Ressence , the future of watchmaking?
Ressence , the future of watchmaking?
Founded in 2011 in Antwerp, Ressence has made a name for itself in the international watchmaking landscape in just a few short years. In its early days, the brand was often perceived as a watchmaking UFO, because it went completely against the grain of traditional watchmaking codes. Today, it has established itself as one of the most daring and visionary manufacturers.
Ressence has succeeded in imposing its futuristic style and attracting a clientele that loves technology. Ressence watches stand out thanks to an innovative time display called ROCS (Ressence Orbital Convex System). Instead of using hands to display the time on static scales like almost all other wristwatches, the time is read by a system of interlocking discs in perpetual motion. As a result, the dial is constantly evolving, changing appearance as the day progresses.
Benoît Mintiens, visionary watchmaker
Behind Ressence is a singular vision, that of Benoît Mintiens, a designer with a passion for watches. In 1998, he began his career as a designer in Antwerp with Enthoven Associates. He designed everything from high-speed trains for the SNCF and aircraft interiors for Air France to hoovers for LG and pushchairs for Maxi-Cosi. He even designed the famous Frisk mint tin! It was in 2010, during a visit to the not-to-be-missed Basel watch fair, that the desire to design his first watch became apparent.
“I was so disappointed by the lack of creativity that I decided to start designing watches myself”.
Benoît Mintiens embarked on his career in watchmaking with a single ambition: to innovate.
His design reflexes quickly led him to wipe the slate clean of everything that had been produced until then, and to detach himself from the main principles of watchmaking. For Benoît Mintiens, the challenge is to imagine the watch of the 21ᵉ century by combining technology and watchmaking.
If Benoît Mintiens names his brand Ressence – a contraction of renaissance and essentiel – it is precisely to highlight a decisive creative axis: functionality. From the outset, his approach as a designer has led him to do away with certain ‘essential’ elements that enable any watch to function. This is particularly true of the winding crown, a choice that its creator assumes and defends: “A crown is for engineers, not designers. However, I have kept the mechanical hands, because they create empathy”.
Ressence may be a design brand, but above all it has genuine watchmaking expertise. In 2016, the brand joined the very closed circle of 64 luxury watch brands that can claim the “Haute Horlogerie” designation. Today, the Manufacture has 6 models in its collection, available in special series, and a price range that extends from €18,000 to €55,000.
The invention of the connected crown
A connected crown? No one had thought of it, but Ressence dared to imagine it! This innovation was launched in 2019 with the Type 2 watch, a real technological revolution. The first watch to set and adjust itself automatically to the exact time, the model is equipped with an innovation: the eCrown® crown. This system, patented by Ressence, constantly monitors the position of the mechanical hands and, when the time is not correct, eCrown® updates the displayed time. In practice, the connected crown is actually an electronic module hidden inside the watch and powered by solar energy. Designed to work with multiple time zones, which simply need to be set using the lever on the back of the case or a smartphone using a Bluetooth connection, the Type 2 plays with the codes of the GMT function.
All its owner has to do is tap the glass for the crown to connect and adjust the time automatically. Presented at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2020 in the “Mécanique d’Exception” category, this watch, which didn’t fit into any of the categories, attracted a lot of attention because of its astonishing design.
But eCrown® goes even further. Able to detect when the watch is not being worn, the connected crown stops the barrel in order to extend the watch’s autonomy for as long as possible. The power reserve is thus optimised, and the watch no longer needs to be systematically wound. What’s more, you can leave your watch in the safe for up to three months, and at the slightest movement, the eCrown® system will immediately reconnect and reactivate the mechanism.
Priced from CHF 48,000 at the time of its launch, this model is now difficult to access on the primary market, and unfortunately no watch has yet been put up for auction!
Unbeatable legibility
It was with an even more innovative model that Ressence won recognition at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2013, winning the prestigious “Révélation Horlogère” prize. This award, which each year celebrates the achievement of a young watch brand, will give the brand international exposure. To win this prize, Benoît Mintiens, who three years earlier “was on his own and didn’t know anyone”, was able to count on the support of designer Philippe Stark, a member of the jury who had promised “to make a scene” if Ressence didn’t win with such an innovative design.
The Type 3 watch defies the laws of physics like no other watch before it. Based on the observation that the refraction of light, when it passes from one substance to another, can distort perception depending on the angle of view, Benoît Mintiens devised a system to ensure visual continuity and thus optimise the readability of the watch. The idea is to introduce a compartment of oil under the sapphire crystal. 3.75 ml of oil fill the empty space between the crystal and the dial, avoiding unpleasant optical effects.
Watches to wear and collect
Benoit Mintiens says: “Ressence watches are designed to be worn. We want people to wear and love their watches”. Although, at first glance, Ressence watches are intended to be “field” objects and not collectors’ items, it seems that over the last two years collectors have become increasingly interested in them, even very closely!
Watches to wear and collect
Benoit Mintiens says: “Ressence watches are designed to be worn. We want people to wear and love their watches”. Although, at first glance, Ressence watches are intended to be “field” objects and not collectors’ items, it seems that over the last two years collectors have become increasingly interested in them, even very closely!
Yet Ressence tiptoed onto the auction market in 2014. With its first watch sold for USD 6,250 in New York by Christie’s on 9 December 2014 (lot 12), the brand is now recording results at least 5 times higher.
One of the models most represented at auction is the legendary Type 3, the emblematic watch that revealed the brand to the general public.
On 20 April 2022, Christie’s recorded a result of €32,700 (HK$277,299) for a Type 3 model produced in 2021, and 6 months later, on 6 November 2022, Phillips obtained a result of almost €38,000 for a Type 3 limited series, produced in only 50 pieces.
Ressence X Hodinkee
One of the most talked-about watches at auction was the ‘Type 1 Slim HOD’, a limited series of just 20 pieces produced in 2021 in collaboration with Hodinkee, the world’s most influential watch blogger. Sold by Phillips on 28 May 2022 in Hong Kong for €29,000 (lot 1118), this titanium watch, with its fully skeletonised dial, was in fact the second collaboration between Ressence and Hodinkee. In 2017, the American media outlet officially became an authorised retailer for the Belgian brand, and launched a first edition of 20 collector’s watches to mark the occasion.
Ressence X Sotheby’s
48 500 € ! That’s the price obtained for this unique titanium timepiece, specially created as part of the #WatchesAgainstCovid19 competition devised by Benoît Mintiens in collaboration with Sotheby’s. In 2020, the Belgian designer issued a challenge to all lovers of the Type 1 Slim model: express his creativity and reinterpret this watch with coloured pencils. Of the 466 entries received, Raymond Ramsden, an English architect and interior designer, was chosen as the winner. The watch was sold on 11 July 2020 in Hong Kong (lot 2267).
Ressence X Laurent Piccioto
Laurent Picciotto, a key player in the French watch industry and founder of Chronopassion, was one of the first to believe in Ressence’s success. In fact, Chronopassion was the brand’s first official retailer and remains one of its 3 authorised distributors today. On 30 May 2017, Phillips sold at auction in Hong Kong, for €11,000, a Type 1 watch that was particularly interesting as one of the first produced by the brand in 2012, but which above all came from the personal collection of Laurent Picciotto (lot 1020).
Les prototypes Ressence
While the brand has been regularly represented since 2014 by the leading international auction houses, some watches particularly excite the interest of visionary collectors: prototypes.
On 11 June this year, Phillips sold for more than €16,000 a “Type 1004” prototype made in 2012 as part of the development of a special series named SeriesOne and limited to 150 pieces (lot38).
On 16 July this year, the Artcurial auction house in Monaco will be presenting a prototype of the Type 5 model numbered 004/004 (lot 304). Launched in 2015, this model, developed specifically for underwater use, follows in the footsteps of the Type 3, with an optimised time display thanks to an oil compartment integrated under the sapphire crystal. Kept until now by the brand’s former director, this prototype will be presented for the first time at auction.
It is interesting to note that this watch is engraved ‘Type 2’ on the case. This was the ‘code name’ for the watch used by the brand’s teams until its official launch in December 2015. The ‘Type 2’ prototypes n° 001/004 and 002/004 are now kept in the brand’s collections, while n° 003/004 was destroyed during ISO diving tests. Prototype no. 004/004 is therefore the only ‘accessible’ piece and represents a unique opportunity for any watch and technology enthusiast to acquire one of the most innovative watches of the 21st century.
