinking, after replacing the hands with planar revolving discs, he removed the crown from all his watches to give time setting a much more natural feeling.

Technology

Benoît Mintiens went where no ‘traditional’ watchmaker would have dared to venture, exploring possibilities there were never considered possible for mechanical watches.
In fact the simpler they look outside the more complicated they are inside. Some of his creations are hiding the most unusual elements you can find: liquids and magnets.

Oil-filled and Magnetic transmission

A transparent Oil is used to fill the ‘dial’ side of the Type 3 and Type 5 and besides the techincal advantages it creates the visual illusion of a touch screen rather than a fully mechanical watch.

Magnets are used to transfer the minute information from the base movement to the upper part of the watch – called ROCS – Ressence Orbital Convex System.
The two parts are separated by a thin layer of titanium to prevent the Oil to seep from the upper part in the base movement and compromise its functioning.