Pre-Baselworld 2015 – New Ressence Type 3 with updated features – Specs & Price

Ressence, a Belgian brand (well, watches are designed in Belgium but Swiss made), is really what we can call UNUSUAL. The first one, the Ressence Type 1 was already quite a curious timepiece, with a very unique way to indicate time – a revolving dial with integrated subdials that also move around. 2 years later, in 2013, the brand came back with the amazing Ressence Type 3 (where is the Type 2…?), this time a really unique and strange UFO. For baselworld 2015, here is the updated edition of the Ressence Type 3, with Oil Temperature Gauge.

The first effect of the Ressence Type 3 is visual. Even if it is a mechanical watch, the Ressence Type 3 brings the illusion of seeing indications appear directly printed or projected on the sapphire crystal – an effect that is reinforced by the pronounced curve of the glass and a ‘water drop’ effect that accentuates the black/white contrast of the dial. Just like the Ressence Type 1, the Type 3 indicates time through a series of rotating discs – a main one for the minutes and orbiting planetary sub dials for hours, seconds and days of the week. Since the entire dial rotates, all planetary sub dials will rotate with it, while rotating around their own axis as well. One of the novelty compared to the Type 1 is the date feature that sits around the dial, pointed by an orange triangle at 6.

How does this watch works? It requires several innovative features:

• The ROSC (Ressence Orbital Convex System). It consists of a top module that actuates the discs and orbiting planetary sub dials. It is composed of 158 parts, 35 gears and 52 jewels. For antimagnetic and lightweight purposes, all components are in titanium grade 5 with the exception of the gears.
• A specific architecture mixing a mechanical movement, micro-magnetic fields and oil. It consists of three main elements: the central section made from a titanium grade 5 plate that integrates the lugs for the bracelet; the upper section with the ROCS submerged in oil; and the lower section housing the movement (a simple and robust automatic ETA 2824) and the winding/setting mechanism. The minute information is transmitted from the movement to the ROSC (the top module) via micro-magnetic fields (the rest of the discs are moving via gears). The movement is totally sealed toward liquids (by a hermetic titanium grade 5 membrane, due to the oil in the top module) and toward magnetic fields – via a faraday cage.
• A winding and setting mechanism without a crown. the whole sapphire caseback can rotate within a ball-bearing cage. The movement can be hand-wound by turning the caseback clockwise. To set the date, you’ll have to turn it anti-clocking wise. Time can be set in either direction. More to see here, with the first edition of the Ressence Type 3.

One of the greatest achievement if this Ressence Type 3 is to create the illusion of a digital / screen-like display. The hands (that are printed on discs) seem to be projected directly onto the sapphire crystal. This effect is due to the oil contained into the ROSC module. Because of the absence of space between the dial and the crystal, there are no 3D effect and almost no reflections – due to the elimination of light refraction between the discs and the sapphire crystal. The top module is indeed filled with 35.2ml of oil (fortunately the movement is sealed and protected) that creates this very unique visual effect.

However, oil is sensible to temperature variations and for this reason, the Ressence Type 3 includes seven bellows that compensate for oil’s expansion or contraction. The 2015 edition of the Ressence Type 3 however comes with a mechanical thermal gauge that indicates when the watch performs at its best – the indication is extremely legible, with a blue zone indicating that oil is too cold, a white zone where oil is at the right temperature and a red zone that indicates that oil is too hot. This gauge is composed of a 0.5 mm bi-metal spiral that is mounted 0.1 mm under the discs.

For the rest, the Ressence Type 3 features the minutes on the larger disc, the hours in a dedicated sub-dial (at 5 here), the day of the week (here at 8:30) and a runner (A sub-dial that makes a full run in 360 seconds – here at 1). Price is 29.500 Euros (Ex. taxes).

For more details, please visit Ressence.