Digging into the Oil-Filled Watches of Ressence
Oil in a wristwatch...? And we're not talking about a few tiny drops around the axis. How is that possible?
Since 2010, Ressence has slowly been paving the way for its unique way of indicating time, and the result is a highly recognizable brand with some pretty odd techniques. When Benoît Mintiens started his brand some 14 years ago, he had a strong vision of what he wanted to create regarding ergonomics and legibility. Essential factors for any wristwatch! We visited Ressence in their hometown of Antwerp, Belgium, and sat down with Benoit to hear the entire story from the beginning to where they stand today with marvellous oil-filled watches.
When I met Benoît for the first time – I think it was around 2010 at Salon Belles Montres, in Paris – he showed me his first watch collection, the Zero Series. This series and the following Series One both featured a crown. It’s pretty standard on a wristwatch watch, you could say. However, every following series within the Ressence collection came without a crown. Benoît Mintiens, an industrial designer, has his own thoughts on what makes a great wristwatch in terms of legibility, ergonomics and style. And that shows!
The Zero Series and Series One already showed most of the same style elements of what is now unmistakably recognizable as a Ressence: a rotating dial that makes a full rotation in one hour, several subdials that rotate around their own axis, and a main dial that rotates in one hour. When you look at it, and you know a few things about the workings of a mechanical wristwatch, you will probably wonder how this works.
Add to that the oil-filled cases, and you will probably look for more answers on how this was achieved. But also why… Well, with those questions and a camera crew, we went to Antwerp, Ressence’s hometown. Benoît explained the entire path from the Zero Series to the current collections, including the epic Type 3 and Type 5, which are both oil-filled.
I hope you enjoy watching our video (also available on YouTube here) and discovering Ressence’s intricacies as much as we enjoyed visiting them in Antwerp! For more information, visit RessenceWatches.com.