Design Simplifies Complications: Ressence & Rizoma

Born in 2012 from the mind of industrial designer Benoît Mintiens, Ressence is one of the most interesting and innovative independent brands of the watchmaking sector. Conceived as if watches were an invention of the 21st century, Ressence products received many international awards (GPHG Horological Revelation Prize in 2013, and Watchstars Awards Design Star Prize in 2015) and in 2016, the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie certified Ressence as being one of the 64 brands belonging to the Haute Horologerie world on the planet.

Unique of its kind thanks to a different approach to design and mechanics, Ressence aims to intuitively express the passage of time, focusing on “ergonomy at the service function.”

After such an introduction, we couldn’t but think up something special for the TYPE 1 “Squared”. Since we live in the World Capital of Design, we thought that the latter could be the perfect bridge for an article under the “insanity” label.

This is why we thought to bring the Ressence TYPE 1 squared and Rizoma’s Metropolitan Bike together. Leading Italian brand in the two-wheelers accessories field, Rizoma –like Ressence– stands out for its minimal and essential designs paired with high-quality finishes. Modern and highly colorful, with a full carbon frame and belt drive, Rizoma’s Metropolitan Bike is without any doubt the ideal partner for a day spent in Ressence’s company.

On our wrist: the Ressence TYPE 1  “squared” with black mono-surface dial. Still remaining faithful to the Ressence DNA, this model differs from the rest of the collection in its design, materials, and extra thin cushion-shape case.

41mm large, the case is made of stainless steel with a satin-finish back where, instead of the sapphire crystal acting as a crown, a small retractable lever is featured; its rotation corresponds exactly to the movement of the discs on the dial in a ratio of 1 to 1.

Finally, the ROCS1 (Ressence Orbital Convex System): Ressence’s complication created in-house. Made of coplanar discs and rings of different dimensions –curved in order to adapt to the curvature of the crystal– it was updated to allow a quicker and more simple setting of the week day. (Price €.18.000)

With ROCS1, the time information is seen on a unique mono-surfaced display. Thanks to the sight of just one disc of the ROCS at a time, both eyes see the same image (like the words written on a sheet of paper), while on a traditional watch where the hands and dial overlap the image, due to its 3D nature, is different for the two eyes. The choice of focusing on the “minutes” disc is dictated by the need for readability: in most cases it is the information that we seek first when looking at our watch. Minute after minute, a different dial can be seen.