The story of Ressence is remarkable. For a brand with one (albeit incredibly impressive) trick, that being the fact that its watches eschew hands in favour of regulator-style rotating discs. Since its founding in 2010, Ressence, under the leadership of founder Benoît Mintiens, has played with the concept of watchmaking in the 21st century, and along the way it has evolved its own offering, keeping those disctintive discs at the heart of the story.

Earlier this year at Watches & Wonders we saw the release of the brand’s first proprietary calibre, the RW-01, which offered a significant shift from the previous ETA ebauches that powered the Ressence Orbital Convex System (ROCS). The Type 10 DN marks the first time the RW-01 has made an appearance in one of the brands oil-filled watches, one that proudly wears its design influence on its broad, polished lugs. There’s plenty of the Type 7 to be seen, with its sporty silhouette, but it also manages to be its own thing. Mintiens says that the design of Type 10 DN is very intentional. “It should feel as if it is one seamless object,” says Mintiens. “Almost as if you took a piece of material and carved the watch out of it.” Certainly the flow from sapphire crystal to the dark blue titanium case to matching rubber strap is as seamless as possible with three distinct materials. And part of that comes down to the oil.

The purpose of an oil-filled watch is, fundamentally, legibility. Ressence’s approach to an oil-filled watch is remarkable. Only half the watch is oil-filled. The ROCS system glides through oil, while the mechanical movement is enveloped by air. The two are separated by a hermetically sealed chamber; the movement drives a disc, fitted with micro-magnets, which is mirrored by a similar disc on the oil side. It ensures perfect separation and harmony. In addition, the Type 10 DN features a temperature display for the oil, as the liquid may expand or contract, and there’s a 120-second running indicator which also serves as a shock absorber in the delicate and complex movement.

The Type 10 DN feels like one of the first steps in the next evolution in Ressence’s watchmaking — representitve of a maturation, both technically, but also from a design point of view. And for a brand that’s always firmly lived in the 21st century, that’s incredibly exciting.

Tech Specs: Ressence Type 10 DN (Dark Knight)

Movement Patented ROCS 10 module driven by the in-house calibre RW-04, manually wound, 60 hours of power reserve
Functions Hours, minutes, second time zone, 120-second runner/shock absorber, oil temperature indication
Case Polished grade 5 titanium case, 41.5mm, water-resistant to 50M
Strap Integrated rubber strap with DLC-coated titanium buckle
Price and Availability CHF 45,000 (excluding taxes), limited to 100 pieces