Ressence Type 1 Review

Modern design has been associated with hi-tech innovations as of late. That’s why when people first see this watch they think it’s a new crazy looking apple watch because of the floating subdials. But then they realize it isn’t digital. Infact this mesmerizing design is fully mechanical. That is when people start to wonder, how does this make sense? How are the subdials floating and rotating on dial without it being a digital display? The first time we witness everything in motion is when we understand why Ressence is a coveted design house that reimagines how a objects like mechanical timepieces can function.

Before we take a look at how this is possible & how this watch functions. let me share with you guys what I mean by floating subdials. As you can see we can manually rotate the entire dial which is what happens at a much slower pace when left to work on it’s own. The way we rotate it is with a lever that detaches from the back as you can see so we can rotate and set everything.

To set the watch you can rotate it both ways. However, you need to turn slowly as suggested in the case back. Now to wind the watch you rotate the lever to the right & to set the day you rotate it to the left.

The movement of all Ressence watches is an ETA Base with a unique orbital system for displaying the time, known as ROCS: the Ressence Orbital Convex system. The orbital display system uses an arrangement of satellite gears to carry dials showing different elements of time – hours, minutes, seconds or more, depending on the watch – around a rotating main dial.

This crazy visual effect was achieved by filling the upper chamber of the watch, with a transparent oil that has the same optical properties as the sapphire crystal. As of late, Ressence has branched out, producing watches with the ROCS system which have an air-filled upper chamber, allowing for a greater range of experimentation in visual effects and finishes.