Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black Watch Review
After writing about Ressence’s extraordinary creativity, Angus Davies was granted the opportunity to have a few days hands-on with the company’s TYPE 1° Round Black. Could his experience tempt him to break with tradition and embrace the avant-garde?
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black
Ressence watch
While I applaud innovation and creativity, I confess to being a bit of laggard and a tad tech-sceptic. Indeed, despite appreciating avant-garde design, there is always that little bit of me that remains wary. Perhaps it’s my age that makes me fearful of new ideas.
Over the years, I’ve written about Ressence on several occasions and I’m very familiar with the brand’s history and its various avant-garde products. I understand the rationale underpinning many of the firm’s models, but there is no substitute for ‘hands-on’. So, when a chap at Ressence kindly offered to loan me a TYPE 1° Round, I eagerly agreed, keen to establish whether, after consummating my marriage, I would forever swear undying love. Perhaps this temporary wearer-experience would provide the answer.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Night Blue
Ressence TYPE 1° Round – introduction
The inaugural TYPE 1 was launched in 2014, replacing the ‘Series One’. As I mentioned in my previous article, Ressence – the Masters of Creativity, the TYPE 1 eschewed a conventional crown, differentiating it from its predecessors. This crownless design has since become a defining feature of all subsequent Ressence models.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Night Blue
Since releasing the TYPE 1 in 2014, the Antwerp-based firm has revisited the design, made small changes as well as embraced different shapes. Some examples that spring to mind include the TYPE 1 Slim (2019-2022), TYPE 1 Squared (2017 – to date) and the TYPE 1° Round (2023 – to date). Throughout the history of the TYPE 1, the company has produced several limited editions, executed in an array of colours.
Perusing the Ressence website today reveals the company offers three ‘regular’ versions of the TYPE 1° Round: ‘Multicolour’, ‘Night Blue’ and ‘Black’.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Multicolour
Ressence TYPE 1° Round dial
Unlike the Night Blue option with its soupçons of orange and the Multicolour with its array of hues, my press sample subscribed to a monochromatic theme. Black and white make happy bedfellows, proffering style along with a useful quotient of contrast. It is this contrast, together with the chosen typeface used, that makes the Arabic numerals simple to read.
As I mentioned in my previous article, the TYPE 1 Round does not have conventional co-axial hour and minute hands sitting above the dial plane. Instead, the various indications are presented on four discs: a large disc indicating the minutes, and three sub-discs displaying the hours, seconds and day. The subdiscs sit flush within the slightly convex dominant dial.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black
Despite being a balding, fiftysomething, raised on a traditional diet of co-axial hour and minute hands, I soon became accustomed to the dial of the Ressence TYPE 1° Round. Indeed, it does not take an inordinate amount of time to assimilate the various indications presented.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Night Blue
The hours feature the brand’s hand logo at 12 o’clock. Just like the Ressence TYPE 1 watch, this emblem has subtly evolved over the years, an example of Benoît Mintiens’ (the brand’s founder) near-obsessive quest for perfection. While a logo is always a useful marketing tool, on this occasion it also serves a functional role, orientating the mind to think that the logo forever lives in the north of the sub-disc. The lone hand at the centre of the hour display is static; however, it sits on a disc that discreetly rotates, creating the illusion that the hand is in motion. The disc rotates adjacent a static track that’s marked with Arabic numerals, separated by a minuscule gap of 0.030 mm in between. When viewed, the mind sees the hour display as one homogenous display. Ressence has cleverly played with human perception to deliver notable intelligibility.
The minute hand dominates the model’s display. It employs the same static hand-revolving disc idea and, once again, the gap between the disc and neighbouring track is barely perceptible in normal use. Furthermore, it is only when appraising the dial at close quarters that you notice that each sub-disc is encircled by a second fine line. This characteristic provides a foretaste of the headline act, the orbiting display.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Multicolour
All three subdiscs circumnavigate the model’s display in unison, while remaining upright at all times. This choreographed dance sees the large disc rotate 360° every hour. At this juncture, I must confess to adjusting the hours with the caseback-crown (see later), just for the pleasure of watching this planetary dance take place at fast-forward speeds. Incidentally, the crown can rotate the sub-discs in either direction.
In terms of indicating the prevailing day, Ressence has once again looked to the heavens and delivered its own unique take on the display. There are no fussy abbreviations cluttering the dial with ‘Wed’ or ‘Fri’ and none of the usual apertures and sunken dials. Instead, Mintiens has created a day display that succinctly imparts meaning with a circlet. This is formed of seven segments, with the Saturday and Sunday denoted with openworked segments. Again, setting aside the obvious artistic merits of the display, it proves highly intuitive to read. The small seconds indication, again presented in circular form, completes the inventory of functions.
The dial of the Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black is convex, formed of German silver and endowed with engraved indications filled with Super-LumiNova. The display delivers an obvious wow-factor while remaining reassuringly practical at all times.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black
Ressence TYPE 1° Round case
As you will no doubt have ascertained by now, the Ressence TYPE 1° Round does not follow convention. This unorthodox approach continues with the case which redefines the notion of a round watch. The absence of a conventional crown at 3 o’clock (see later), accentuates the circular form of the case. Moreover, the unobtrusive loop-style strap attachments play a deferential role to the model’s circular face. Measuring 42.7 mm in diameter, the watch looks and feels smaller when affixed to the wrist.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black
Over the years, the Belgian marque has made watch cases in a variety of materials, but its favoured metal is Grade 5 titanium, also employed on this occasion. This alloy is notoriously challenging to work with owing to its hardness, heightening production costs; however, it does deliver several useful benefits. It is light, strong, non-magnetic, corrosion-resistant and hypoallergenic; all of which are useful attributes for a watch.
While the Ressence TYPE 1° Round was in my custody, I frequently removed it from my wrist, eager to hold it in my right hand, positioned between forefinger and thumb, and caress its form. Relax, this is not a new form of horological fetishism! I found the pebble shaped case confers an emotional release, a form of catharsis. Supremely smooth, it resembles an organic form that yearns to be stroked. When worn, its sleek contours nuzzle the fleshy part of the wrist to bestow peerless wearer comfort.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Night Blue
To the rear of the TYPE 1° Round, the caseback provides another point of difference. As I mentioned in my previous article, the ‘absence of a conventional crown is another reason for the TYPE 1’s agreeable fit’. A flush-fitting, semi-circular latch nestles neatly within the caseback. This combined caseback-crown proves simple to use. By slipping a finger into a small recess in the caseback, the wearer can lift the latch and wind the mainspring or adjust the time indications. The watch is automatic, hence there will only be a need to wind the mainspring if it has been left unattended for a few days.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Multicolour
Ressence TYPE 1° Round movement
The TYPE 1° Round is powered by a customised ETA 2892, a popular movement in the watchsphere widely known for being very reliable. But the REAL watchmaking magic is unquestionably the model’s patented Ressence Oribital Convex System (ROCS 1.3), a module positioned atop the base movement.
Driven by the ETA’s canon pinion, the ROCS module is an elaborate arrangement of bridges, jewelled pivots and wheels that utilise the mainspring’s power to deliver a balletic performance with the various time indications slowly pirouetting around the display.
The movement has a frequency of 28,800 vph (4 Hz), contains 40 jewels and 27 gears. Assuming the mainspring is fully wound, it will run autonomously for 36 hours.
Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black – closing remarks
The Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black, together with its siblings, is the product of one man’s imagination. Benoît Mintiens has never followed the pack nor chosen to play it safe. Instead, he has repeatedly questioned, reflected and conceived. However, along the way, there have been many challenges and obstacles that the son of Antwerp has needed to surmount.
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black
With the advent of the Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black Mintiens’ perseverance has been rewarded. The dial proves eminently logical and intuitive to read and redefines horological norms. There are no superfluous indications, contrasts are deliberately accentuated to aid readability and the accepted practise of using different heights and apertures has been rejected in order to aid understanding.
This non-conformist approach extends to the case, which does not emulate the ‘usual’ housings typically found with other watches, but echoes nature with a smooth pebble-like exterior. As for the movement, it unites a tried and tested base calibre with a module rich in technical ingenuity. Quite simply, this watch makes a compelling case for selection.
This brings me back to where I started. Having worn the watch for a few days, would I offer the TYPE 1° Round Black my hand in marriage and swear undying love? Well…
Image – Ressence TYPE 1° Round Multicolour
While this feature is ‘sponsored’ i.e. a fee has been paid for its publication, I would not compromise my professional integrity by making disingenuous comments. Therefore, when I state that I would dearly love to own one of the brand’s creations, I make the statement with absolute candour.
Continuing in the same spirit of honesty, I must confess that, despite the TYPE 1° Round Black being a beautiful creation, my affections are for its sister, the TYPE 1° Round Multicolour. Her younger face is adorned with a colourful complexion that immediately ensnared my gaze at our first meeting. However, beyond the Multicolour’s coquettish charms, there is a logic underpinning the multiple use of dial hues; something I touched upon in my previous article. And it is logic that is the raison d’être underpinning every one of Mintiens’ ideas. The laggard is smitten.
Further reading
Technical specifications
- Model: Ressence TYPE 1° Round Black
- Reference: T13R-BXX1-CBA
- Case: Grade 5 titanium, diameter 42.7 mm, thickness 11 mm, domed sapphire crystal to front, solid caseback with crown lever.
- Functions: hours, minutes, seconds and day
- Movement: ETA 2892 base with ROCS 1.3 module, automatic movement, frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz), 30 jewels, power reserve 36 hours.
- Strap: leather strap paired with an ardillon buckle.
- Price: CHF 18,150 + VAT (RRP as of 14.6.2024)